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While not directly related, I recently learned another interesting fact related to carrots. The old saying of "carrots helping you see in the dark" was actually invented by the British Royal Air Force during WWII to disguise from the Germans that they had invented Radar.

http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/carrots.asp

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Carrots contain beta-Carotene (bet you can't guess the etymology.) Beta-Carotene gets metabolized into various forms of vitamin A, including retinal, which is necessary for eye health.

So, it's not that carrots can help you see in the dark; it's more that some eye diseases (which have initial symptoms including diminished night vision) can be prevented by eating carrots, just like some gum diseases can be prevented by eating oranges.

I can't help, but wonder what the carotene levels are in the white, red, and purple variants of carrots. I'd expect it to be quite low, since carotene is where the orange and yellow carrots (and melons, and squash) are supposed to get their color.

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