Juicing has become increasingly popular in recent years and is now a multimillion dollar industry. Carrots are a common ingredient in many juices, as they provide a flavor that pairs well with many other fruits and vegetables.
Aside from its taste, carrot juice may also provide numerous health benefits. These possible benefits include reducing the risks of many different health conditions.
People can purchase fresh fruit and vegetable juices from most grocers, farmers markets, and specialized juice shops and bars. Making carrot juice at home is also possible using juicing equipment.
Read on to learn some recipes and find out more about the potential health benefits and possible risks of drinking carrot juice. We also look at the nutritional content of carrots.
Benefits
Carrot juice is highly nutritious and may be beneficial for preventing a range of health conditions. We cover these possible benefits in more detail below.
Stomach cancer
Carrots contain antioxidants, which may explain their possible role in cancer prevention.
In a review of studies, researchers tested the effect of eating carrots on a person’s risk of stomach cancer.
They linked eating carrots to a 26% lower risk of stomach cancer. However, they did not specify how many carrots a person needed to eat to reduce their stomach cancer risk.
Conducting more controlled studies will help scientists confirm this association.
Leukemia
More research is needed to confirm this, but carrot juice may have a future role in leukemia treatment.
In one study, researchers looked at the effect of carrot juice extracts on leukemia cells. The carrot juice extracts caused the leukemia cells to self-destruct and stopped their cell cycle.
Although it is unlikely to become a standalone treatment for leukemia, carrot may be a good dietary choice for people with this condition.
Breast cancer
A 2012 study in women who survived breast cancer looked at the effect of carrot juice on the levels of carotenoids, markers of oxidative stress, and markers of inflammation in the blood.
Oxidative stress occurs when disease-causing free radicals outnumber the antioxidants in the body, increasing the risk of certain cancers and other health conditions.
The researchers reported that higher levels of carotenoids in the blood were associated with a lower risk of breast cancer returning.
During the study, participants consumed 8 ounces of carrot juice daily for 3 weeks. At the end of the study, the women had higher blood levels of carotenoids and lower levels of a marker associated with oxidative stress.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Carrot juice is high in vitamin C. In 2016, researchers explored the link between dietary vitamin C intake and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Korean adults aged 40 years or older.
They found that people with COPD had significantly lower intakes of multiple nutrients that carrot juice provides than people without COPD. These nutrients included carotene, potassium, vitamin A, and vitamin C.
However, people with COPD also ate significantly less food overall than people without it. For people in the study who smoked heavily, the risk of COPD was lower in those who consumed more vitamin C than those who consumed very little.
Nutrition
According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s FoodData Central, one cup of canned carrot juice contains:
94 kilocalories
2.24 grams (g) of protein
0.35 g of fat
21.9 g of carbohydrate
1.89 g of fiber
The same amount of carrot juice provides a variety of vitamins and minerals, including:
689 milligrams (mg) of potassium
20.1 mg of vitamin C
0.217 mg of vitamin B-1 (thiamin)
0.512 mg of vitamin B-6
2.256 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin A
36.6 mcg of vitamin K
Risks and considerations
People with weakened immune systems may need to avoid certain foods if there is a risk of these foods carrying food-borne illnesses.
This includes:
people who are receiving cancer treatment
pregnant women
young children
older adults
Freshly squeezed fruit and vegetable juices may not have gone through the pasteurization process. As a result, they might have a higher risk of carrying germs. People with less effective or suppressed immune systems might have a more severe reaction to the effects of infectious agents.
The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center state that people following a low microbial diet on the advice of a doctor should avoid unpasteurized fruit and vegetable juices unless they are homemade.
According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), pregnant women should choose pasteurized juices or those that have a long shelf life. During pregnancy, women should avoid freshly squeezed juice.
Carrots contain a type of carotenoid called beta-carotene that the body can convert into vitamin A.
Consuming large amounts of carotenoids from foods has no links with harmful effects. However, the skin can turn yellow or orange if a person consumes large amounts of beta-carotene over a long period of time. This effect is called carotenoderma.
Juicing tips and recipes
According to Stanford Health Care, the vitamin and mineral content of one cup of carrot juice is almost equivalent to that of five cups of chopped carrots.
Although fresh fruit and vegetable juices do provide plenty of nutrients, they do not contain as much fiber as fresh fruits and vegetables. Also, they contain more sugar per cup than whole fruits and vegetables.
For example, one cup of carrot juice contains 2 g of fiber and 9 g of sugar, whereas one cup of cubed, raw carrots provides 3.5 g of fiber and 6 g of sugar.
Making fresh carrot juice at home requires a juice extractor. These appliances are available online, in department stores, and at other retail stores that sell small kitchen appliances.
It is important to follow the manufacturer’s instructions for using a juicer and clean it after each use. Juice extractors may also come with recipe suggestions.
People can combine carrots with other fruits and vegetables to make flavorsome juices. A person can try the following recipes at home:
carrot and apple juice
carrot and orange juice
carrot juice with kale
cinnamon and ginger carrot juice
Summary
Carrot juice may offer many benefits due to its concentrated levels of nutrients.
However, carrot juice has less fiber and more sugar than whole carrots. Fiber can help support weight management and reduce cholesterol levels.
Depending on the preparation methods, carrot juice may not be appropriate for everyone, especially pregnant women, young children, older adults, and people with certain conditions.
However, most people can include carrot juice in moderation as part of a healthful, well rounded diet. That said, it is important to remember that drinking juice is not a replacement for eating whole fruits and vegetables.
Is it true that carrots are good for eyesight?
Carrots are one of the top foods containing beta-carotene, next to pumpkin and sweet potatoes. Beta-carotene is a precursor for vitamin A, which is an essential nutrient for eyesight.
Lutein, an important nutrient for decreasing macular degeneration and improving eye health, is also prevalent in carrots.
Therefore, people may wish to include carrots in the diet to promote healthy eyes.