A nutrition lesson from Marilyn Monroe
It turns out that we can learn more than a couple tips from Marilyn Monroe’s nutrient-dense diet (*ahem* aside from her drug and alcohol intake). She eschewed breads and pastries and greatly favored liver, the most nutrient-dense food on the planet.
Perhaps another secret to keeping her figure? Her daily raw carrots, which she greatly enjoyed and consumed with her evening meal.
What Marilyn Monroe didn’t know was that her daily raw carrots contain a unique property that aids detox and hormone balance! (And it’s not vitamin A, since carrots actually don’t provide vitamin A.)
A carrot a day detoxes estrogen
Raw carrots contain a unique fiber that absorbs excess estrogen and helps sweep it out of the body. Why is this so important?
Our western society faces rampant estrogen dominance because we face an increasing stress burden. Stress, whether physical or emotional, increases the production of estrogen. Additionally, many pesticides and chemicals are xenonestrogens – chemicals which the body perceives as estrogen.
Further, dietary components throw estrogen drastically out of balance. Soy contains phytoestrogens that mimic estrogen in the body. The modern soy craze has devastating effects on hormone balance for men, women and particularly children. Unhealthful “newfangled” fats including all vegetable oils (corn oil, soy oill, safflower oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, etc.) lead to inflammation and increase the estrogenic load.
Estrogen dominance is an underlying cause of PMS, menopausal symptoms, hormonal acne, infertility, and mood disorders. It doesn’t just affect women: men, and particularly pre-pubescent boys, face the threat of estrogen dominance. Lack of muscle tone, erectile dysfunction, and “man boobs” all point in part to estrogen dominance.
By helping to detox some of the excess estrogen, a raw carrot a day plays an important role in both male and female hormone balance.
In my e-book Quit PMS, I explain how to address estrogen dominance naturally through a customizable protocol to end menstrual cramping, hormonal acne, swollen breasts, etc.)
Dr. Ray Peat, who shares controversial and groundbreaking nutrition research, introduced the “Carrot a Day” routine:
Because of my own experience in finding that eating a raw carrot daily prevented my migraines, I began to suspect that the carrot fiber was having both a bowel-protective and an antiestrogen effect. Several women who suffered from premenstrual symptoms, including migraine, 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. (1)
The carrot salad improves the ratio of progesterone to estrogen and cortisol, and so is as appropriate for epilepsy as for premenstrual syndrome, insomnia, or arthritis. (2)
No baby carrots: Beware the LPS!
Purchase whole, medium-sized carrots (preferably organic) from your grocery store or farmer’s market. Do not use pre-peeled baby carrots, since the peel prevents the growth of gram negative bacteria according to Dr. Tom O’Bryan, who discussed this in The Gluten Summit. This was new information to me, and, although it makes sense to me (because the carrot peel protects the carrot as it grows in the soil), I would take it with a grain of salt because I’m having difficulty finding other sources for this information. According to Dr. Tom, Once the carrot is peeled and left in the fridge for a couple of days, it allows gram negative bacteria to flourish. The problem here is that the protective coating on this bacteria contains an endotoxin – a toxic component – called lipopolysaccharides (LPS).
We know that LPS provokes a powerful immune reaction in humans and animals. When we eat a source of LPS, we increase inflammation. Research shows that LPS may lead to leaky gut and contribute to mood disorders including depression.
Dr. Ray Peat also recommends a whole, medium sized carrot so that seems like the safe route to go.
How to eat your carrot a day
- The carrot must be raw, not cooked
- You can enjoy the carrot peeled or washed and not peeled.
- Ideally, eat it in-between meals and not with meals
- Eat it whole or prepare the Detox Carrot Salad, a recipe from Mama Natural. You coarsely grate the carrot and add coconut oil, vinegar and salt. The salad is my favorite way to enjoy my raw carrot a day – it’s delicious!
Are you up for the carrot a day remedy? Have you heard of it before?
What’s the opposite of the carrot for estrogen? If you’re in perimenopause, your estrogen is already decreasing and you actually need more.
Ive been eating raw carrots for many years, everyday, still do. No wonder why i barely had a hot flash or night sweats. Thought i was the luckiest woman ,not suffering like my friends. Looks like its cause ive been the smartest being a health nut snd eating lots of raw veggies and fruits.
Knew it was good for my health, thanks for letting me know the bonuses it gave me.
I really would love to eat a carrot a day, but if I eat raw carrots I get stomach aches. But I can drink carrot juice. Could I replace the raw carrot with a raw carrot juice or do I loose important parts that way?
Same thing happened to me! But if I eat fermented carrots, I have no trouble at all. Check out the dill carrot recipe on the Pickl-it website!
As the article states, what you want is the FIBER from the carrot. That’s the part that absorbs the estrogen.
When you juice the carrot, the pulp that you are separating out and throwing away IS the fiber. Juicing will not give you the same benefit.
I have so many carrots from my CSA I keep meaning to do this instead of saving them all for soup or steaming like usual XD A tip for those of you who have poor digestion like me – drink some hot water about 15 minutes before eating anything raw. 🙂
Hi, can you please let us know if carrot salad safe for us menopausal women. Don’t want to get more health issues. Thanks
Yes, it is!
I have digestive issues. Will this salad make me poop a lot?
Safe in pregnancy as well?
Raw carrots are not contraindicated during pregnancy. Go ahead and enjoy a carrot, Maggie!
Is it okay to juice the carrot? I have a hard time digesting raw veg.
As the article states, the active component is the FIBER in the carrot, which is removed when you juice it.
Fiber is the pulp that you’re separating from the juice and throwing away, so juicing it will not give the same effect.
Okinawans eat tofu. It’s not a fermented soy. They’re one of the longest living, healthiest populations aka the blue zones. I’m sure their tofu is not processed like commercial tofu. They basically boiled soy beans, strained them for the soy milk, and then added nigari to the soy milk as it cooked further to congeal into tofu. Nigari is what you get when you remove salt from seawater and it evaporates. It has lots of minerals like magnesium which most of us don’t get enough of. I agree to be careful about soy products nowadays, but homemade tofu and soy milk with non GMO soy beans is probably just fine.
Also, those blue zone cultures aren’t vegan nor vegetarian. Many eat some dairy daily, fish weekly and a little meat monthly. I agree that animal milk is a better bet for most.
And of course it’s natural for humans to use animals as resources! Nothing unnatural about consuming animal milk just because the animal isn’t making it for humans. We’re the top of the food chain and our big brains and opposable thumbs give us the ability to make healthy food from many sources. Plants don’t make fruits and veggies and seeds for us either! Many have developed barriers to prevent being eaten even! But we still use them as resources and it’s quite natural for us to do so.
This posted on the wrong page….oops…I’m on an iPad and it jumped to this page somehow.
Hello, I was just diagnosed with DCIS. Plan to do lumpectomy, but I dont want radiation and don’t want to take Tamoxifen (to block my estrogen receptors). I am looking for a natural way to block estrogen or reduce estrogen. I also suffer from fibroids and heavy bleeding during periods. I am 53. Hope someone can help me! Would eating 2 or 3 raw carrots a day help me? I am afraid this estrogen problem will bring more female cancers. Need help in avoiding Tamoxifen!!
if you peel raw carrots, and use the peel to make carrot crisps, will it affect my peeled carrots? I usually eat carrots with the peel (washed first in the sink) but if I still eat it raw, just peeled, will I lose any benefits?