Foods That Contain Beta-Carotene… And Why They Are Good For Baby

Updated: Sept 24th, 2023

You’ll often see beta-carotene listed as a nutrient contained in many fruits and vegetables – but have you ever wondered just how your little one uses beta-carotene and which foods are the best sources?

Beta-carotene is a naturally occurring chemical, present in the pigment in plants and  responsible for the bright colour of vegetables such as carrots.

It’s a carotenoid that helps plants out with photosynthesis, but also brings some wonderful nutritive properties to our diets.

Your baby’s body converts beta-carotene to vitamin A, which has many important functions.

Giving your baby foods containing beta-carotene may help support his immune system and can also help protect against – or reduce the severity of – asthma triggered by exercise.

It is important for good vision – which is why you were always told as a child that eating carrots would help you see in the dark!

In the long term, a diet containing adequate amounts of beta-carotene may help prevent certain cancers, because carotenoids have been shown to reduce the damage to tissues and cells caused by harmful ‘free radicals’.

Too much beta-carotene can cause an orange tint to the skin…

… and this can be really obvious in babies, especially around the nose.

But it’s not at all harmful – it’s simply that your baby’s body only converts as much beta-carotene to vitamin A as he needs.

The rest it deposits in his skin (see Carotenemia – A Review).

As your baby begins enjoying a wider variety of foods, that orange glow will lessen and eventually disappear altogether.

Cooking affects the beta-carotene content of fruits and vegetables…

… but not always in a negative way.

In some cases, lightly cooking produce actually makes it easier for the body to absorb the beta-carotene it contains (source: Vitamin Basics).

That being said, overcooking fruits and veggies will destroy much of their beta-carotene content, along with many other important nutrients.

So remember always to cook your veggies and fruits for the shortest time necessary, preferably by steaming them.

Another reason that your baby needs fats in his diet…

… is that beta-carotene is a fat-soluble nutrient.

This means that – in order for your baby’s digestive tract to absorb it – he must also consume some fats.

Try mixing a little olive oil or coconut oil into purees made with the veggies in our list below – and find out more about the important role that fats play in your baby’s diet.

Foods containing beta-carotene

The following are all great sources of beta-carotene (although not some are not suitable foods for baby until later in his first year). Just click on the links more more information and for some beta-carotene rich homemade baby food recipes!

• Carrot
• Sweet potato
• Pumpkin
• Butternut squash and other winter squashes
• Spinach and other green leafy veggies such as beet greens, turnip greens and kale
• Cilantro/corinader
• Thyme
• Mango
• Papaya
• Apricot
• Peach

Source:
Vitamin A and Carotenoids