About Carotenoids

Carotenoids are a family of more than 600 pigments found in nature!

Carotenoids are the yellow, orange, and red pigments that give certain foods their bright, cheerful colors. You can find them in the yellow in egg yolks and lemons, the orange of oranges, carrots and papayas, the red in tomatoes and peppers, all green leafy vegetables and many other fruits and vegetables. They are also occur in shellfish, certain kinds of fish, brilliant feathers and the flowers and insects in your garden. They cannot be made by your body and, therefore, must come from the food you eat. The most well known carotenoids are called beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, lutein, lycopene, and zeaxanthin. 13 major carotenoids are found in human blood. Two of them, lutein and zeaxanthin, are concentrated in the retina of your eye.

Carotenoids are natural substances that act to provide color and to stabilize. Foods containing carotenoids can keep their appearance for long periods of time and withstand exposure to direct sunlight. Just think of the carrots of summer or the oranges of winter that seem to last forever! When you eat them, you reap the benefits!

What are some of the benefits of carotenoids for your health? How can the color of a food be good for you? All that color is actually a life-saver! An important aspect of carotenoids is their ability to prevent the damage to your body caused by free radicals. Free radicals are oxygen molecules that are made in your body during its normal functioning or introduced from the environment. Free radicals react with certain chemicals in your body and, in the process, interfere with the cells' ability to function normally. Carotenoids to the rescue! They are capable of acting as antioxidants, which then interact with the free radicals to neutralize their harmful effects on your body. There is a lot of evidence that carotenoids may help to prevent certain degenerative diseases, such as those associated with the aging process, cancer and heart disease.  Increasing the amount of antioxidant substances you consume and reducing your exposure to environmental free radicals may decrease your risk of having the health problems related to free radicals. You improve your health and fend off disease at the same time. What could be better or easier than that?

DSM Nutritional Products produces many carotenoids for use in cosmetics, animal and human nutritionals and health products.