21 Beetroot Juice Health Benefits: Another Superfood You Can Now Drink

If you look around you now, you’ll likely see various strange-looking concoctions consumed by many health enthusiasts. The drinks will make you scratch your head, out of both wonder and curiosity, whether it is indeed better to drink your veggies than to eat them as they are.

You’ll see all colors of the spectrum from these trending vegetable juices. From water infused with lemon to brightly colored fruit drinks, and now, the vivid beetroot juice, one’s taste buds should be adventurous enough to try all these fascinating drinks that undoubtedly are packed with so many nutrients and flavor.

Beetroot is a great plant, whether eaten or consumed raw. As a juice, it will surely add a kick to an otherwise plain drink. Let us find out now if health enthusiasts drinking beetroot juice is indeed a good option.

What is a Beetroot?

Beetroot is the top root part of the beet plant. It is among the cultivated varieties of beet grown for its edible leaves (beet greens) and taproots. Aside from being eaten as food, it is also used as a medicinal plant or as a food coloring. Although it belongs to the same family as sugar beets, they differ in genetic structure and nutritional value.

Other Names: beet, garden beet, table beet, golden beet, red beet

Both of the beetroot’s deep purple roots and green, leafy portions can be eaten. They are either eaten raw, boiled, or roasted. Both can also be eaten on their own or tossed into a salad. As of late, along with the growing list of medicinal plants made into healthy and refreshing juices, beetroot juice is something you can drink to boost your health and nutrition without all the fuss.

Many health and nutrition experts dub beetroot as another “superfood.” This is especially true after it was published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics that beet can enhance the athletic performance of athletes, especially runners. A diet rich in inorganic nitrate, like that in beetroot, can also increase blood flow while lowering blood pressure among adults according to a study published in the Journal of Nutrition. Experts also consider it to be a “functional food,” a food that both nourishes and nurtures your whole body.

The natural food pigment found in beets are called betalains.

Two Types of Betalains:

1. Betacyanins – water-soluble red-violet pigments
2. Betaxanthins – yellow pigments

Betacyanin gives beetroot its trademark rich, purple-crimson color. The thing about beetroot is that the body cannot break down the red-colored compound, betanin, or the red coloring, found in beetroot. It can even give your urine and feces a red tinge, which can be disturbing for some, but the red color disappears once the betanin is out of the system.

What’s a Beetroot Juice?

Beetroot belongs to the same family a spinach and chard. Although the Romans were the first to cultivate it, it has come a long way and beetroot juice is now among the favorite healthy drinks of many.

Beetroot juice is rich in iron, calcium, copper, and vitamins A, C, K, folic acid, potassium, manganese, fiber, and the phytonutrients, Betalain. Beet fiber, along with carrot fiber, is a special type of dietary fiber that not only has dietary benefits, but improves vascular health as well.

The most striking thing aspect about beetroot juice is the presence of nitrates. After drinking beetroot juice, nitrates turns to nitric oxide in the body, helping with blood flow and normalizing blood pressure.

Health Benefits of Beetroot Juice

A diet rich in fruits and vegetables along with drinking beetroot juice, provides the following health benefits:

