Are Carrots Fertility-Friendly? Separating the Root from the Seed

I recently listened to a podcast where the guest being interviewed claimed that eating carrots is actually bad for your fertility. As someone who eats raw carrot salads almost daily, this was concerning to me since fertility is a vital sign that indicates overall health and resilience, so it’s important to consider, even for people who aren’t trying to conceive.

The idea presented in many of these viral videos and podcasts is that because carrots are in the same family as Queen Anne’s-lace, whose seeds do have have contraceptive properties, carrot roots would also contain some of those same compounds and therefore also be mildly contraceptive. I felt I had to look into it.

Keep in mind, as always, that this information is being provided for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. This herb does have contraceptive properties but is actually really dangerous if you get the dose wrong. Please use common sense and consult with a healthcare provider before trying anything you read online. 

Plant & part	Main phytochemicals	Traditional use	Evidence on fertility
Queen Anne’s‑lace (wild carrot) – seeds	Apiol‑ & myristicin‑rich essential oil, other lipophilic phenylpropenes	Folk “morning‑after” or cycle‑lengthening contraceptive	Seed extracts prevent implantation and lengthen estrous cycles in rats at high doses.
Cultivated carrot – root	β‑carotene, α‑carotene, lutein, falcarinol‑type polyacetylenes, fibre, vitamins & minerals	Culinary vegetable	No antifertility signal; several human & animal studies show benefits to sperm quality and antioxidant defence.

Root and seed chemistry are not at all the same: the contraceptive candidates (apiol‐like compounds) are concentrated in the seed oil, not in the edible root. There are very slight traces of these compounds, but even if you eat a lot of carrots (like 300+ grams per day), this still would not be enough to cause any fertility issues. You’d likely turn orange before having any fertility issues.

What the Research Says About Carrot Root

• Human findings

  • A Harvard study of ~200 young men found that orange/yellow vegetables—carrots were the largest contributor—improved sperm motility by 6–8 %. (harvestfresh.co.nz, The Times of India)

  • Higher β-carotene intake (carrots again a top source) correlated with better sperm morphology in another cohort of healthy men. (harvestfresh.co.nz)

• Animal & mechanistic data

  • Red-carrot extract protected rat testes from cadmium damage, normalising apoptotic markers and histology. (PMC)

  • Carrot carotenoids and falcarinol derivatives show antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and metabolic-supportive effects likely to benefit ovarian and testicular tissue. (PMC)

• Toxicology snapshot

  • Falcarinol is cytotoxic at very high cell-culture doses, but occurs in carrots at microgram-per-gram levels; no reproductive-toxicity signals appear in dietary studies, and culinary carrots remain GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe).

What We Actually Know About Wild-Carrot Seeds

• Multiple rat and mouse studies demonstrate reduced implantation or extended cycles when large seed-extract doses are given immediately after mating. (ResearchGate, ResearchGate)

• Proposed mechanisms include anti-progesterone effects and altered uterine prostaglandins; no controlled human trials confirm efficacy or define a safe dose window. (PMC)

None of these studies involve the orange taproot eaten as food, and the seed doses would be impossible to reach inadvertently through normal carrot consumption.

Claim	Reality
“Carrots contain the same contraceptive compounds as Queen Anne’s‑lace.”	Those compounds reside in seed oil, not in the root. The root’s dominant phytochemicals (carotenoids, polyacetylenes) are different.
“Vitamin A from carrots could build up to toxic levels and harm a fetus.”	Carrots provide provitamin A (β‑carotene). Conversion is regulated, so overdosing from food is virtually impossible.
“Falcarinol in carrots is toxic.”	Cytotoxicity appears only at pharmacological concentrations. Dietary levels show no reproductive risks and may even have anti‑cancer benefits.

Practical Takeaways for Anyone Trying to Conceive

1. Eat carrots freely. Raw, cooked, or juiced, carrots are rich in fiber, minerals, and antioxidant carotenoids that support healthy hormone metabolism and protect gametes from oxidative stress. Check out my recipe for a yummy raw carrot salad below!

2. Pair carrots with a fat source (coconut oil, butter, tallow, olive oil) to enhance carotenoid absorption.

3. Screen supplement blends: If a formula lists “wild-carrot seed” or “Daucus carota seed oil,” avoid it while TTC or pregnant until human safety data exist.

4. Remember plant-part specificity: Seed ≠ root. Culinary use of the root has no credible evidence of contraceptive activity, even if you eat a ton of carrots.

Bottom Line

Current evidence indicates that the edible carrot root is neutral-to-beneficial for fertility, while the antifertility reputation belongs exclusively to wild-carrot seeds used in traditional herbal contraception - particularly in concentrated extract form. Ordinary dietary carrots pose no known risk to male or female fertility and may, in fact, offer modest reproductive benefits due to the increased insoluble fiber content that actually helps bind to excess hormones in the digestive tract (like estrogen) so that they are excreted.

---

Featured Products

---

Looking for Medicinal Herbs?

Support us by shopping from Mountain Rose Herbs using our link!

---