If you want to improve your eye health but also your immunity, mood, you need to take care of your intestines. Our neurotransmitters responsible for happiness and good mood are produced mostly in the gut by 90% serotonin and 50% dopamine is produced in the gut. We also know that 70% of our immunity depends on our microbiota.
What is a microbiota?
The microbiota is a community of “good” microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protists) that inhabit the small but most inhabit the large intestine. It is an important link in the normal digestion of food, absorption, utilization of nutrients from food, but also the function of the immune system depends on our microbiota. 70% of our immune system determines the composition of our microbiota!
An essential nutrient for eye health found in these beads is beta carotene.
Beta carotene is an antioxidant that is converted to vitamin A in the human body and shows many health benefits. Its name is derived from the Latin word for carrot – Daucus carota.
Beta carotene was discovered by the German chemist H. Wackenroder, back in 1831. He crystallized it from this orange vegetable and called it -carotene. Over the decades, chemists have discovered a whole family of pigment compounds and named it – carotenoids.
But carrots are not the only foods that contain beta carotene there are also: sweet potatoes, kale, spinach, Roman salad, pumpkin, melon, red and yellow peppers, apricots, peas, and broccoli. Beta carotene is also found in herbs such as peppers, cayenne pepper, chili, parsley, coriander, rosemary, sage, and coriander.
Raw or cooked?
Beta carotene will be better absorbed if we consume it by consuming thermally processed foods compared to raw foods. Also, combining these foods, herbs, and spices with healthy fats like olive oil, avocado, or nuts and seeds can help absorb beta carotene. Again we come to the importance of food synergy!
Why bother with diet when we have supplements?
A large percentage of dietary supplements with beta carotene on the market are of synthetic origin. Taking dietary supplements with synthetic beta carotene may increase the risk of lung cancer for smokers and those suffering from asbestosis. If we review studies from the last three decades that included 109,394 subjects, we can clearly see that beta-carotene supplementation significantly increases the risk of lung cancer after 18 months of supplementation. The risk of lung cancer was highest in smokers taking multivitamin preparations containing beta carotene.
Unlike dietary supplements, consuming foods rich in beta carotene has been shown to be safe, in fact, research has shown that they reduce the risk of cancer!
Beta-carotene is great for eye health, improves cognitive functions, and has been proven to support the health and beauty of our skin. Beta carotene will be better absorbed if we consume it by consuming thermally processed foods. But in this recipe, we improved absorption using food synergy. The combination of these foods, herbs, and spices with the healthy fats of nuts and seeds by acting together, allowed our body to use larger amounts of significant pigment than if we had eaten raw carrots alone.
But how it looks in practice will show us this delicious recipe.
ANGELINA PAIĆ, dipl.ing.preh.teh., Univ.spec.nutr.
university specialist in nutrition
For more tips and recipes, follow Angelina on Instagram: @nutricionisticaangelina
