Tea Time with Jo | Is Raw Carrot Salad for You?

I don’t know about you, but it seems posts about Raw Carrot Salad are everywhere on social media. Lots of nutritionists and dieticians are recommended a raw carrot salad daily to help with balancing estrogen and reducing estrogen dominance. As an Acupuncturist, I kind of rolled my eyes at these posts and just kept scrolling. However, I have received a lot of comments from friends and followers who have wanted to try this salad out because it seems like a magic bullet, but they know I’m not a fan of raw foods and wanted some clarification. Below are my thoughts on the matter. I hope this post helps to bring some clarity and help you decide if this is something you should try. Let’s get to it!

How Did the Madness Begin?

According to what I can find online, the whole craze started after a biologist (Dr. Ray Peat-and let’s get this clear, he is a “doctor” because he holds a Ph. D, not because he is a practicing physician), ate a raw carrot a day and it helped him with his migraines. It is said that he later suggested female nutrition counseling clients of his, with PMS and other estrogen dominant conditions, to try eating a raw carrot a day. Allegedly, some of these women saw reductions in their estrogen levels within a few days, and an improvement of symptoms as well. The problem is, he presents no evidence. There also is no clarification of whether any other source of fiber was experimented with as a control or variable. If you increase a person’s fiber, whether you use carrots or cauliflower, you are likely to get some beneficial result. 

As to the estrogen dropping in a matter of days…there is no clarification of where these women were in their cycles at the time of testing. How do we know for sure that the dropping of estrogen wasn’t happening naturally as they were entering their late luteal phase or menstruation? You’d think this data would be clearly presented if a valid argument was to be made.  

What’s the deal with Raw Carrot Salad?

The idea behind eating raw carrot salad is that the lignans (a type of polyphenol) and insoluble (undigestible) fiber help to clear the body of excess estrogen. Lignans are present in other plant foods, flax seeds being one of the highest. While there are many benefits to lignans, they are not destroyed by cooking, so the consumption of a raw carrot salad, for the purpose of lignans doesn’t tend to be the main argument. Rather, the undigestible fiber is what most folks promoting this salad are harping about. 

The idea is, that since you can’t digest this fiber, it will move through your colon, acting almost like a broom, sweeping up excess estrogen and helping it to be secreted with bowel movements. Newsflash, this type of fiber is not exclusive to carrots; and since fiber isn’t really destroyed by cooking (the fiber becomes softened but isn’t destroyed), consuming the carrots raw makes no sense. 

So if protective polyphenols and insoluble fiber are present in other fruits/vegetables/plants, and don’t get destroyed by cooking, why do we need to eat raw carrot salad??? The simple answer is, we don’t! 

TCM Perspective

As many of you already know. TCM doesn’t support eating a lot of raw or cold foods/beverages. It is thought that raw or cold foods dampen digestive fire. Over time, that fire can be damaged to the point of causing a lot of digestive issues such as bloating, gas, fatigue, stomach pain, loose stools, low energy, etc. Overall, it is suggested for vegetables to be, at least, lightly cooked or steamed to make them easier to digest. We know, from a Western perspective, that cooking vegetables makes their nutrients more bioavailable. If someone wants to enjoy a raw salad, it is usually recommended in the summer when the weather is warm, and accompanied by a hot tea or soup to help counteract some of the coldness. It is also advised for the person not to have other raw or cold meals in the day, especially if they have digestive weakness. That means, if you had a smoothie for breakfast, you may want to skip the salad at lunch. 

Estrogen is Part of a Bigger Picture

Estrogen is a not a stand alone hormone that acts independently. Estrogen is part of the feedback loop that occurs between the brain and the ovaries as part of the menstrual cycle. The amount of estrogen produced in the body is dependent on various factors (as is the case with all hormones). These factors include nutrition, stress levels, proper elimination, and exogenous sources. Exogenous sources of phytoestrogens exist everywhere and no amount of carrot salad can completely counteract that onslaught. It is up to us to be more mindful of our exposure, as well as to keep our elimination pathways in good shape, to help clear out the excess.

So, How Can We Balance Estrogen?

As mentioned about, Estrogen doesn’t exist independently. It is better to ask “how can we support our endocrine system so that we can support overall hormonal balance?”… Well, I’m glad you asked. Here are some suggestions: 

-Clean up your diet. Reducing the sources of phytoestrogens and inflammatory compounds in our food, helps our bodies maintain hormonal balance more easily. Avoid processed and inflammatory foods such as soy, corn, gluten, and sugar. 

-Eat a balanced diet. Helping your body to get adequate amounts of protein, fat and carbs, on a regular eating schedule, does a lot to balance blood sugar, which in turn balances insulin. Doing so has a major impact on other hormones like progesterone. 

-Clean up your products. Avoid your exposure to endocrine disruptors by using non-toxic personal care products and household products. The Maison Pur blog has lots of information on this. 

-Avoid plastics. Most people know to avoid plastic water bottles but what about plastic juice bottles? Or plastic microwave safe containers? Or plastic cooking utensils? Plastics have the potential to leach chemicals into whatever is in their container whenever they are exposed to extreme heat or cold. While it is extremely difficult to avoid all sources, it is good to be mindful of them and avoid whenever possible. 

-Get off Hormonal Birth Control, if possible. Learn how to track your cycles so that you can avoid pregnancy naturally rather than taking exogenous hormones every day. If you take birth control for management of things like painful periods and acne, it is much better to address the underlying health issues that cause these for you. Birth control can only bandaid the situation, it does’t actually heal anything. 

-Work on regulating your bowels. Wellness professionals agree that proper elimination and open detox pathways are the best ways to keeping the endocrine system balanced. You can have the cleanest diet and lifestyle, but it you aren’t pooping, your hormones may still be out of whack. 

-Use Castor oil packs on abdomen and liver. External castor oil use over the liver on the right side of the abdomen can be helpful in helping the liver to clear excess hormone. Using it on the abdomen helps to move the bowels and to promote a more thorough shed of uterine lining. Specific instructions for frequency and placement of castor depend on your individual goals so please consult with a practitioner before using. 

Final Thoughts

There is nothing wrong with having a raw carrot salad. My issue is that it is being presented as some magic bullet to reduce “estrogen dominance” without addressing the plethora of factors that are involved in the estrogen dominance to begin with. There are other ways of helping your body balance excess estrogen that don’t involve compromising your digestive health. If you’d really like to try the raw carrot salad craze, please limit the amount to 1 medium carrot and please follow it up with a warm meal. If you notice bloating, gas, loose stools, stomach pain or discomfort, use your common sense and discontinue the salad. 

Please share this if you found it helpful. Keep your eyes peeled for a post all about castor oil packs and how to use them as past of Holistic wellness self care. If that post is up, I’ll go ahead and attach it here.