Carrot

Parts Usually Used

Root (cultivated), seed (wild)

Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Carrot is an annual or biennial plant 2-4 feet tall. The wild carrot has a tough, white, inedible root. The stem of the carrot plant is hairy and branched, the leaves bipinnate and cut into fine divisions. The lacy, white flowers appear in a flat cluster, with 1 small deep purple floret at the center; 3 forked bracts beneath; blooms from April to October. The seeds are of a dull brown color, flat on one side and convex on the other.

Where Found

Widely cultivated and also found wild in farmlands, pastures, waste places, roadsides, and meadows. Throughout the United States.

Medicinal Properties

Anthelmintic, carminative, deobstruent, diuretic, stimulant

Biochemical Information

Volatile oil and other unidentified constituents, doucorin, potassium, vitamins A and C, carotene

Legends, Myths and Stories

Wild carrot is considered a very common weed. Proper identification is essential to make sure this plant is not mistaken for one of the deadly poisonous members of the carrot family (Umbelliferae). Carrot poultice: boil carrots until soft, or they can be used raw. Mash to a pulp, add some vegetable oil to keep them from hardening, spread on a cloth, and apply. Excellent for offensive sores.

Garden carrots, grated raw, and applied as a poultice, will cleanse old sores and ulcers. Follow with an application of healing lotion or a wash of golden seal and myrrh solution. Daucus, from the Greek daukos, or daukon–a kind of carrot–a genus of about 60 species of annual, biennial or perennial herbs mainly of Mediterranean and African distribution, belonging to the Umbelliferae family.

The biennial Wild carrot is a naturalized herb in America, found growing in old meadows and pastures. It cannot be transplanted into the garden to produce an edible product. It taints milk with a bitter flavor if cattle eat too much of it, although it is not poisonous. Eating a raw carrot a day can reduce the risk of getting certain forms of cancer. Cancer researchers have found that eating 12,500 IU of beta carotene, a plant form of vitamin A, daily (there are 13,500 IU in one raw carrot) can prevent cancers of the esophagus, stomach, intestines, and prostate.

Numerous studies worldwide, including some sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, confirm that people who eat diets high in carrots and other foods rich in carotene are less likely to develop certain forms of cancer than those who don’t. The studies show that even people exposed to specific carcinogens such as tobacco and ultraviolet light could reduce their risk of cancer by eating more carotene.

The RDA (recommended daily allowance) for carotene is 5,000 IU, but cancer researchers suggest that in order to dramatically decrease the cancer risk, 12,500 IU of carotene is sufficient. Also, carrots are excellent for the eyes and helps counteract night blindness and weak vision. Three large raw carrots a day may also lower blood cholesterol levels, thus reducing the risk of developing coronary artery disease, the leading cause of heart attack.

The fresher the product the better; from the minute the carrot is picked, the carotene begins to lose its potency. Try to buy loose carrots from the grocer and avoid the stuff that is sold in plastic bags. Use them as quickly as possible.

Uses

Historically, herbalists prepared carrot soup as a remedy for diarrhea, stomach upset, and intestinal catarrh, believing it prevented intestinal putrefaction. Raw carrots were traditionally consumed to expel roundworms, while the juice was taken for stomach acidity and heartburn. The root was also widely associated with supporting eye health and night vision due to its carotene content.

Externally, practitioners applied grated carrot poultices to ulcers, abscesses, carbuncles, and wounds, or used the juice and shavings as a topical facial mask for oily skin. Traditional herbals also made use of wild carrot seeds, preparing them as infusions, decoctions, or teas to stimulate urine flow, expel gas, ease colic, and promote menstruation. Historical practitioners recommended seed preparations for fluid retention, gout, jaundice, dysentery, rheumatism, hiccoughs, chronic coughs, and gallstones.

Nicholas Culpeper recorded that carrots prepared in wine aided conception, while other traditions utilized a tea brewed from carrot blossoms for dropsy.

Bibliography

The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974. The Nature Doctor: A Manual of Traditional and Complementary Medicine , by Dr. A. , 27 Pine Street (Box 876) New Canaan, CT. 06840-0876. Copyright Verlag A. , Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. , Copyright 1988, published 1992 Old Ways Rediscovered , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, published from 1954, print 1988 The Complete Medicinal Herbal , by Penelope Ody, Dorling Kindersley, Inc, 232 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, First American Edition, copyright 1993 Chinese Medicinal Herbs , compiled by Shih-Chen Li, Georgetown Press, San Francisco, California, 1973.

, Loma Linda, CA 92354, Original copyright 1939, revised edition 1994 Culpeper’s Complete Herbal & English Physician: Updated With 117 Modern Herbs , by Nicholas Culpeper, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1990, (reprint of 1814) Indian Uses of Native Plants , by Edith Van Allen Murphey, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1958, print 1990 Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants , by Steven Foster and James A.

, Simon & Schuster/Fireside, Rockefeller Center 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020 American Folk Medicine , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1973 Indian Herbalogy of North America , by Alma R. , 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023 An Instant Guide to Medicinal Plants , by Pamela Forey and Ruth Lindsay, Crescent Books (January 27, 1992).

The Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine , by Dr. David Frawley & Dr. Vasant Lad, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Second edition, 1988. The Rodale Herb Book: How to Use, Grow, and Buy Nature’s Miracle Plants (An Organic gardening and farming book) , edited by William H. Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. , 1974