Carrots are healthy, but reactive enzymes unleash their full benefits-more lifestyles

Carrots are an excellent source of beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A. However, to get the full health benefits of this superfood, you need an active enzyme to produce this vitamin, suggesting the discovery of new research.

Beta-carotene is a bioactive compound that gives carrots an orange color. Studies in humans and mice have shown that converting beta-carotene to vitamin A reduces “bad” cholesterol in the blood. Therefore, beta-carotene helps prevent the development of atherosclerosis, which leads to the accumulation of fat and cholesterol in the arteries. Jaume Amengual, assistant professor of personal nutrition at the University of Illinois School of Food Science and Human Nutrition, states that cardiovascular disease in atherosclerosis is the leading cause of death worldwide.

Amengual and his colleagues conducted two studies to further understand the effects of beta-carotene on cardiovascular health. They confirmed its importance, but identified important steps in the process.

Beta-carotene is converted to vitamin A with the help of an enzyme called beta-carotene oxygenase 1 (BCO1). Genetic variation determines whether there is more or less an active version of BCO1. People with low enzyme activity may need other sources of vitamin A in their diet, Amengual says.

The first study, published in the Journal of Nutrition, analyzed blood and DNA samples from 767 healthy young adults aged 18 to 25 years. As expected, researchers found a correlation between BCO1 activity and bad cholesterol levels.

“People who had a genetic variation associated with more activation of the enzyme BCO1 had lower cholesterol in their blood, which was our first observation,” said Amengual.

To follow up on these findings, Amengual and his colleagues conducted a second study in the Journal of Lipid Research using mice.

“Human studies have found that people who do not produce much vitamin A have high cholesterol. To see if that observation works, see if it develops into the cardiovascular system in the long run. You have to wait 70 years to do it. In real life, it’s not feasible, so you can speed up the process because you’re using animals for certain studies, “he explains.

“The main findings of mouse research are recreating what we found in humans. We found that giving beta-carotene to mice lowers cholesterol levels. These mice have small arteries. It develops atherosclerotic lesions or plaques, which means that beta-carotene-fed mice are more protected from atherosclerosis than mice fed a diet without this bioactive compound. Means, “says Amengual.

In the second study, researchers also looked at the biochemical pathways of these processes to determine where in the body the effects occur.

“We narrow down to the liver as the organ responsible for the production and secretion of lipoproteins into the bloodstream, including lipoproteins known as bad cholesterol. In mice with high levels of vitamin A, bloodstream. It has been observed that the secretion of lipids into the liver is slowed down, “said Amengual.

Understanding how the BCO1 enzyme is associated with cholesterol is important. High beta-carotene levels in the blood are usually associated with health benefits. However, it could also be a sign of a less active BCO1 enzyme that has not converted the beta-carotene we eat to vitamin A.

Up to 50 percent of the population has less active variants of the enzyme, Amengual said. This means that their bodies are slow to produce vitamin A from plant sources and may need to get this nutrient directly from animal sources such as milk and cheese.

(This story is published from the news agency feed without changing the text.)

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