FUN FACT FRIDAY: CARROTS!!

The carrot is a root vegetable, usually orange in color, though purple, red, black , white, and yellow varieties exist. Carrots were originally white or purple. Then a yellow carrot appeared through mutation and the familiar orange carrot was bred from it. European settlers introduced the carrot to colonial America in the 17th century. Carrots are the second most popular vegetable in the world, after potatoes. The biggest carrot recorded is more than 8.6 kilograms (19 pounds) and the longest is over 5.7 meters (19 feet)! Rabbits love to eat carrots, but they shouldn’t eat too many. A rabbit eating a single carrot is like us eating over 20. Carrots have a higher natural sugar content than all other vegetables with the exception of beets. But because they are low in starch, you can have plenty of sweetness without all the carbs. Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, which helps boost your immunity. But did you know that you’ll get more nutrition out of a carrot by cooking it instead of eating it raw? In fact, eating carrots raw only gives you three percent of this substance, but when you heat them up they release closer to 40 percent. That’s kind of a bummer because we really enjoy eating our carrots raw as a snack. There is no real nutritional benefit of eating carrots peeled or unpeeled, it all comes down to taste. Still, they are sont délicieuses! And to our surprise, Mel Blanc, the voice of cartoon character Bugs Bunny, did not like carrots! What’s up with that doc? Hee hee! Have a sweet and crunch Friday mes amis! xox