Increase cartenoid intake by adding fatty acids

Fresh and brightly colored vegetables, like the ones you often find in salsa sauce and other exotic salads, are rich in cartenoids. Cartenoids are powerful anti-oxidants which help to decrease your risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease or cataract. To fully enjoys the benefits of the cartenoids you have to combine them with some fat.

Scientists of Ohio State University discovered that people who ate a salad that had half an avocado (which is rich in good fats) in it, absorbed 10 times more beta-carotene and lutein than those who ate a salad without avocado. Beta-carotene can be found in carrots and lutein in spinach. Eating avocado with salsa increased the absorption of the lycopene from the tomatoes in the salsa almost fivefold.

Fatty acids help the intestines to absorb the cartenoids into your body. Furthermore these fats are an essential part of the lipoprotein that take care of the transport of the cartenoids in the blood.

So every time you eat brightly colored vegetables add some fats to increase the absorption of the cartenoids in the vegetables. But make sure the fats are of the healthy, unsaturated kinds as found mostly in oils.

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