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Researchers from the Wageningen University in the Netherlands have spent 10 years looking at the diets of 20,000 men and women. <\/p>\nResearchers from the Wageningen University in the Netherlands have spent 10 years looking at the diets of 20,000 men and women. <\/p>\n
They paid a lot of attention to the fruits and vegetables that these people are the most of, so you can bet they know what\u2019s good for you!<\/p>\n
In a novel twist, the researchers grouped all the fruits and vegetables that people were eating by color, because they wanted to find out if some shades of fruit and veg might be more beneficial to heart health than others. The way they group them was white, red\/purple, green, and orange\/yellow.<\/p>\n
Whoever thought of doing it this way was a bit of a genius, because they discovered at the end of the study that fruits and vegetables that are rich in orange and yellow shades gave the best improvements in cardiovascular health.<\/p>\n
They also found that the most effective vegetable out of all the oranges and yellows was the humble carrot. It turned out that people who ate carrots more frequently had a 35% lower chance of developing things like high blood pressure. <\/p>\n
Scientists put these benefits down to the unique antioxidants like beta carotene found in carrots, not to mention vitamins K, C, B6, B1, and B2, and minerals like calcium and potassium, along with phytonutrients called polyacetylenes. Two of the major ones found in carrots, called falcarinol and falcarindiol have an amazing ability to improve heart health and lower blood pressure.<\/p>\n
Now, before you start filling your cheeks with carrots \u2013 don\u2019t bother, because there\u2019s really no need to go overboard. Research showed that it wasn\u2019t the amount of carrots eaten that mattered, it was the frequency. Little and often<\/em> was the key You only need 25 grams a day, which is like one medium-sized carrot to give your heart what it needs. Just make sure that you get that much every day.<\/p>\n One thing to note though, they\u2019re better for you when they\u2019re raw. Boiling carrots leaches out many of those wonderful nutrients. But if you can’t face crunching on uncooked carrots, then try steaming them instead. That will preserve more of the good stuff that keeps your heart happy.<\/p>\n