Raw carrots contain a unique fiber that absorbs excess estrogen and helps sweep it out of the body. Why is this so important?
Our western society faces rampant estrogen dominance because we face an increasing stress burden. Stress, whether physical or emotional, increases the production of estrogen. Additionally, many pesticides and chemicals are xenonestrogens – chemicals which the body perceives as estrogen.
Further, dietary components throw estrogen drastically out of balance. Soy contains phytoestrogens that mimic estrogen in the body. The modern soy craze has devastating effects on hormone balance for men, women and particularly children. Unhealthful “newfangled” fats including all vegetable oils (corn oil, soy oill, safflower oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, etc.) lead to inflammation and increase the estrogenic load.
Estrogen dominance is an underlying cause of PMS, menopausal symptoms, hormonal acne, infertility, and mood disorders. It doesn’t just affect women: men, and particularly pre-pubescent boys, face the threat of estrogen dominance. Lack of muscle tone, erectile dysfunction, and “man boobs” all point in part to estrogen dominance.
By helping to detox some of the excess estrogen, a raw carrot a day plays an important role in both male and female hormone balance.
In my e-book Quit PMS, I explain how to address estrogen dominance naturally through a customizable protocol to end menstrual cramping, hormonal acne, swollen breasts, etc.)
Dr. Ray Peat, who shares controversial and groundbreaking nutrition research, introduced the “Carrot a Day” routine:
Because of my own experience in finding that eating a raw carrot daily prevented my migraines, I began to suspect that the carrot fiber was having both a bowel-protective and an antiestrogen effect. Several women who suffered from premenstrual symptoms, including migraine, had their serum estrogen measured before and after the “carrot diet,” and they found that the carrot lowered their estrogen within a few days, as it relieved their symptoms. (1)The carrot salad improves the ratio of progesterone to estrogen and cortisol, and so is as appropriate for epilepsy as for premenstrual syndrome, insomnia, or arthritis. (2)
