Judy He

Healthy Nature Pigment: Beta-Carotene

Beta-carotene is one type of the carotenoids. It is the most ubiquitous and steadiest natural pigment. We can easily find this kind of pigment in many kinds of natural food.Beta-carotene, as an antioxidant, is capable of detoxification. It is an indispensable nutrition to keep us healthy.

Beta-carotene is one type of the carotenoids. It is the most ubiquitous and steadiest natural pigment. We can easily find this kind of pigment in many kinds of natural food, such as green vegetables, sweet potato, carrot, spinach, pawpaw and mango. In general, this substance hides in colored food, especially in red or yellow food and green vegetables. Beta-carotene, as an antioxidant, is capable of detoxification. It is an indispensable nutrition to keep us healthy. It plays a remarkable role in resisting cancer and preventing cardiovascular disease and cataract as well. It also has a marked antioxidant effect and that prevents aging and many degenerative diseases caused by aging.

Beta-carotene, a member of the natural chemical family like carotene and carotenoid, gets its name from the word carrot in Latin. It exists in plants to a large extent, making fruits and vegetables yellow and orange. It is used as a colorant in cooking such as making butterine.

It is said that beta-carotene is a quite safe nutrition without any poison or any side effect. It is rich in nutrition such as amino acid, vitamin, microelement and many other bioactive substances. Scientists say that it is the precursor of vitamin A in nature. After having entered the human body, beta-carotene will be transformed into vitamin A. The proportion of vitamin A transformed from beta-carotene is controlled by the human body. When vitamin A is adequate for metabolism, beta-carotene would be stored in the body. It will not release until the lack of vitamin A. Vitamin A is beneficial to eye care and skin care, helping with nyctalopia and rough skin. Lacking of vitamin A would lead to nyctalopia. However, if one absorbs excessive vitamin A, he or she would be poisoned. So only when needed, would beta-carotene be transformed into vitamin A. It is this feature that makes beta-carotene a safe source of vitamin A. Therefore, beta-carotene has earned its global popularity since the 1980s.

More then ten years ago, people have realized the indispensable role of carotene in daily meal. For traditional Chinese diet, the ingestion of carotene, especially that of beta-carotene, is more important. Chinese people feed themselves on wheat or food made of flour. The amount of red or yellow food is rather small. In contrast, beta-carotene enjoys high reputation in foreign countries. It is as popular as the ginseng in China. Experiments at home and abroad reveal that it can resist cancer. Too many oxygen radicals not only damage normal cells, but also cause aberrance which leads to cancer. Fortunately, beta-carotene is exactly the invincible opponent of oxygen radicals. Research demonstrates that the proportion of this pigment in cancer patients is far too low than ordinary people. 

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