Top 5 Common Food Sources of Carotenoids
Looking to get more micrograms of carotenoids in your diet? Look no further! My team and I have crunched the numbers and did all the math to determine the top 5 common food sources of this phytonutrient, per serving. Getting enough carotenoids as part of a healthy balanced diet is important since a large collection of studies show that getting nutrients from dietary supplements or multivitamins doesn’t improve health outcomes compared to getting nutrients from foods!
| Rank | Food | Nutrivore Score | Serving Size (Raw) | Carotenoids (µg/serving) | % Recommended Target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Goji Berries, Dried | 780 | 1/2 cup | 89062.4 | 990 |
| 2 | Tomato Juice, Canned, w/o salt added | 1568 | 1 cup | 22761.8 | 253 |
| 3 | Dandelion Greens | 2815 | 2 cups | 21942.8 | 244 |
| 4 | Turnip Greens | 6370 | 2 cups | 21754.7 | 242 |
| 5 | Kumquats | 381 | 1 cup | 18967.5 | 211 |
Want to know more about this important nutrient including benefits of carotenoids in the body, how much carotenoids we need, and even more awesome carotenoid rich foods? Keep reading to learn all there is to know!
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What Are Carotenoids and What Do They Do?
Carotenoids are a diverse group of fat-soluble phytonutrients that are responsible for giving fruits and vegetables vibrant red, orange, and yellow pigmentation. Although the most common carotenoid people are aware of is beta-carotene, there are actually more than 750 different types of carotenoids out there (about 40 of which are common in the human diet). They can broadly be divided into carotenes and xanthophylls.
Carotenoids are powerful antioxidants and many are vitamin A precursors. High dietary intake of carotenoids is linked with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, many forms of cancer, and supports vision health (particularly age-related eye diseases including age-related macular degeneration and cataracts), in addition to reducing inflammation. Carotenoids have strong antioxidant properties, and help facilitate communication between cells by promoting the synthesis of connexin proteins, which create gap junctions in cell membranes that allow small molecules to be exchanged (which is part of how cells “talk” to each other!). Consuming carotenoids with fat significantly increases their absorption. Learn more about carotenoids here.
How Much Carotenoids Do We Need?
Currently there are no official guidelines for carotenoid intake requirements but we have set a recommended target of 9,000 µg for adults based on Team Nutrivore’s review of the scientific literature, established with the aim of providing improvements for overall health and reduction in chronic disease risk.
Nutrient Daily Values
Nutrition requirements and recommended nutrient intake for infants, children, adolescents, adults, mature adults, and pregnant and lactating individuals.
More Food Sources of Carotenoids
Carotenoids are found in a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables, especially orange, yellow, and red produce.
Specifically looking at some of the most well-known carotenes:
- Alpha-carotene is found in avocado, broccoli, carrots, collards, green beans, lettuce, maize, persimmons, pumpkins, spinach, sweet potatoes, tangerine, turnip greens, and winter squash.
- Beta-carotene is found in apricots, cantaloupe, carrots, dark leafy greens like kale and spinach, mangoes, red and yellow bell peppers, sweet potatoes, and winter squash.
- Lycopene is found in guava, papaya, pink grapefruit, tomatoes (especially processed tomatoes), and watermelon.
- Neurosporene is found in chicory, gourds, and poppy.
- Phytofluene and Phytoene are found in apricots, carrots, oranges, star fruit, sweet potato, and tomatoes.
Looking at common xanthophylls:
- Beta-cryptoxanthin is found in avocados, butternut squash, carrots, grapefruit, hot chili peppers, Hubbard squash, kumquats, mango, oranges, papayas, peaches, peas, persimmons, pumpkin, sweet corn, and tangerines.
- Astaxanthin is found in algae, seaweeds, and biomagnified in fish and shellfish such as lobster, salmon, shrimp, and some crabs.
- Canthaxanthin is found in crustaceans, eggs, fish, mushrooms, and paprika.
- Fucoxanthin is found in brown seaweeds such as hijiki, kombu, and wakame.
- Lutein and Zeaxanthin are found in avocado, cilantro, corn, cruciferous vegetables, eggs, honeydew melon, kale, kiwi, mango, oranges, papaya, peaches, pear, plum, prunes, pumpkin, red pepper, rhubarb, romaine lettuce, spinach, squash, sweet potatoes, turnip greens, and wolfberry.
Incorporating a diverse range of these foods into our diet and “eating the rainbow” can help maximize the benefits to numerous health conditions we obtain from carotenoids by ensuring we are getting all different types of this important phytonutrient. As you can see from the short list above, many foods contain more than one type of carotenoid making it easier to obtain them all!
Best Food Sources of CArotenoids
The following foods have high concentrations of carotenoids, containing at least 4.5 mg per serving, making them our best dietary sources of this valuable class of phytonutrients!
Good Food Sources of Carotenoids
The following foods are excellent or good sources of carotenoids, containing at least 0.9 mg (and up to 4.5 mg) per serving.
Top 5 Common Food Sources
If you’re looking for top 5 common food sources of other important nutrients check out these posts!
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