* High in Antioxidants
* Relieve Inflammation
* Promote Heart Health
* Aid in Detoxification
* Boost Brain Function
* Support Digestive Health
* Enhance Athletic Performance
* Increase Weight Loss
Love them, like them, or maybe you aren’t yet sold on beets. I personally can’t get enough of this delicious root vegetable. Beets are packed with essential vitamins, minerals and plant compounds, some of which have medicinal properties. My gastroenterologist recently told me she uses a beet supplement every day and told me to keep on eating and enjoying my beets. Of course I knew there were many health benefits, on top of being delicious, but after a doctor recommending a supplement and stating she uses it herself, I had to do more research.
This veggie is super impressive, while it’s a low calorie food, it’s PACKED with essential vitamins and minerals. Beets shockingly include some of each of the vitamins we all need. Beets have protein, fiber, vitamin C and B6, folate, magnesium, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus. Okay, so it’s a vegetable, no surprise that it’s healthy, right? High in antioxidants, and helping with weight loss, athletic performance, boost brain function, promote heart health, aid in detoxification, relieve inflammations, do any of those surprise you or sound amazing? I thought so.
Beets can significantly decrease blood pressure in hours, in a world where heart disease, heart attacks, stroke, and heart failure are among the lead causes of death worldwide, and high blood pressure being one of the leading risk factors for these medical conditions, why aren’t beets and their super powers better known? Beets only have a temporary effect on blood pressure, and regular consumption is required to experience long-term reductions in blood pressure. What is instead of western medication, you could eat your way to health? It’s worth thinking about.
The effect appears to be better for systolic blood pressure, or pressure when your heart contracts, rather than diastolic blood pressure, or pressure when your heart is relaxed. Raw beets may work faster than cooked beets, but they are beneficial either way.
Beet consumption may also help with performance and stamina in athletic performance. Its suggested that this is due to the dietary nitrates that the beet possesses. To get the most out of your beets for performance, they should be consumed several hours prior to your workout. Eating beets may enhance athletic performance by improving oxygen use and time to exhaustion.
This superfood may also help with inflammation, which I am all about. Beets contain pigments called betalains, which may potentially possess a number of anti-inflammatory properties, most studies in this area have been done in labs mostly with rats at this point. Chronic inflammation is associated with many diseases, lupus, fibromyalgia, liver disease, and cancer to name a few. I don’t know about you, but eating beets or other anti-inflammatory fruits and vegetables is how I’d like to manage my health. The average person’s diet is generally high in inflammatory compounds from overly processed foods, high amounts of sugar and low amounts of nutrients, so consuming organic, natural, whole foods like beets is an outstanding way to keep inflammation down and in check.
How about digestive benefits? Beets are rich in fiber, providing 3.8 grams in each cup. Fiber is important, it moves through the intestines undigested, adding bulk to the stool to help support regularity and promote better digestive health. Beets are considered a prehistoric food, and it’s said that during the Middle Ages, beets were used medicinally to speed up the healing process of wounds and for digestive issues. These beautiful beets are not only delicious, but have so many health benefits. We eat them several days a week, and use a beetroot powder that’s gluten free, non-gmo, and 100% vegan in out tea, golden milk, or simply in a glass of water. How do you get your beets?!
Best,