Transcript
Ever wonder how you can maximize the nutrients you get from your food? I've got some science-backed tips for you. Last time we covered how carotenoids in your food can actually end up changing your skin tone in a way that studies have found to be more attractive than an equivalent suntan. But it's a bit tough to eat a whole bag of carrots every day, and your toilet might object. I love finding little nuggets of actionable info and scientific research. It gives me the science tingles. And I've spent this whole week pouring through more than 30 research journals on this topic. So here are some takeaways. Carotenoids and plants are all bound up in the food matrix and need to be set free before they can be So you need to find Neo and what? Sorry, wrong matrix. Normally your stomach acid and digestive enzymes help with this jailbreak, but you can help this process along. In this study, cooking and purring carrots tripled the amount of beta-carotene that was absorbed compared to raw. Although raw is pretty interesting because it seems to vary a lot based on your microbiome. But let's talk tomatoes. Hi in Lycopene. The reason my last video showed canned tomatoes, ideally pureed with the skin, is because the canning process involves both heat treatment and concentration. actually recommends using the canned stuff because they're canned during peak ripeness. Next up, absorption. Carotinoids are fat soluble, so they're best absorbed when eaten alongside fats. Some studies show that 3 to 5 grams is enough, but another one showed that 35 grams was even better, and another showed that it was best with 10% of the total weight as olive oil. Protein might interfere with some of the absorption. And finally, beta-carotene and lutein might compete with each other for absorption, so best to consume them separately. This actually messed with the epic carotenoid soup recipe that I was working on. One, cook and puree your veggies. Two, canned pured tomatoes are better than fresh. Three, add at least three to five grams of healthy fat per meal. But more is better. And four, you can mix your tomatoes and carrots, but best to keep the spinach and kale that are high in lutein in separate meals. Four, optimizing. They still would be a net health benefit. Questions?
Additional notes
Replying to @chadwhitexxx ❓ IMPORTANT QUESTION! What’s your favorite way to cook carrots and tomatoes? 😋 Next time i’ll share a recipe I’ve been working on, along with the details of my upcoming experiment to see if i can change my own skin tone! NOTE: These tips are all about carotenoids. There are other components of vegetables’ nutrition that might be optimized via different methods, although the general principle of freeing active compounds that are bound up is fairly broad. 📚 Some KEY Studies: DOI: 10.1021/acsfoodscitech.2c00049 DOI: 10.3390/nu11051093 DOI: 10.1093/jn/130.3.503 DOI: 10.1093/jn/132.2.159 #science #skincare #health #nutrition #optimalist