Why Are Beets Good For You
Beets are an immensely powerful bioactive. The first documented use of beets in Germany and Italy was for medicinal purposes in the middle ages1 You'll see from this list of benefits that beets still hold the title of a therapeutic plant today.
Although many of the benefits are thanks to the heart-healthy nitrates they provide, the other components of beets also contribute to their health effects. Here are just a few of the benefits of beets supported by research:
•Makes cardio exercise easier by decreasing your "ventilatory threshold"2
•Promote heart health with polyphenol antioxidants and blood flow-regulating nitrates3
•Support recovery thanks to improved oxygenation and nutrient delivery4
•Sharpen cognition due to better brain oxygenation5
•Improve energy because of more efficient mitochondria6
•Increase dietary fiber, which fosters a healthy microbiome and promotes metabolism
•Improve immune power, meaning fewer and shorter cold symptoms7
Beetroot is truly a superfood, but if you want the health benefits seen in research, you have to make sure you're getting the right amounts at the right time. Of course, that's most easily accomplished with a supplement, but again not all supplements are created equal! supplements are created equal!
How Beets Work
Like other nitrate-rich veggies, beets increase nitrate levels in our saliva, which gets converted into nitrates then into nitrites by oral bacteria. Once in your bloodstream and other tissues, those nitrites are converted to nitric oxide, the principal beneficial effect of consuming beets. Beets boost nitric oxide by providing nitrates. Unlike L-arginine or citrulline amino acids, the amount of nitric oxide you get from plant-based nitrates doesn't have a cap — one reason why plant-based nitrates outperform arginine in head-to-head studies8. Being a critically important molecule, having healthy nitric oxide levels is essential for the health of many of your bodily systems.
Beets for Brain Function
Oxygenation is critical for brain function, and that's one thing that higher levels of nitric oxide do for your brain. Brain scan studies show that when you supplement with nitrates, they appear to increase the blood flow to areas of your brain9 that control decision-making and executive function. When combined with exercise, the benefits may be even more significant; Howard University research shows that nitrates seem to increase blood flow in your entire brain.10
Beets to Support Immune Function
Your immune cells harness nitric oxide to deliver a targeted burst of damaging inflammation to fend off pathogens11. Your immune system's stopping power is due in part to nitric oxide. In fact, clinical research12 has even shown the positive effects of a nitrate supplement on immune function. For example, supplementing with beet juice was shown to reduce the severity of a typical cold by 26%. In addition, study subjects with baseline low nitric oxide due to asthma saw an even greater benefit!
Beets for Daily Energy
Nitric oxide's primary function is to open up blood vessels to allow for greater blood flow. That's a huge advantage in athletics — it essentially lets you do more with less oxygen.13 That extra blood flow could also help your daily energy levels as well. Additionally, the benefits of nitrates for your mitochondrial efficiency — your ability to turn calories into work — is another energy-enhancing benefit of beets. Having a better functioning immune system and better cognitive function certainly doesn't hurt your daily energy either!
Possible Side Effects Of Beets
- Like any vegetable high in fiber, beets can cause side effects like gas, bloating, and gut pain if you start eating a lot of beets all of a sudden. In my experience, this can usually be managed by just being more moderate in your approach: gradually increase the number of beets you eat.
- You also don't want to eat whole beets or their leaves every single day. Oxalates are a type of anti-nutrient that can leach other nutrients out of your digestive system, and they come in relatively high quantities in beets. Combined with an unhealthy diet and lifestyle, those oxalates can even contribute to kidney stones. Eat an otherwise nutrient-rich diet full of whole foods and give your body time to process and eliminate a high load of oxalates to minimize your risk.
- If you take medication for your heart, talk to your doctor before making changes to the beet supplements you take.
- If you are eating beets daily, you might expect to see red in your urine or stool. This is to be expected, but if it catches you off guard, you can always take a supplemental version.
- Lastly, if you're drinking your nitrates in beetroot juice or beet juice concentrate, you might want to watch your blood sugar! Those products carry a hefty dose of sugar — do you really want to take something that saps your energy when you're trying to promote your health?
