The Everyday Superfood I Put In EVERYTHING (It's So Underrated You Won't Guess What It Is)

 This may seem like an outrageously disappointing answer –especially if you’ve only ever had beets in a can at Thanksgiving– but hear me out. There are an outrageous number of studies seeing that beets have incredible benefits for health.

They can even support the healing and prevention of disease!

BEETS BOOST BLOOD FLOW

Some of the most well-studied rockstar compounds in beets are nitrates. When we eat dietary nitrates, bacteria in our body convert them into nitrites which can then be converted into nitric oxide.

This is where things with beets get really interesting. Nitric oxide has a powerful connection with blood health. It acts as a vasodilator by relaxing and dilating blood vessels which boosts the flow of blood and lowers blood pressure.

Nitric oxide's impact on blood circulation has HUGE implications for chronic diseases like cancer and diabetes, but we will get into that more later.

 Other blood benefits of nitric oxide is its role in regulating insulin. Insulin plays a vital role in keeping blood sugar levels balanced so our bodies can live. Proper insulin production is essential to blood health which is essential to overall health.

Beetroot's impact on blood health is super impressive! 

BEETS CAN SUPPORT BRAIN FUNCTION

BEETS UPLEVEL EXERCISE PERFORMANCE

With all of the amazing perks beetroot has with blood flow, it’s no surprise this veggie can give you advantages in the gym. Blood flow is essential to our workout performance. Exercise also does wonders for our blood circulation. 

So, what can blood-boosting beets add to the equation?

One lab experiment looked at the impact of dietary nitrate on exercise performance. Healthy, athletic males were given nitrate supplementation over two different 3-day periods and their exercise performance was measured.

What were the results?

The measurements saw that males given dietary nitrate required less oxygen during submaximal workouts. But it gets better! This cut in oxygen cost didn’t come with an increase in lactate (the natural byproduct of exercised muscles). It seems that nitrate actually made energy production MORE EFFICIENT. 

What exactly could nitrate be doing?

Well, this marvelous compound has a special relationship with the mitochondria.

Mitochrondia, the energy producers of our body's cells, are the powerhouses that fuels the biochemical reactions our cells needs to thrive. Obviously, healthy mitochondria are essential to healthy, energized bodies.

Studies have seen that nitrates can boost the function of mitochondria. If beets can help our mitochondria operate at peak performance we get a boost in our peak performance too!

BEETS FIGHT INFLAMMATION

Beets contain betalains which are water-soluble pigments that give beets their color.

Betalains are also a phytonutrient that gives beets amazing health benefits!

They’re anti-inflammatory plus they’re packed with antioxidants that protect our cells from destructive free radicals. 

Scientists have actually seen that betalains can reduce inflammatory cytokines and increase the activity of anti-inflammatory mediators.  

One specific study on hypertension found that raw beet juice can lower inflammation and blood pressure. Beets support healthy blood yet again!

 

BEETS BOOST DETOXIFICATION

Detoxification is essential to a healthy body because it’s how our bodies rid themselves of toxins and harmful substances. Supporting our bodies natural detoxification processes promotes health, prevents disease, and even help heal existing disease. 

How do beets help with detoxing? Scientists playing around in health labs have seen that beetroot can increase production of detoxification enzymes. Simply eating beets can help our bodies clean up its toxin-load so we can feel and look our best!

The detoxification support of beetroot goes even deeper because of their impact on the liver and kidneys, star detox organs. Lab studies have seen that beets and beet compounds could be hepatoprotective and nephroprotective (translation: beets may protect the liver and kidneys from damage). This is great news for our health and detoxification!

The liver is vital to our health and wellness as it performs hundreds of tasks essential to a healthy, functioning body. It also has the very important detox job of filtering our blood to removes wastes, bacteria, toxins, and harmful substances. The detoxification work of the liver makes it paramount to health because we need unhealthy agents to be cleaned up and moved out on the reg to be well.

What can beets do for the liver?

