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Thread: Purple carrots the next superfood

  1. #1

    Default Purple carrots the next superfood

    Purple carrots the next superfood
    The Age newspaper, Melbourne, by KELSEY MUNRO
    August 8, 2010

    http://www.theage.com.au/national/pu...807-11phz.html


    THEY may sound like something out of Alice in Wonderland but purple carrots are not only real, they're being positioned as the next superfood.

    A new Australian study has shown the ancient carrot variety is high in anti-inflammatory properties and antioxidants.

    ''They're the original carrots, from ancient Persia,'' explained the study author Lindsay Brown, professor of biomedical sciences at the University of Southern Queensland.

    Like heirloom tomato varieties, purple carrots are one of a huge range of fruit and vegetables almost lost in the age of single supermarket varieties. Claims have long been made about purple carrots' health benefits, but until recently these remained untested.

    Professor Brown ran a pre-clinical trial on rats, using purple carrots grown in Queensland. For 16 weeks, the rats were fed a high-fat, high-carbohydrate diet designed to mimic the effects of an unhealthy western diet.

    The rats quickly grew fat, developed high blood pressure, became glucose intolerant (or pre-diabetic) and incurred liver and heart damage. Then, for the second eight weeks, the scientists added purple carrot juice to the rats' food. The results, to be published tomorrow in the British Journal of Nutrition, surprised even the researchers.

    ''Everything went back to normal,'' Professor Brown said. ''The blood pressure went down, the collagen in the heart was back to normal, the liver histology was back to normal, the liver enzymes, the glucose tolerance, the fat pads were all back to normal, despite continuing this … terrible diet.''

    Professor Brown cautions that purple carrots should be consumed in combination with a moderate diet and exercise.

    There are up to 28 times more anthocyanins - the antioxidant that creates the purple-red pigment in blueberries and raspberries - in purple carrots than there are in orange ones.
    Respect for all living entities

  2. #2
    Abe Froman Risker's Avatar
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    Default Re: Purple carrots the next superfood

    I've got some growing, I look forward to being able to bend steel after eating them.

  3. #3
    Knolishing Pob's Avatar
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    Default Re: Purple carrots the next superfood

    Sounds like very dodgy research. All they have possibly proved is that adding some veg juice to a diet deficient in veg is healthier for rats. Doesn't sound like they compared purple carrots against regular carrots, or against any other vegetables.

    Also, how does the anthocyanin levels of purple carrots compare to other purple fruit and veg? Isn't it only the skin that is purple? And don't most people generally peel carrots anyway?

    I suspect there are vested interests behind that story.
    "Danger" could be my middle name … but it's "John"

  4. #4
    Knolishing Pob's Avatar
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    Default Re: Purple carrots the next superfood

    I realise that I appear to be insinuating that someone involved in vivisection has dubious morals and ethics. Oops. I can only apologise to Professor Brown for that.
    "Danger" could be my middle name … but it's "John"

  5. #5
    Abe Froman Risker's Avatar
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    Default Re: Purple carrots the next superfood

    Quote Pob View Post
    Also, how does the anthocyanin levels of purple carrots compare to other purple fruit and veg? Isn't it only the skin that is purple? And don't most people generally peel carrots anyway?
    Some just have purple skin, others have varying degrees of purple flesh up to being purple throughout.

  6. #6

    Default Re: Purple carrots the next superfood

    I'm sure their study will undergo peer review.

    About vivisection. Surely when we read about it, we will feel the cold reality that there is no such thing as a purist vegan because we really dont know if the medicines we are taking are not tested on animals, which is very unlikely, that were hurt, killed or maimed in the process of testing.
    Respect for all living entities

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    Knolishing Pob's Avatar
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    Default Re: Purple carrots the next superfood

    But do we really accept food being tested on animals, too?! And I'm almost 100% certain these tests were bought and paid for by the producers of the purple carrots in Queensland.

    I'm not saying we can avoid animal testing in all situations, but this is bullshit science and lazy reporting by The Age (just reprinting a press release without critique).

