In popular science articles, it is often mentioned that eating foods rich in carotenoids is good for your health. So, what exactly is carotenoid? What’s the good for human body? Carotenoid is a kind of yellow, orange or red fat soluble pigment widely existing in microorganisms, plants, animals and human body. It mainly exists in fresh fruits and vegetables in plants, and has many biological functions such as anti-oxidation, anti-tumor, immune enhancement and visual protection.
There are two types of carotenoids: carotenoids and luteins. The main carotenoids are α – carotene, β – carotene, γ – carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, β – cryptoflavin, lycopene, etc. Among the three isomers of carotene, the content of β – carotene is the highest and that of γ – carotene is the lowest. α. β, γ – carotene and β – cryptoxanthin can decompose to form vitamin A, while lutein, zeaxanthin and lycopene do not have the activity of Pro Vitamin A, so they cannot decompose to vitamin A. The food source of carotenoids is carotenoids which can only be synthesized by plants and microorganisms, while animals can’t synthesize carotenoids by themselves, so human body mainly obtains them from plant food. Carotenoids are mainly found in fresh fruits and vegetables, among which α – carotene and β – carotene are mainly from yellow orange vegetables and fruits; β – cryptoflavin is mainly from orange fruits; lutein is mainly from dark green vegetables; lycopene is mainly from tomatoes. The human body takes about 6 milligrams of carotenoids every day. The effect of carotenoids. Carotenoids have many biological effects. Eating foods rich in carotenoids is good for your health. 1. Antioxidant effect: carotenoids have significant antioxidant activity, which can prevent aging, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, tumors and cataracts. Epidemiological studies have shown that lycopene, β – carotene and lutein can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and some cancers, and can prevent atherosclerosis.
1、Anti-tumor effect: Rich carotenoids deep green vegetables and fruits can reduce the incidence rate of cancer. Lycopene, which plays the main role, has obvious anti-cancer effect and can effectively prevent the occurrence of many kinds of cancer.
2、Enhance immune function: Carotenoids can enhance the immune function of the body. Lycopene and β – carotene can not only reduce the oxidative damage of immune cells, but also promote the production of some interleukin and play the role of immune regulation.
3、Protection of visual function: Lutein is the main functional factor to protect vision. Increasing the intake of lutein can significantly prevent and improve the senile eye degeneration, such as retinitis pigmentosa, maculopathy and cataract. Because the absorption peak of lutein corresponds to the blue light absorption spectrum, it can absorb a lot of blue light close to the ultraviolet light, thus protecting the retina from light damage.
4、Maintain the health of epithelial cells: As the precursor of vitamin A, β – carotene can be converted into vitamin A in human body, and vitamin A is very important for the normal formation, development and maintenance of epithelial cells. When vitamin A is insufficient or deficient, the epithelial tissue proliferates and thickens, the cell division is accelerated, and the cell surface layer becomes flat, irregular and dry. It is characterized by keratinization of the inner membrane of nose, pharynx, larynx and other respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract and urogenital system, which weakens the natural barrier against bacterial invasion and makes it easy to be infected.