by Amritakripa Watts-Robb

I’ve got carrots on my mind so it occurred to me to write a blog about them.  My husband Robbi and I decided to invest in a new juicer and make a renewed commitment to juicing at least once a day.  I got a call from our local health food store to say that the carrots he ordered were in and I could pick them up any time.  Well, as it happened I went to the store to pick them up and literally I couldn’t – it was a 50 lb bag!!!  It struck me that Robbi may have been taken over by an excessive bout of enthusiasm when he ordered so many carrots – although he assured me he didn’t realize how big the bag would be.  No complaints though, we could ask for no greater motivation to juice regularly than the desire to use up the carrots before they start to get long in the teeth.

So – we are off – every day a juice – no excuses.  I have been utterly taken by the beautiful dense orange color of our new staple.  The very sight of it makes me feel more alive and I think there is value in looking at some of the ideas that this vibrant color represents. Orange is a combination of red and yellow. Red is a color of passion and action and yellow is a color associated with happiness – combined they give is a certain zest for life. Orange is therefore said to represent enthusiasm, curiosity, happiness, creativity, attraction, encouragement, and stimulation.  Interestingly, orange stimulates mental activity by increasing oxygen supply to the brain as well as stimulating appetite – probably because it is associated with healthy foods. Overall, orange is a rather welcoming and inviting color.

Beta carotene is the orange pigment that gives the carrot its sunny hue and it is certainly the most commonly recognized of carrot phytonutrient treasure trove.  However, this is just one amongst many carotenoids that also include alpha-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lutein and lycopene.  These health-benefiting compounds deliver different types of protection to the cells of your body, including the maintenance of healthy cholesterol levels, immune health and helping the body protect itself from the damaging effects of exposure to sunlight. According to, James Joseph, Daniel Nadeau and Anne Underwood, the authors of The Color Code . . . “beta-carotene  appears to behave differently at very high supplemental doses than it does when consumed in foods.”  They are suggesting that we “take advantage of the full spectrum of health-giving compounds” delivered by the whole food.

It’s good to know that carrots are one of the main foods used in many of our MegaFood supplements. They have been processed at cool temperatures to be sure that all of the important compounds can deliver the desired benefits.  And as for us with the juicing, I have to say so far so good – we’re feeling great.   Hopefully we won’t start to display the symptoms of hypercaroteum (yellowing of the skin which is the harmless result of consuming too much carrot juice).  And hopefully our friends will get tired of the bunny jokes and the What’s up Doc? comments when they see the rapidly diminishing bag of carrots in our kitchen.