Lower Blood Pressure

Carotenoids are the pigments found naturally in many fruits and vegetables that give them the distinctive yellow, orange and scarlet red colouring. Chefs have long utilised this colourful combination to spice up the appearance of their culinary creations. All richly coloured red orange and yellow vegetables contain generous quantities of these natural healing compounds. They are also found in some green vegetables such as spinach, lettuce and Kale.

Significantly lower risk of heart disease and cancer

However the chemicals that cause this rich colour to form in carotenoid-rich natural foods such as tomatoes, capsicums, and carrots could save your life, as research has shown that people who eat the most of these types of food have been shown to have significantly lower risk of dying from heart disease and cancer.

Best dietary sources of Carotenoids

Here is a list of the best natural food sources of Carotenoids. These are the foods with the highest quantities and concentrations of the compounds :-

• Tomatoes
• Cantaloupe melons
• Spinach
• Carrots
• Sweet Potatoes
• Kale
• Leafy Green Vegetables
• Oranges
• Peaches
• Pumpkin

Body under attack from free radicals

Our bodies are constantly under attack from alien invaders known as free radicals, which are depleted oxygen molecules (missing one electron from the molecule). These can damage the body’s internal cells and DNA structure because they attempt to replace the missing electron from the oxygen molecule by stealing it from a neighbouring healthy body cell. This continual process can damage the cells and contribute to the underlying causes of heart disease and other dread diseases such as cancer, and eye disease such as macular degeneration.

So how can a humble vegetable help to counteract this threat ? Scientific research has proven that the high Carotenoid content of certain vegetables can counteract the damaging effect of the free radicals by assisting with halting the cell damage, and therefore increasing the body’s protection. A significant study conducted at John Hopkins Universaity in Baltimore, MD discovered that smokers who were heart attack victims were found to be less likely to suffer a second heart attack if they had high levels of four particular high carotenoid compounds – beta-carotene, lutein, lycopene and zeaxanthin.

Carotenoids reduce bad LDL Cholesterol

There are more than 500 different types of Carotenoids, although the majority of common foods contain only about 60 of these. The most critical of these precious compounds are alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, gamma-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lutein, lycopene and Zexanthin. The way in which these carotenoid rich compounds can help to prevent heart disease and stroke is by preventing the ‘bad’ (LDL) cholesterol in the blood from attaching itself to the walls of the arteries. This is a major cause of atherosclerosis and hardening of the arteries due to the build up of this arterial plaque. If the LDL cholesterol molecule cannot oxidise, then it cannot stick to the wall of the artery.

Artificial supplements cannot replace natural food based Carotenoids

Artificial food supplements that attempt to reproduce the beneficial effects of naturally occurring Carotenoids are less successful. In fact they may possibly be harmful to health, according to Doctor Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. His advice is that the most effective way to get Carotenoids is from natural foods rather than supplements.