Stunning red and filled to the brim with nutrients, that’s beetroot for you! Let’s explore the magic that this red juice can cast on one’s health.
Combat blood pressure
Amidst all its redness and purple tones, beetroot is composed of dietary nitrates. So, how do these nitrates exactly help? Once having drunk beetroot juice, our body converts the nitrates of the beetroot juice into nitric oxide. Nitric oxide aides blood flow and helps achieve a regulated blood pressure.
It has been seen that just one full glass of this juice can lower high blood pressure by 10mmHg, that too within few hours with lingering effects the next day. Whereas refraining from salt intake helps to reduce high blood pressure by about 5mmHg only.
A workout companion
Already tired after 15 minutes on the treadmill? Can’t run another lap? Reading a lot about heart arrests during intensive workout sessions? Beet juice is high in magnesium and potassium, which helps to improve performance during any type of exercise, and heart functioning. It helps one to workout efficiently for a longer while because the nitrates reduce the uptake of oxygen.
This is because it increases the blood’s oxygen-taking capacity up to 400 percent. There you go, a glass of beet juice before a workout is all you need to exercise and sweat it out, and get all toned up!
The gradual rush of sugar
Beetroot scores high on high sugar content, however, unlike the sugar being released suddenly into the body (like when eating a chocolate), sugar from beetroot is released slowly into the body.
Fight cancer
It’s always good to have a healthy diet to protect oneself from entering the illness zones. Beetroot juice helps to protect mainly against colon cancer. The reddish-purple colour of this vegetable is due to the presence of a pigment called Betacyanin, which is actually a cancer-fighting agent. Beetroot helps in inhibiting cancer mutations, particularly in the case of stomach cancer.
One particular case study is of Dr. Ferenczi of Hungary wherein his patients were made to drink a quart of beet juice each day. It was found that this helped in breaking down tumors and gradually eliminating the tumors.
Minimize birth defects
Folic acid is found in a beetroot in large quantities. A baby’s spinal cord is developed in the right manner due to this acid. Two boiled beetroots turned into juice, and consumed daily help to serve as protection against birth defects.
Due to the high Vitamin C and fibre content in beet, it has also proved to lessen pain during a delivery. What’s more you may even have a baby with rosy pink cheeks that other mums will envy *wink*.
Turns you into a monk
It is important to keep the mind relaxed amidst all stress. This can be done when the mind is in a relaxed state. Beetroot contains betaine, which helps to relax the mind, and it also has deposits of tryptophan which contributes to a sense of well being within oneself.
Trytophan is the same component found in chocolates too.
Increase the glutathione levels
Gluta-thi-one! What’s this? This is a naturally produced substance in the body, which is also addressed as the body’s master antioxidant. It neutralizes toxins from almost every cell present in the living body. In simple lingo, it flushes out toxins.
Hence, this substance helps us protect our organs by escorting the toxic byproducts till our colon, and then negating them out from there. Beetroot just helps in increasing the glutathione levels so that there are more of such guides to lead the toxins into the flush.
The hangover cure
Consumed by alcohol? Opt for beet juice. The compounds found in beet help detoxify the liver by cleansing it and improving its functioning. So, next time you have a hangover, gulp down a glass of beetroot juice!
Bid goodbye to bad cholesterol
Beetroot juice bids goodbye to the bad, and invites the good. It helps to lower bad cholesterol levels while raising the bar of healthy cholesterol levels (LDL) in the body. Isn’t it almost like a good luck charm?
So, we shouldn’t really be surprised to see the trend of hanging beetroots instead of chimes on the wall!
The aphrodisiac
Not many may know this, but it is also used as an aphrodisiac since the days of the Romans. In fact the walls of Pompeii used to be adorned with beetroots!
The magic vegetable contains quite a lot of boron, which is directly related to the sex hormone production. In addition to that betaine and tryptophan in beetroot contribute to a sense of general wellbeing and get you in the mood!
The drink to age with
A study conducted by Miller and his colleagues at Wake Forest has shown that healthy elderly people benefit a lot more from this red drink as blood flows to their brain in a more orderly and regulated manner. In elder people, this juice directs blood to the skeletal muscles, which is a key tissue.
However, in the case of healthy people, most likely their skeletal muscles are already healthy and they will not see any improvements in this very aspect due to the juice. Having muscle strength as you age is a must requirement, or else your bones would be prone to fractures, pains and weaknesses. It’s better to spend on beetroots rather than walking sticks.
Granny’s recipe: How to have this red-purple magic
It’s quite simple and quick to create magic. It just needs to be finely polished and executed; in this case finely washed and boiled. Boil a beetroot. Add the entire beet along with the beet leaves into a blender, or let the ingredients blend in a juicer.
Mix in 3 leaves of spinach, and 3-4 leaves of mint. Add half a carrot or cucumber to enhance health and the taste on your palette. Blend all the ingredients, and relish magic in the form of a juice.