Whole peeled carrot V. Grated

DharmaBunny

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Sep 23, 2013
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How much of a difference does the grating, the oil and vinegar make to the health benefits of raw carrot?
Will munching on a raw carrot help my gut, or am I wasting my time if I haven't grated it etc.?
 

Mittir

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Feb 20, 2013
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Someone asked this same question in Josh Rubin's First Q and A interview.
He said that effectiveness of fiber depends on length.
(In another interview he recommended grating it longitudinally)
He mentioned that blended carrot lose water binding capacity.
Eating whole carrot without grating has the possibility of
ingesting large pieces of carrot,which is not very helpful.
Finally he said "Just chewing is very good".
You do not want too small( blended) or too
large ( eating without chewing) pieces of carrot.
 

kiran

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Aug 9, 2012
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I think he also mentioned that chewing on a carrot can be stressful on your teeth, or words to that effect.
 

honeybee

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Jan 22, 2013
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I found that if I had to grate it, then I stopped eating it so much. So now I just eat them plain-more convenient and will eat them more frequently. They seem to be effective either way. Less stress.
 

Jib

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Mar 20, 2013
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I scrub them under running water, then gently pat them dry and salt them. I enjoy it the most that way, and it's also more convenient than peeling it into a salad.

I would imagine that regularly eating harder foods like carrots could be good for the teeth. I could be wrong, but I would think that, similar to how bone density increases in response to load-bearing exercise, regularly eating carrots could encourage the teeth to grow stronger.

Either way, I like the resistance of a whole carrot. It's more fun for me to eat than the carrot salad. I really like it a lot.
 

Ben

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Dec 13, 2013
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Jib said:
I scrub them under running water, then gently pat them dry and salt them. I enjoy it the most that way, and it's also more convenient than peeling it into a salad.

I would imagine that regularly eating harder foods like carrots could be good for the teeth. I could be wrong, but I would think that, similar to how bone density increases in response to load-bearing exercise, regularly eating carrots could encourage the teeth to grow stronger.

Either way, I like the resistance of a whole carrot. It's more fun for me to eat than the carrot salad. I really like it a lot.
I can't even eat a whole carrot because my teeth are so sensitive. I'd shout "Ow!" the whole time. It's an interesting theory though. I know that acid breaks down teeth, so I don't use vinegar when I eat a carrot salad, and I add baking soda to my orange juice. The bones also get broken down by acid. Tissues like muscles atrophy when not stimulated, as do bones, so probably teeth too. But I don't know if a carrot is the right type of stimulation to make teeth stronger.
 

Jib

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Mar 20, 2013
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Dr. John Mew takes a "use it or lose it" approach and believes that maintaining jaw strength is important for maintaining jaw structure. I think his son recommends chewing gum. I do like the Glee brand gum base, which is unflavored and has nothing in it but gum.

I add baking soda to my orange juice too, and since I've been having whole raw carrots, I only use salt -- no vinegar.

Brian Palmer, in addition to John Mew, has a lot to say about proper oral posture (lips lightly, comfortably closed, tip of the tongue just behind or barely touching the front teeth, and the tongue against the palate -- complete with nasal breathing) and proper swallowing (the tongue should not thrust forward even a little -- it should flatten against the roof of the mouth and expand without the tip moving forward even a little toward the incisors).

I'm a huge advocate of the importance of proper oral posture, proper swallowing, and breastfeeding (one of Palmer's main points of focus, which he claims is critical for proper oral/cranial development).

Those aside, I'm not sure how much food texture comes into play. I have noticed slight facial structure changes (for the better) over the past couple years of using proper oral posture, and the last time I had a filling replaced by my dentist she commented on how powerful my tongue was. Yes, insert dirty joke here :)

On a Peat inspired diet, the only hard food I ever eat are raw carrots. I do believe they provide stimulation, but I'm not sure if 1 a day is enough to really change much. Maybe, maybe not. I wonder if over many generations of people eating primarily soft foods, tooth structure would change.
 

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