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Why Carrots Are Orange and Healthy

May 11, 2016 By June Harris

"carrots"

Some of the most easily recognizable vegetables on the planet, carrots have been around for more than a thousand years – domesticated carrots at least. Wild carrots have been around for millennia, but it’s only after they were domesticated that they truly began to make their mark on mankind’s culinary preferences.

Two of the things that fascinated scientists for a very long time are the orange color of the vegetables, as well as the superior health benefits they offer. Finally answering a bunch of thousand year old questions, scientists reveal the genetics behind the reason why carrots are orange and healthy.

Carrot gene sequencing

The study, published in the Nature Genetics journal, was led by the University of Wisconsin’s Phil Simon. The team conducted the genetic sequencing of the Nantes carrot, as well as that of 35 other carrot specimens and subspecies. The idea was to determine exactly how carrots evolved. The Nantes carrot alone had some 32,000 genes.

After completing the genetic sequencing, the team found that the DCAR_032551 gene was responsible for the vegetable’s very high concentration of beta-carotene, the substance that gives the vegetables their yellow, orange, or red color, as well as their very rich vitamin A content.

Further investigation only confirmed that DCAR_032551 conditions the accumulation of carotenoid in the carrot taproot and that it is expressed alongside several isoprenoid biosynthetic genes. Since vitamin A plays such a huge role in healthy vision, the immune system, and even in reproduction, scientists are now considering how to apply their newly found information.

More carrot tidbits

First of all, the team is planning to use the new data to reduce the global vitamin A deficiency. Not only are carrots easy to grow, but they also provide very large amounts of the vitamin. In fact, in a single square meter of land, you can grow enough carrots per year to feed half a dozen adults.

Second of all, scientists are considering using what they found out to genetically alter a number of other vegetables, such as celery, lettuce, or even cassava, to increase the amounts of beta-carotene and vitamin A they produce. This would greatly help communities suffering from vitamin A deficiency.

As for the history of the carrot, they were domesticated more than one thousand years ago, as purple and yellow carrots from over a millennium ago were discovered in Central Asia. It is assumed that orange carrots appeared in the 16th century in Holland as a result of interbreeding yellow and purple carrots. Some communities in South Asia and in the Middle East are still growing purple and yellow carrots.

Image source: Wikimedia

Filed Under: Health Tagged With: Earth, genetics, health, health measures

Fibers Can Help Overcome Insomnia

January 17, 2016 By June Harris

"a bowl of granola"

When associated with a healthy lifestyle, fibers can help overcome insomnia.

Latest research upon the matter shows that fibers can help overcome insomnia. It seems that there is a natural way to combat the sleeping disorder, after all. These latest findings placed foods high in fiber content next to warm milk, chamomile tea, bananas, cherries and other soothing foods that can actually help you get a good night’s sleep.

Fibers are a part of a healthy lifestyle

You cannot just eat fiber-packed food and expect to snooze off the moment your head touches the pillow. There is more to it than just eating healthy, one also needs an overall healthy lifestyle. Fibers can overcome insomnia, but not by themselves.

Exercising is a crucial part in the fight against the number one sleeping disorder that affects Americans. Only 20 minutes of daily exercise can go a long way when it comes to a good night’s rest. The combination of exercising during the day and eating foods high in fiber content for dinner could reduce the time needed to fall asleep from 20-30 minutes to just over 10 minutes.

Bear in mind the fact that the physical exercise must be made during the day, or late afternoon. If you engage in physical activity before bed, the endorphins released as a result of the effort will keep you wide awake.

What should we eat, exactly?

Apart from the now canonical glass of warm milk, doctors recommend foods such as white beans, corn, oat, rice, wheat, black beans, fava beans, blueberries, raspberries, currants, boysenberries, strawberries, gooseberries, blackberries, elderberries, quinoa, peas, spinach, pinon nuts, Hubbard squash, acorn squash, figs, breadfruit, and yogurt.

All of these are natural foods that are high in fiber and could sooth the sleep, but some of them are pretty heavy on the stomach (such as the fava beans) and should be eaten at least 3 hours before going to bed.

What shouldn’t we eat?

Sweet and greasy food are not recommended because as the body breaks it down it produces a lot of energy that will keep the neurons firing. On the list of foods that need to be mentioned are chocolate, desserts that have a high amount of sugar in their composition, processed foods of any sort, especially fast food which is rich in both sugar and fats, carbonated drinks, coffee, deep fried foods, and pizza.

Even though it has been proven that fibers can help overcome insomnia, attention must be paid to the dietary plan as a whole, because fibers may be an ally, but they need to be associated with the right foods and a healthy lifestyle. Eating a granola before going to bed is not enough.

Image source: www.wikimedia.org

Filed Under: Health Tagged With: fibers, good night's sleep, health, healthy lifestyle, insomnia

Some of the benefits of Cocoa, from memory to heart health

October 28, 2014 By Carol Harper

crazy-for-cocoa

Well if you crave cocoa then this is good news for you, as researchers have pointed out, probably your body loves cocoa too.

A research study published last week depicts that certain kinds of cocoa contain compounds called flavanols, which help to curtail memory loss. A diet containing high content of flavanols was shown to enhance the region of the brain called the dentate gyrus, located on the brain’s hippocampus, which is thought to be related to memory.

Previous research results also showed that the same flavanols helped to reverse age-related memory decline in mice.

Scott Small, author of the study on cocoa was of the opinion that if another research also supports the finding on flavanols, then it would be possible to find flavanol supplements in a local drug store.

Flavanols are also present in tea and wine but the authors of the study are of the view that one should not confuse the beneficial flavanol amounts found in cocoa with chocolate. Chocolate has only minute amount of flavanols and eating it in small amounts can be good. However, the best kind of chocolate is the dark chocolate  which contains no added sugar or fat.

Most flavanols are also associated with the health benefits of antioxidants, showing that they can curtail certain types of cancers, heart diseases and cholesterol.

“They protect the body from free radicals, which can cause damage that leads to heart disease. Flavonoids can also relax blood vessels and lower blood pressure, which may reduce the risk of certain illnesses, such as heart attacks, hypertension and atherosclerosis,” said Dr. Murray Mittleman, associate professor of epidemiology at Harvard Medical School.

Other researches also depict that consuming dark chocolate without added sugar reduces the risk of type II diabetes as it increases the body’s resistance to insulin.

Filed Under: Health Tagged With: Chocolate, cocoa, Dark Chocolate, health, heart health, Memory

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