Special carrot helps absorb more calcium

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Texas A&M's AgriLife's Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center has developed a carrot to help people absorb more calcium.

The research, done in collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine, found adding the special carrot to the diet can help prevent such diseases as osteoporosis.

"The primary goal was to increase the calcium in fruit and vegetables to benefit human health and nutrition -- fruit and vegetables are good for you for many reasons but they have not been a good source of calcium in the past," lead author Dr. Jay Morris, a post doctorate researcher at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

The study involved 15 men and 15 women, who were fed either the modified carrots, called sCAX1, or regular carrots for the first week. Two weeks later, they were fed the other type of carrot. Urine samples were collected 24 hours after each feeding to determine the amount of specially marked calcium absorbed, Morris explained.

The findings, published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found after a serving of the modified carrot the study subjects absorbed 41 percent more calcium than from a regular carrot.