Have you noticed a lack of energy, or a tendency to tire easily? Do your hands and feet get cold even when it’s warm outside? How about your nails—are they brittle with white flecks? These are all signs of hormonal issues, which affect your gut, thinking ability, and your capacity to accomplish goals.
Hormonal imbalances are common among women and men because of the plastics in our water and food, poor diets, and nutrient-deprived soils. But before you go on thyroid medication or tax your body with synthetic drugs, try out this simple remedy touted by PhD endocrinologist Dr. Ray Peat:
Eat raw carrots.
Simply adding the indigestible fibers of raw carrots to your diet can alleviate hormonal symptoms like:
- migraines
- irritability
- brain fog
- low testosterone
- dry skin
- digestive issues
- PMS
- Weight gain
- Sluggish liver
- and depression.
And no, this isn’t like when the British government told everyone to eat carrots for healthy eye. That was war propaganda, by the way. Eating raw carrots is actually beneficial for scientifically validated reasons.
How carrots restore your endocrine system
The build up of gut toxins is an established cause of hormone imbalance. Endotoxins are formed when enough bad bacteria outnumber the good—kind of like a country western when the sheriff gets ousted.
This increase of bad bacteria decreases the production of active thyroid hormone (TH3), which is important for metabolism, digestion, and hormone balance. The production of TH3 depends on an enzyme called intestinal sulfatase, which is made by good bacteria in a healthy gut.
Now you can see why Hippocrates said, “All disease begins in the gut.” The reason for disease beginning in the gut may be complex, but the solution is simple. Eat raw carrots.
What do carrots do?
Raw carrots have a unique fiber that binds with endotoxins, like excess estrogen and bad bacteria. Without enough non-digestible fiber to sweep the intestine, harmful bacteria outcompete the good guys that keep you healthy.
Carrots fix that problem with its toxin-binding and non-fermenting fiber; it’s like having a new sheriff in town. Or the amazing vegetable that restored health to your gut…take your pick.
“These fibers prevent the reabsorption of estrogen in the intestine, and can shift the balance away from cortisol and estrogen, toward progesterone and thyroid, in just a few days of regular use,” says Peat.
Dr. Peat pioneered research into hormones and anti-aging. He elaborates on the benefits of carrots:
“Because of my own experience in finding that eating a raw carrot daily prevented migraines, I suspected that carrot fiber was having both a bowel-protective and anti-estrogen effect,”
The courageous endocrinologist used himself as a guinea pig with one of the guinea pig’s staple food items. Touché. Dr. Ray finishes by saying,
“Several women who suffered from premenstrual symptoms, including migraines, 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.”
Peat’s scientific observation’s mirrored the studies that eventually took place in the 21st century.
How to supercharge your gut health with a carrot salad
Now that you’re convinced to change your life with carrots (am I actually writing that?), you may be thinking about the agony of munching one for 20 whole minutes.
But luckily there is a super tasty way to eat this bunny food, which amplifies the gut-healing effect.
Peat-Tastic Carrot Salad
Ingredients:
- 1 medium organic carrot
- 1 tsp organic olive oil
- 1 tsp organic extra virgin coconut oil (or additional 1 t olive oil)
- Splash of Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar
- Pinch of sea salt
All you need to do is wash your carrot, shred it vertically into a bowl, and mix in the oil, vinegar and salt.
Both olive and coconut oil have antibacterial and antimicrobial properties that help to condition your GI tract, while the vinegar stimulates digestion.
“It is helpful to optimize bowel flora, for example with a carrot salad,” Dr. Peat says. “A dressing of vinegar, coconut oil and olive oil suppresses bacterial growth while healing the intestinal wall.”
This salad has been used to help conditions like insomnia, arthritis, PMS, and even epilepsy. It’s best eaten in the morning thirty minutes before food, or in between meals. You can add cheese to it, meat, or whatever else makes it appetizing enough to eat.
Conclusion
If you’ve suffered from the many manifestations of hormonal imbalance–especially brain fog and lack of energy–you may be a month of carrot-crunching from balanced bliss. Try a carrot a day for thirty days and see what it can do for your health—share your results with us!