Carrots.

So I decided that I wanted to focus on carrots today since I haven't really seen a lot of buzz about them lately and feel that these are super important to include in our daily/weekly diet -- they're a great snack food! I don't know about you guys, but I certainly don't get enough 'orange' foods into my diet!

• Carrots have anti-aging properties. High levels of beta carotene help slow down the signs of aging and acts as antioxidants to help already damaged cells.
• Help to prevent strokes. Harvard University did a study and found that people that eat 5+ carrots in a week or less likely to have a stroke then those that don't.
• Prevent heart disease. They have high levels of carotenoids which are known to lower the risk of heart problems. 
• Helps with elimination, ie the fiber in the carrots help you poop :)
• Helps with acne and other skin issues.
• Liver detox. Carrots have high levels of Vitamin A that help flush toxins out of your liver and the rest of your system.
• Promote healthy teeth and gums. Carrots trigger a lot of saliva which helps get rid of acid forming bacteria which results in tooth decay. 
• Carrots improve your vision! Again, being rich in beta-carotene and Vitamin A help transform nutrients to the retina which is necessary for your eye sight to be good. Also helps to fight off macular degeneration and senile cataracts.
• Cancer Prevention. Studies have linked carrots to helping prevent lung cancer, breast cancer and colon cancer. The compounds falcarinol and falcarindiol are the reason for these results and scientists are just now scratching the surface of these two gems and what they are capable of.

Other Sources: WHFoods -- HealthMad

Here's some more beautiful pictures of carrots -- I've seen some of these colors in the past, but I would love to be able to find these more regularly and add them to my dishes!

Found any of these colorful beauties anywhere recently?