Beta-carotene absorbs better from cooked carrot than raw carrot.
An experiment carried out at the Institute of Food Research in 2009 showed that the body can absorb about 5% of the beta carotene from a raw carrot, whereas when it is boiled, the carrot released 60% and blended and then boiled a whopping 90%.
Eating lightly-cooked carrots is much more beneficial than eating raw carrots, which confirms the ancient wisdom in Traditional Chinese medicine. Research by Dr. Xiangdong Wang at Tufts University shows that beta carotene can change in the human body into a substance called retinoic acid, which is widely used to treat cancers.
