A well known legend says eating large amounts of carrots will enable one to see clearly even in the dark. The legend is said have originated from stones of British gunners in the World War II who were able to shoot down German planes in the darkness of night. The legend arose during the Battle of Britain when the Royal Air Force (RAF) circulated a story about their pilots' carrot consumption probably as an attempt to cover up the discovery and effective use of radar technologies in engaging enemy's plane. Maybe Nigerians should borrow from the British gunners; chew large chunks of carrots and get clear vision in black outs and call the bluff of PHCN (Power Holding Company of Nigeria).

Carrot, with the botanical name Daucus carota subspecie. Sativus, is a root vegetable, usually orange or white, 01 red-white blend in colour, with a crisp texture when fresh. Carrots can be eaten in a variety of ways. The simplest way is raw as carrots are perfectly digestible without requiring cooking. Alternatively, they may be chopped and boiled, fried 01 steamed, and cooked in soups and stews, a well as baby and pet foods. Grated carrots are used in carrot cakes, as well as carrot puddings, an old English dish. Together with onion and celery. carrots are one of the primary vegetables used in a mirepoix to make various broths.

Ever since the late 1980s, baby carrots or mini-carrots (carrots that have been peeled and cut into uniform cylinders) have been a popular ready-to-eat snack food available in many supermarkets and local markets. Carrot juice is also widely marketed, especially as a health drink, either stand-alone or blended with fruits and other vegetables. The carrot gets its characteristic and bright orange colour from beta-carotene, which is metabolised1l1to vitamin A in humans when bile salts are present in the intestines. Carrots are also rich in dietary fibre, antioxidants, and minerals. Lack of Vitamin A can cause poor vision, including night vision, and vision can be restored b) adding Vitamin A back into the diet. Ethnomedically, the roots are used to treat digestive problems, intestinal parasites, and tonsillitis constipation. Carrots are nutritional heroes; they store a goldmil1E of nutrients. No other vegetable or fruit contains as much carotene as carrots, which the body converts to vitamin A. This is a truly versa tile vegetable and an excellent source of vitamin B and C as well as calcium pectate, an extraordinary pectin fiber that has been found to have cholesterol-lowering properties. The carrot contains about 87 water and rich in mineral salts. Raw carrots are an excellent source of vitamin A and potassium; they contain vitamin C vitamin B6, thiamine, folic acid, and magnesium. Cooked carrots ale an excellent source of vitamin A, a good source of potassiurn and contain vitamin B6, copper, folic acid, and magnesium. The high level beta-carotene is very important and gives carrots their distinctive orange colour.

Carrots also contain, in smaller amounts, essential oils, carbohydrate and nitrogenous composites. They are well-known for their sweet ening, anti-anemic, healing, diuretic, re-mineralizing and sedative properties. In order to assimilate the greatest quantity of the nutrients present in carrots, it is important to chew them well. Also most of the goodness is actually in, or just below the skin. Nutrition is the cornerstone of good health. As people age or go through life, there are so many illnesses that could have been prevented with better nutrition. This has been proven beyond any shadow of doubt over the past few years. Research has proven that getting the proper level of antioxidants into our bloodstream will reduce the risk of cancer. Eating carrots increase key antioxidant levels in the bloodstream.

A Nutrition Hero 
BETTER RAW OR COOKED? THE ANSWER IS YES TO BOTH QUESTIONS. READ ON. 
Are Carrots more nutritious in their raw state than when cooked? Opinions vary. Clearly a raw carrot has more goodness in it when it is raw and therefore you would assume it is the healthiest way to eat it. But unless the carrot is juiced then consumed, the body cannot break down the goodness because of the cellular nature of the carrot. Experiments show that eating lightly-cooked carrots is much more beneficial than eating raw carrots, which confirms the ancient wisdom in traditional Chinese medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners have always recommended that their patients eat lightly-cooked carrots in order to get the best nutritional absorption. Recent research by Dr. Xiangdong Wang at Tufts University in the United States shows that beta-carotene can change in the human body into a substance called retinoic acid, which is widely used to treat cancers.

NUTRITION: THE MEDICINE OF THE FUTURE - VOLTAIRE SAID: 
"The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while Nature cures the disease', 
The medicine of the future will no longer be remedial; it will be preventive; not based on drugs but on the best diet for health. This page explores the issue in relation to carrots. Always remember carrots nourish they do not heal. If the body has the ability to heal itself, it will use the raw materials found in foods to do its own healing work. Herbs do not heal, they feed. Herbs do not force the body to maintain and repair itself. They simply support the body in these natural functions. Carrots are credited with many medicinal properties; they are said to cleanse the intestines and to be diuretic, re-mineralizing, anti-diarrhea, an overall tonic and anti-anemic. Carrot is rich in alkaline elements which purify and revitalize the blood. They nourish the entire system and help in the maintenance of acid-alkaline balance in the body. The carrot also has a reputation as a vegetable that helps to maintain good eyesight. Raw grated carrot can be applied as a compress to burns for a soothing effect. Its highly energizing juice has a particularly beneficial effect on the liver.

ANY DANGER? 
Excessive consumption of any food item may be counter productive. Carrots have really not been associated with any serious danger, but carrots can cause the skin to turn yellow; this phenomenon, which is called Carotenemia and caused by the carotene, contained in carrots. This is frequently noticed in young children but is not at all dangerous. Massive overcon­sumption of carrots can cause hypercarotenemia, a condition in which the skin turns orange (although hypercarotenemia is not itself dangerous unlike overdose of vitamin A, which can cause liver damage).