Supplement producers are going to “lose out” as a result of new research into the benefits of carrots.
That’s according to senior lecturer at the human nutrition and exercise research centre of Newcastle University, Kirsten Brandt, who spoke to Agriland.
Brandt said: “The only ones who are going to lose out, are those who are producing supplements – which probably don’t work anyway.
“We are happy if this research can lead to more people eating more carrots, as it’s good for people who eat carrots so they have better health, and it’s good for the people who grow the carrots so they get more business,” she said.
According to Newcastle University, a carrot contains many different compounds that have been investigated for health benefits, with beta-carotene compounds causing the red-orange pigment of the vegetable.
“It’s been known for many years that carrots are good for preventing cancer, but most researchers thought it had something to do with beta-carotene, and so they did some trials and figured out that beta-carotene actually doesn’t have any benefits for preventing cancer,” Brandt continued,
How it started
According to Brandt, after nearly 20 years of research and study, researchers at Newcastle University have found what it is in carrots that could help reduce the risk of cancer by almost a quarter.
Brandt said she was working with a colleague called Lars Porskaer Christensen, who was doing research on the ginseng herb which was being used in Chinese medicine, when she was told about the discovery.
“I was working with these ginseng and reading researchers, and they were discussing the polyacetylenes in ginseng which have anti-cancer properties; they have exactly the same compounds as carrots, but nobody seems to be interested in the polyacetylenes in the carrots.”
Brandt, who was supervising the study, said that it was her then PhD student, Charles Ojobor, who led the study who came to the discovery of the final result.
According to Brandt, research on these polyacetylenes included trials on rats and mice, where they could extract the compounds one-by-one.
They then found out that polyacetylenes are anti-inflammatory, which explains why they are beneficial for preventing cancer.
As part of the research, scientists carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis of nearly 200 studies, and 4.7 million participants.
Brandt also said that the Covid-19 pandemic was an advantage to the study, as they had more time to “sit at the computer” to research.
Research results
The results showed that carrot intake had a reduced cancer incidence across a number of different groupings, from geographic region, to exposure and cancer type.
The research, which has now been published in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, found five servings of the vegetable per week was related to a 20% reduction in developing all types of cancer.
The research also revealed that eating just one serving per week still gives a notable reduction, with a 4% lower chance of developing the disease, compared to those who do not eat the vegetable.
Charles Ojobor said: “Many researchers have noticed the benefits of carrots previously, and this is a reason why there was so much data for us to analyse.
“As a result, we studied carrots due to their content of a different type of phytochemicals and polyacetylenes, which are colourless, but have strong effects on cancer.
“For our study, we looked at different types of cancer, and our analysis showed that people who eat five portions of carrots per week had a 20% reduced risk of developing the disease.”