• Healthy heart and normal blood pressure – Hypertension published a study in 2008 revealing that drinking at least 500 ml. of beetroot juice reduced blood pressure among healthy volunteers. They attributed this to the fact that beetroot juice is rich in nitrate and can even help patients survive a heart attack or stroke. Another 2010 study recognizes beetroot juice’s ability to lower blood pressure. (1) Also, a 2015 study conducted by the Journal of Applied Physiology revealed that beetroot juice reduces blood pressure and oxygen requirement during exercise sessions.
• Fights dementia – (2) Researchers from the Wake Forest University discovered that drinking beetroot juice improves the brain’s oxygenation, thus slowing down dementia’s progression among older adults. This high-nitrate drink enhances oxygenation and blood flow to parts of the brain that need nitrate and improves overall nerve tissue health.
• Prevents diabetes – Drinking beetroot juice having diabetes should no longer be a worrying factor. It has alpha-lipoic acid, which is an antioxidant known to reduce glucose levels, boost insulin sensitivity, and protect from the damage caused by oxidative stress. Alpha-lipoic acid also reduces peripheral neuropathy among diabetics. (3) A June 2012 study revealed that drinking beetroot juice, and all the nutrient-rich red pigments in it, and has anti-diabetic properties, which reduces glycemic value as well as serum lipids in diabetic test animals. The same results were achieved in other human intervention studies.
• Promotes better digestion and regular bowel movement – Drinking beetroot juice promotes regular bowel movement and prevent constipation to promote a healthy GI tract. It is also a rich source of the amino acid glutamine, responsible for maintaining a healthy gut.
• Reduces inflammation – Beetroot contains choline, which is an essential nutrient that aids in getting sleep, memory, learning, and muscle movement. Moreover, choline ensures the structure of the cellular membrane is intact, nerve impulse transmission takes place without any glitch, minimizes chronic inflammation, and helps in fat absorption. (4) A 2015 study published in Nutrients confirmed the anti-inflammatory properties of beetroot juice and that it reduces oxidative damage.
• Anti-cancer – Beetroot fiber boosts antioxidant levels, especially glutathione peroxidase, and also increases white blood cell production to help detect and fight any abnormal cells in the body. Also, recent lab studies involving human tumor cells revealed that the betanin in beetroot reduced the size of the tumor growth by inhibiting pro-inflammatory enzymes, to be specific, cyclooxygenase enzymes. The types of tumors tested in the study were on the breasts, colon, lung, nerves, stomach, prostate, and the testicles.Moreover, beetroot juice contains a unique set of antioxidants from betalain, manganese, and Vitamin C, unlike the rest of the antioxidant-rich vegetable that are available. (5) A similar research study published by Nutrients in 2015 suggests that beetroot juice is a potent antioxidant and is an anti-cancer dietary source.
• Promotes eye health – The carotenoids, zeaxanthin and lutein, in beetroot juice promote retinal health.
• Promotes liver health – Drinking beetroot juice protects the bile ducts as well as the liver by stimulating the function of the liver cells.

Other beetroot juice benefits:

• Enhances athletic/ running performance  (6)
• Excellent in treating gout, gall bladder, and kidney diseases
• Reduces serum cholesterol
• Helps combat anemia
• Prevents birth defects
• Relieves skin problems
• Reverses chronic diseases
• Speeds up detoxification
• Lowers blood pressure
• Boosts libido
• Increases mental health
• Provides a slow-acting energy source
• Combats cancer
• Prevents and addresses inflammation
• Improves endurance and stamina

Beetroot Juice Recipes

Beetroot juice shots were the secret to the success of David Weir, a Paralympic gold medalist. Upon sharing his secret, the popularity of beetroot juice soared even higher. When juicing beets, include both the greens and the root. Start gradually with one to two ounces of beetroot juice. Remember that beetroot juice is powerful even if you consume just a small amount of it.

A. Beetroot Zinger

Image Source

a. Ingredients

• 1 large beet
• 1 one-inch piece of ginger
• 2 apples
• Ice

b. Preparation

For those who own a juicer, process the ginger and the beetroot in it.

• Run the ginger and beetroot in the juicer.
• Cut the apples into quarters.
• Take off the core.
• Peel The apples
• Put them in the juicer.
• Add some ice.

c. Benefits

Along with the natural health benefits of beetroot, enjoy the additional antibacterial and antiviral benefits of ginger, among others.

B. Purple Limeade

a. Ingredients

• 1 large beet
• 6 key limes
• Honey
• Ice

b. Preparation

• Peel the lime using a knife.
• Only leave the flesh behind.
• Add the halves in the juicer.
• Add ½ cup water and some ice.
• Add some honey to taste.
• Blend the beetroot in the juicer.

c. Benefits

It’s a unique yet tasty veggie juice. Lime is rich in vitamin C to speed up fat burning and the Vitamin A in beet promotes healthy skin and keeps it safe from sun damage.

Drinking fruits and veggies may be a novelty for many today, but the truth is, it has been practiced for many years now. Even the Olympians drank beetroot juice for their optimum health back in the days, and for good reasons, too.

Good things can come from drinking beetroot juice. Drink your vegetables like beetroot, rather than missing all the health benefits it offers by not having it in your diet at all. Remember that you are what you eat., but in this case, what you drink.

A glass of beetroot juice is loaded with so many nutrients your body desperately needs now, with all the stress, pollution, and other external factors it faces daily. As long as you know how to prepare your beetroot juice right and you consume it in moderation, only good will come out of it.

Other Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/
http://www.whfoods.com/
http://www.thebestofrawfood.com/
http://www.webmd.com/
https://www.healthambition.com/
http://www.foodnetwork.com/