    We should be boycotting the purple carrot producers that bankrolled the pointless torture and deaths of those rats.
    "Danger" could be my middle name … but it's "John"

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    baffled harpy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Purple carrots the next superfood

    I also feel that testing foods on animals is frivolous though it's unavoidable for medicines at the moment as it's required by law. As has already been pointed out, as described there it sounds like a cr@p study anyway. Where was the control group?

    Personally I think the whole idea of "superfoods" is mainly a marketing gimmick, and one that's likely to fool some people into thinking if they spend their money on one item they can eat rubbish the rest of the time. I would be absolutely amazed if these carrots had some huge advantage over other foods as they are unlikely to contain any nutrients that can't be obtained elsewhere.

    ETA the BNJ article isn't online yet but I'll keep an eye open in case the study method's been misrepresented in The Age.
    Last edited by harpy; Aug 9th, 2010 at 10:47 AM. Reason: changed my mind about a couple of things!

  9. #9

    Default Re: Purple carrots the next superfood

    You and Yours on Radio 4 (4/8/10) discussed superfoods and the jargon used to sell them. It should still be on iplayer if anyone's interested.

  10. #10
    baffled harpy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Purple carrots the next superfood

    Thanks, jimmeh - interesting item which I missed on the radio but have just listened to:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0097d5c

  11. #11
    Mrs. Beane fondducoeur's Avatar
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    Default Re: Purple carrots the next superfood

    Thanks for the info Jivattatva; I have never heard of a purple carrot.
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    baffled harpy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Purple carrots the next superfood

    We've had the purple-skinned ones in our veg box, but I haven't seen the purple-all-the-way-through ones! Would be interested to.

  13. #13

    Default Re: Purple carrots the next superfood

    Yeah, as the article implies, carrots were originally purple. They've only become orange through artificial selection to satisfy a Western aesthetic.

  14. #14
    baffled harpy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Purple carrots the next superfood

    I thought that orange carrots were specially bred in the Netherlands to please William of Orange - but http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/history.html says it's apocryphal, sulk.

  15. #15

    Default Re: Purple carrots the next superfood

    That's a shame, but interesting nonetheless. Carrots are curious things. I yearn for the bitter, fresh carrots my dad used to grow in the garden. I'm not terribly keen on the sweetness of carrots nowadays.

  16. #16
    baffled harpy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Purple carrots the next superfood

    We sometimes get big misshapen ones in our veg box that are more carrot-y than supermarket ones. Maybe you could find some like that in Roots and Fruits or somewhere?

    I tried growing a few this year but they were about the size of peas! Back to the drawing board.

  17. #17

    Default Re: Purple carrots the next superfood

    Wish I'd known about that study last week as I bought some purple carrots but didn't look to see where they are coming from as most of the vegs on the shelf now are from germany.

    The purple doesn't go all the way through and the purple leaks when cooking. I had bought the purple carrots for veg sushi (thought the colour would look nice) and cooked the leftovers in bean and barley soup and the purple leaks! Beware! They don't taste any different btw, neither did the yellow carrots I bought the year before.

    I will continue to buy purple carrots (or any out of normal vegs) as I like to promote having a variety of vegs on store shelves, not just what the retailer thinks will sell. BUT I will check to see where they are from!
    Silence is golden, but duck tape is silver...

  18. #18
    baffled harpy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Purple carrots the next superfood

    Yes, when we get those multicoloured carrots in the organic veg box I try to eat them raw or just stir-fry for a second because, otherwise you lose the pretty colouring, as you say. The slices with purple on the outside and orange on the inside do look quite groovy though and I'm 99.99% sure the organic veg box people aren't importing them from Australia

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    Bad Buddhist Clueless Git's Avatar
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    Default Re: Purple carrots the next superfood

    Quote Jivattatva View Post
    About vivisection. Surely when we read about it, we will feel the cold reality that there is no such thing as a purist vegan because we really dont know if the medicines we are taking are not tested on animals, which is very unlikely, that were hurt, killed or maimed in the process of testing.
    Aye ...

    I think it would be a pretty good definition of madness to expect to become 100% 'clean' whilst living in what is still a filthy world.
    All done in the best possible taste ...

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