The purple carrot is the “original” carrot first cultivated in ancient Persia. They contain many phytochemicals including anthocyanins, carotenoids, isocoumarins, phenolics, polyacetylenes, and sesquiterpenes. There are up to 28 times more anthocyanins in purple carrots than there are in the orange kind. Claims have long been made about the health benefits of purple carrots, but until recently these claims remained untested.
A recent study conducted at the School of Biomedical Sciences, at the University of Queensland in Australia, has shown that this ancient carrot variety is high in anti-inflammatory properties and antioxidants.(1) In this study rats were fed a high-fat, high-carb diet designed to mimic the effects of a typical western diet. The rats quickly became fat, developed high blood pressure, became glucose intolerant (or pre-diabetic) and incurred liver and heart damage. After 8 weeks of adding purple carrot juice to the rat’s food, “Everything went back to normal,” according to Professor Lindsay Brown. “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.” I’m not suggesting you use Vivix to counteract a bad diet, but think of the positive changes that could occur with lifestyle changes plus Vivix.*
Another study conducted at the University of Wisconsin suggests that it is the polyacetylenes, not the anthocyanins in purple carrots that are responsible for its anti-inflammatory bioactivity.(2) This study looked at pro-inflammatory cytokines. Two important biomarkers of inflammation were reduced by purple carrot extract. Interleukin-6 (the cytokine that mediates fever) was reduced by 77% and Tumor necrosis factor-alpha was reduced by 66%. Another compound, Nitric Oxide, is released by our macrophages when they are challenged by an immune response. The polyacetylenes in purple carrot reduced nitric oxide production in macrophage cells by up to 65%, which means these cells were not “challenged” because inflammation was reduced.
Most people think that it is the carotenoids in carrots that provide most of the health benefits and they are important. What these 2 studies have shown is its the anthocyanins and polyacetylenes that are responsible for the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of carrots and likely responsible for these positive improvements. The purple carrot is one of nature’s powerhouses for these important phytochemicals and part of what makes Vivix so effective.
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References:
1. Poudyal H, Panchal S, Brown L. Comparison of purple carrot juice and β-carotene in a high-carbohydrate, high-fat diet-fed rat model of the metabolic syndrome. Br J Nutr 2010 Nov;104(9):1322-32.
2. Metzger B, Barnes D, Reed J. Purple Carrot Polyacetylenes Decrease Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Expression of Inflammatory Proteins in Macrophage and Endothelial Cells. J Agric Food Chem 2008;56(10):3554-60.