QuickCheck: Do carrots improve your night vision?

A COMMON nugget of wisdom many parents have passed on to their kids over the years is that eating carrots will improve your night vision and eyesight.

Is this true?

Verdict:

FALSE

Carrots are rich in Vitamin A, or retinol, which is important in helping your eyes convert light into a signal that can be sent to your brain.

Saying that, carrots are not the only source of Vitamin A. In fact, vegetables are not particularly high in the vitamin, as animal livers are actually a better source of retinol.

The myth tying together night vision and carrots came about during World War II.

Britain and the Allies had recently developed a new type of radar technology, which helped the British Royal Air Force shoot down enemy planes at night.

To cover-up the fact that Allies were spotting Axis planes with radar, the British Information Ministry ran an ad campaign touting the effectiveness of carrots in improving night vision.

In 1940, an RAF fighter ace John "Cat's Eyes" Cunningham was the first to shoot down an enemy plane using the new system called Airborne Interception Radar, which was installed on his fighter.

He would go on to rack up an impressive 20 kills, 19 of which were at night, over the skies of Britain.

The British Information Ministry told the press that the reason for Cunningham's success was that he ate an excess of carrots.

References:

1. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/a-wwii-propaganda-campaign-popularized-the-myth-that-carrots-help-you-see-in-the-dark-28812484/

2. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods-high-in-vitamin-a#TOC_TITLE_HDR_2