What are Health Benefits of Eating Beets?
The beets belong to the same family as chard and spinach. Beet leaves have a bitter taste like chard, but is rich in chlorophyll. Although bitter, the greens have a higher nutritional value than its roots.
Both beet root and beet greens are very powerful cleansers and builders of the blood. Betacyanin is the phytochemical in beet that gives it its rich 'amethyst' color that significantly reduces homocysteine levels.
The health benefits of beets are:
One of the most amazing health benefits of beets is that it has no trans-fats and no saturated fats. Hard to believe, but true! It is extremely low in calories as well. Hence, it fills your stomach and its slight sweet taste satiates your sweet tooth also. This food helps in reducing the sugar craving and benefits your health in many ways.
Liver Health
Beets are commonly known to support the health of the liver. The liver plays a very important role in cleansing the body of harmful substances, a process known as "detoxification," or simply "detox" for short. It is very important for the body to detox regularly in order to prevent problems from arising in different parts of the body.
There are two things you can do to help your body detoxify itself: 1) Eat foods that support the liver, and 2) Eat foods that nourish the body.
And guess what? Beets do both! Beets have special nutrients that directly support your liver, and they also have plenty of other vitamins and minerals that nourish the rest of your body. So if you are looking for a natural way to detoxify your body, make sure you consider adding beets (or beet juice) to your food regimine.
Heart Health
Another one of the many health benefits of beets is that they protect your heart. The way they do this is by reducing the amount of bad cholesterol in the blood, and increasing the amount of good cholesterol in the blood.
Bad cholesterol comes from unnatural sources - junk foods, sugary deserts, etc. That man-made form of cholesterol can actually cause blood problems which in turn can affect the heart.
Good cholesterol, on the other hand, does exactly the opposite. The good cholesterol found in natural foods, such as beets, energizes the blood, making it flow efficiently from the heart to the rest of the body. Want to protect your heart and support the health of your blood? Eat plenty of beets!
Plenty of Antioxidants
Antioxidants are talked about a lot in health circles, so you probably already know how they help your body. You'll be glad to know that one of the health benefits of beets is that they contain a plentiful supply of antioxidants.
When supplied with a sufficient quantity of antioxidants, the body is able to destroy pesky free radicals, which damage cells and can cause cancer. Antioxidants also support the health of the immune system, enabling your body to also fight viruses, diseases, and other health problems. If you want to make sure your body has enough antioxidants, then add beets to your diet.
The best way to consume beets is to eat them raw, or to make beet juice. Or you can cook beets, but if you do that, make sure not too cook them too long. Otherwise, they can lose a lot of nutritional value.
Beets are rich in carbohydrates
Beets are rich in carbohydrates and it is great way to quickly energize your body. Other processed foods are also high in carbohydrates but they are a poor source of energy. Beets are more or less like an energy food or fuel for the body.
Beet is a great source of minerals
Beet is a great source of minerals as they are rich in sodium, calcium, phosphorous, iron as well as magnesium. Beets also have dietary fiber in it. It also contains noticeable amounts of niacin, Vitamin C as well as Vitamin A.
Beets have folic acid in it
Beets have folic acid in it. Folic acid is important for the proper growth of new cells. Folic acid is required for the health of pregnant women and someone who requires physical healing. Many people take supplements that have folic acid in it; however, taking the health benefits of beets everyday will fulfil your folic acid need that too in a natural way. Yes, at times taking supplements is essential for health, however, if you can have something natural and avoid that supplement will be good for your health.
Antiinflammatory
Beets contain a compound known as betaine that can reduce inflammation in joints, bones, the throat and blood vessels by 20 percent. This helps those suffering from things such as osteoporosis and asthma.
Tissue Growth
Beets are high in folate, a type of B vitamin. This helps with natural tissue growth, which is especially beneficial to children and pregnant women.
Sources:
juicing-for-health.com
funwithhealthyfood.com
ehow.com
Other links:
Spinach, One of the Top 5 Healthy Vegetables for Body (Part 1)
Spinach, One of the Top 5 Healthy Vegetables for Body (Part 2)
Walnuts, one of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids
Cucumber, a Magic wand for Body and Skin Problems
Avocados, a super-nutritious, wonderful food
