Beets are kind of like a five-star vegetable.  They are loaded with an amazing array of unique health-boosting nutrients you won’t find in other foods.  The eye-catching beautiful pinkish to dark red hue beets are well-known for makes them a standout at the produce aisle.  Sometimes referred to as “blood turnips,” beets are low in sodium, low in fat, and contain only 37 calories in a ½ cup serving size. 

But it’s their impressive nutritional profile that really should make you want to include this veggie as a regular part of your meals.  When added to salads, soups or as a side dish, beets will always be a time-honored favorite.

Here are six reasons why beets can be a boost to your overall health:

1.      Beats back cancer

The striking red color beets are famous for comes from a plant pigment called betacyanin that helps protect the beet and may also help defend your cells against harmful carcinogens.  Add to that, the high levels of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents found throughout beets and you have a powerful arsenal of substances that may further reduce the risk of some cancers.

A one-half cup of beets provides 2 grams of fiber that can be part of helping to lower your risk of colon cancer.  Take advantage of beets ability to be your cancer warrior.

2.      Beats back heart disease

There are a couple of nutrients beets contain that can protect your heart from heart disease – folate and betaine.  Folate is a B vitamin while betaine is a compound found in beets.  Together, folate and betaine work as a dynamic duo helping to prevent the buildup of an amino acid called homocysteine which can harm blood vessels increasing the risk of heart disease by causing artery-damaging inflammation.

3.      Beats back cataracts and macular degeneration

Lutein is an antioxidant beets are abundant in helping to protect eyes from age-related macular degeneration and cataracts – but you need to be eating the beet greens to obtain the maximum amount of lutein.  One cup of beet greens appears to contain up to 275 micrograms of lutein while beet roots (the red part) are not as concentrated in it.  However, both beet greens and beet root provide a wide variety of phytochemicals that may improve your eye health.

4.      Beats back reduced stamina

Feeling tired or lack of stamina?  Beets may be your answer to improving endurance.  Studies have found athletes who drank beet juice before a workout had better endurance and a lower resting blood pressure compared to athletes who did not consume beet juice.  The reason?  Nitrates found in the root.  Nitrates give a boost to endurance levels and adding a daily drink of beet juice just may make certain activities less exhausting.

5.      Beats back risk of dementia

 A compound that beets produce called nitric acid helps increase blood flow in the body including to your brain.  When older adults consumed a meal that contained high-nitrate including beet juice, MRIs showed more blood flow to the white matter of their frontal lobes. 

  6.      Beats back constipation

One cup of beets will contain approximately 4 grams of fiber.  Fiber is necessary to keep bowel movements moving as fiber helps absorb water in the colon, making stools softer and bulkier thus easier to pass.  It is recommended for most Americans to consume between 25-30 grams of fiber each day. 

Beets really are an excellent food to incorporate more frequently in your diet.  The only caveat about eating beets is the fact they are high in oxalates.  Oxalates are a compound found in some foods and is produced as a waste product by the body exiting with urination.  Too many oxalates can contribute to a couple of different health risks – kidney stones and gout.

Beet greens are high in oxalates and may lead to the development of kidney stones in some people.  The high oxalate composition can form small crystals that contribute to kidney stones.

This same high oxalate level may also lead to gout, a type of arthritis that develops when too much uric acid builds up in the body.

One other caveat to beets is that some people may notice that after consuming beets their urine turns pink or red. This is known as beeturia and is usually not considered to be harmful as it is caused by a pigment found in beets called betanin.  

For more information on beets including healthy recipes using this healthy food, visit lovebeets.com.