Beets: Health Benefits (2024)

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The humble beet, when steamed, boiled, roasted, pickled, borscht’d—but especially served raw—is nutritious and offers many healthbenefits.

Why Beets AreHealthy

If you’ve never considered beets for breakfast, snacks, or potluck food, these facts may spark your imagination:

  • Research has demonstrated that eating beets, especially raw, or drinking beet juice can lower blood pressure, and improve both exercise performance and blood flow to the brain—probably because of the high concentration of nitrates inbeets.

Our bodies eventually convert nitrates to nitric oxide, a compound that relaxes and opens blood vessels.

  • Research suggests that the red and yellow pigments found in beets (betalains) may help fight arthritis, several cancers, neurogenerative diseases, cardiovascular disease, and liver disease.
  • Beet greens are also highly nutritious and also contain the carotenoid pigments beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin, important foreye health.

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How to PrepareBeets

Cooking beets won’t give you the same health benefits because heat destroys betalain pigments and hampers nitrates, but it’s still good for yourhealth.

To preserve the maximum health benefits, grate raw beets into salads or steam/roast beets just long enough to tenderizethem.

Beet juice is also a fantastic way to get the healthbenefits.

Finally, beet greens are delicious raw in salads or lightlysteamed.

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Beets: Health Benefits (3)
Beets: Health Benefits (4)

GrowingBeets

If you have even a little space, beets are easy to grow, even in containers. They attract few pests or diseases, grow quickly, and come in many shades of red, pink, striped, andyellow.

See our Beets Growing Guide.

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Note: The betalain pigments in raw or cooked red beets may cause the urine or stool to turn pink or even bright red for a day or two. The amount of excreted pigment depends on the pH of the stomach and how long the food remainedthere.

Beets: Health Benefits (2024)

FAQs

Is it okay to eat beets every day? ›

While it may seem like a good idea to have beets daily because of their benefits, you may need to exercise caution when eating them. Eating beets or drinking beet juice may lead to kidney stones, a potential food allergy, or stool or urine color changes.

Are beets really a superfood? ›

Packed with nutrition, beets have antioxidants like betalains that fight cell damage and inflammation, potentially offering protection against cancer and heart disease. Health benefits of beets include more stamina during exercise, heart disease and stroke prevention, and lower blood pressure.

What are the pros and cons of beets? ›

Beet is POSSIBLY SAFE for most people when taken by mouth in medicinal amounts. Beet can make urine or stools appear pink or red. But this is not harmful. There is concern that beets might cause low calcium levels and kidney damage.

Do beets cleanse your liver? ›

Beetroot. Chock-full of antioxidants and nitrates, beetroot has earned its stripes as a potent weapon for heart health, blood pressure, cognition, and inflammation. But when it comes to liver health, this resplendently red root also serves as a natural blood cleanser, purging your body of toxins and heavy metals.

What organ are beets good for? ›

They're knobby, blood-red and give off a rich, earthy aroma. But it's certainly worth the effort to get to know this nutritionally dense root vegetable. “Beets are unique for their cardiovascular and heart health benefits,” says registered dietitian Sarah Thomsen Ferreira, RD.

Do beets clean the gut? ›

How Beets Cleanse Your Colon. Beets are rich in antioxidants and high in fiber that can help pull toxins into the colon where they can be evacuated. Because fiber isn't digested by your body like other food components, such as fats, proteins or carbohydrates, it feeds friendly gut bacteria.

Are beets healthier raw or cooked? ›

Cooking beets won't give you the same health benefits because heat destroys betalain pigments and hampers nitrates, but it's still good for your health. To preserve the maximum health benefits, grate raw beets into salads or steam/roast beets just long enough to tenderize them.

Why do beets make you feel good? ›

Beets are high in nitrates which research suggests improve cardiovascular health in several ways. Some studies show beetroot juice supplementation may lower blood pressure and increase blood flow. It increases oxygen uptake, lengthening the time it takes to become fatigued, which allows people to stay active longer.

What is the healthiest way to eat beets? ›

Retain the good-for-you nutrients in beets by roasting them or sautéing them instead. Or lightly steam them for just a few minutes, suggests Doyle.

Why do I feel dizzy after drinking beet juice? ›

A doctor can advise on whether drinking beet juice alongside taking medications to lower blood pressure may lower a person's blood pressure too much. If this occurs, the individual may experience symptoms such as : dizziness or lightheadedness. blurry vision.

Why do beets clean you out? ›

Beetroot is great at helping lend a hand to your liver when it becomes overloaded. It helps in the detoxification process because of the betaine it contains, which helps prevent and/or reduce fatty deposits in the liver. On the same note, beetroot helps in whole body detoxification.

How many beets do you have to eat to get benefits? ›

According to Dr. Melamed, the typical serving size recommendation is one cup of cooked beets per day. But that doesn't mean you actually have to eat them every day; it's always best, she adds, to rotate your healthy foods so you get a variety of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients.

Is it better to eat beets raw or cooked? ›

Cooking beets won't give you the same health benefits because heat destroys betalain pigments and hampers nitrates, but it's still good for your health. To preserve the maximum health benefits, grate raw beets into salads or steam/roast beets just long enough to tenderize them.

Are beets good for the kidneys? ›

Is beet juice always bad for kidneys? Actually, it's not. Unless a person is at risk for kidney stones, beets may be key to reducing the risk of renal (kidney) failure during and after a heart x-ray. Coronary angiography is a specialized test allowing doctors to view the heart's blood vessels in action.

How soon after eating beets is urine red? ›

The urine color change may appear in the first few hours after drinking something containing beetroot. It may continue for a day or two after eating the coloring, especially in the stool.

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