One lab exploration got right to the point of answering this question by exposing livers to radiation while receiving betaine from beetroot. The goal was to hit the liver with toxic doses to cause injury and see what betaine could do. The outcome of the experiment saw that betaine reduced oxidative stress and increased liver function and detoxification.

Not only was potential injury from oxidative stress decreased, but the liver was able to perform and detoxify in a highly-toxic situation where it was DIRECTLY TARGETED. Is that not amazing?!

A similar experiment was done with beets and the kidneys, the liver's partner in detox. Kidneys were exposed to a nephrotoxic drug, an agent that is specifically toxic to kidneys, after being given a red beet beverage for eight weeks. The study saw beetroot support proper kidney function and protect it from damage. This is huge health news because the kidneys have the very important work of supporting healthy blood by eliminating wastes, excess fluid, and acids. They're imperative for keeping blood composition balanced. 

Beets could protect our detox organs, support their function, and help them do their jobs. Do you need a better reason to make my beet-tastic beet smoothie?

BEETS BEAT DISEASE

We've already covered how beets increase blood circulation which is how oxygen and nutrients are transported to the cells in our body. We've also gone over beetroots ability to support detoxification, curb inflammation, and catch free radicals.

All of these amazing properties imply that beets could have a huge impact on preventing and healing disease.

The scientific world has caught onto this and brought beets into the lab to explore their effects on disease, especially cancer. 

One group of scientists looked at beets impact on oesophageal lesions (that’s science talk for tissues and organs that are abnormal because of damage, infection, or disease). Lesions are super-significant because they can be precursors to cancer. The thrilling outcome of playing around with oesophageal lesions and beetroot extract was a reduction in the growth of potential cancerous cells.

Yet another study saw that the betalains in beets could curb cancer by reducing the growth of cancer cells and even provoke death of cancer cells. 

Hello! Feeling thirsty yet? 

 

BEETS ARE PACKED WITH NUTRIENTS

We already know beets are bursting with healthy compounds like betalains, betaine, and nitrates. Beets only look tastier when you look at their nutrition facts. 

In just 1 cup of raw beets we get 58.5 calories bursting with 148 micrograms of folate (37% Daily Value), 0.4 milligrams manganese (22% DV), 3.8 grams of fiber (about 15% DV), 1.09 milligrams of iron (6% DV), 442 milligrams of potassium (13% DV), and more.

The macros are also an impressive balance at 13 grams of carbohydrates, 2.2 grams or protein, and 0.2g of fat. 

MAKE BEETS A PART OF YOUR DIET

The nutritional profile of beets plus their amazing health support make them one cool veg. But they’re a rockstar-level veggie for being so easy to add to your diet.

There’s a whole world of beet recipes beyond the canned food aisle! Fresh, hearty, juicy beets can be used for hummus, gazpacho, borscht, and risotto. Beets can even be made into smoothies and cake!

You can even find beet powders and beetroot capsules for busy schedules or sensitive palates! 

Want to make beets a part of your diet without adding to your to-do list? 

Save your sweat for the gym instead of the kitchen with my Superfood Smoothie Guide! 

Superfood Smoothies features over 20 recipes designed especially for health and wellness! It features recipes created for workout recovery, energy, inflammation, and more. I’ve got a beet smoothie recipe in there just for you!

Uplevel your health with my digital download for just $22! 

If you're serious about getting healthy with a deep-dive into beets and beyond I can help with that too! Reset your health in just 4 weeks with my Reset & Rebalance meal plan and recipe guide!

In Reset & Rebalance I help you reset your health in 3 phases;

detox, restore & maintain.

The meal plan kicks off with the one-week detox phase where we cut out common allergens and inflammatory foods. Weeks two and three are about eating clean nutrient-rich foods that nourish the body and restore its health. In week four, the final week, we begin to add in foods removed from the first three weeks. This transition phase helps support you in rebalancing your diet and lifestyle to a new and healthy level you can maintain.

The meal plan also features five beet recipes to help you get the health benefits of beets into your life!

Creating a healthy diet and lifestyle can be easy! I'll show you how!