Carotenoids

There are more than 600 kinds of carotenoids found in plants, including about 40 that are prominent in common fruits and vegetables. The four best known carotenoids are Beta-Carotene, Lycopene, Lutein and Zeaxanthin. Carotenoids are found in yellow, orange, red fruits and dark green vegetables such as carrots, spinach, broccoli, beets, apricots, cantaloupe, mangos, papaya and tomatoes. Carotenoids appear to protect you from certain cancers, heart disease, stroke and macular degeneration. They are important free-radical scavengers. Those who consume few vegetables and fruits have a higher risk of cancer, particularly lung cancer.

Carotenoids may also have many other health promoting effects. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Dr. Dexter Morris and his colleagues in the School of Medicine examined the carotenoid levels in the blood serum of thousands of middle-aged men at risk for heart disease. They followed the men for 13 years and found that those with the highest blood levels of carotenoids were one-third less likely to suffer a heart attack than the men with the lowest levels. Nonsmokers appeared to benefit the most in this first large, long-term study of the relationship between serum carotenoids and heart disease. Nonsmokers with the highest levels of carotenoids had a risk of heart attack that was only 20 percent that of nonsmokers with the lowest levels. In another study older adults with the highest dietary intake of carotenoids had a 43% lower risk for macular degeneration than those in the lowest group. (Seddon, Ajani and colleagues, JAMA, 1994)

No one really knows the amount of carotenoids you need for disease protection at the present time. For now, you should make an effort to include foods that contain carotenoids in your diet even though we cannot provide you with an RDA or other recommendation. As long as you consume carotenoids in your diet there are no adverse effects.