There aren’t many vegetables that take on a hot pink hue when you cook with them, but beetroot is one of them. Using the veggie to make hummus, noodles, or even a nourishing latte is a way to add more color to your life. But beets do more than make a diet more colorful; there are tons of benefits of beets. Sometimes, beets are referred to as beetroot, which may have you wondering what the difference is. The truth? There isn’t one. “Beets are a root vegetable, so you may have seen them called beetroot, but beets and beetroot are in fact the same thing,” registered dietitian and Good For Your Gut author Desiree Nielsen, RD, explains. That said, there are different types of beets. Besides deep-red beets, which are most common here in the U.S., you can also find golden beets. There are also sugar beets and baby beets (smaller in size than traditional beets). These are just a few of the whopping 17-plus varieties of beets.
Beetroot nutrition facts
Whichever beetroot type you decide to cook up, there are plenty of ways your body will benefit. Here, registered dietitians explain exactly what those benefits are. But before we get into that, take a look at the nutrient breakdown of exactly what’s in one beet, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture:
Calories: 35 kcalProtein: 1 gCarbohydrates: 8 gFiber: 2 gCalcium: 13 mgMagnesium: 19 mgPhosphorus: 33 mgPotassium: 266 mgVitamin C: 4 mgFolate: 89 µgCholine: 5 mgVitamin A: 27 IUCarotene, beta: 16 µg
Next, see how the nutrients in beetroot benefit the body, according to dietitians.
7 benefits of beets
1. Beets are good for your heart
“Beets are fantastic for heart health,” Nielsen says. She explains that there isn’t just one nutrient in beets that benefits cardiovascular health; there are quite a few. One biggie is nitrates. “Plant-derived nitrates are converted to nitric oxide in the body, which helps to relax blood vessels and may lower blood pressure,” Nielsen says. “The nitrates are converted to nitric oxide in the body, and it’s the nitric oxide that may help dilate blood vessels which can help reduce blood pressure if it’s chronically high,” says registered dietitian Erica Ingraham, RD, reiterating Nielsen’s point about how beneficial plant nitrates are for heart health. Nielsen says that beets also contain folate and potassium, two other nutrients that are important for heart health. Ingraham adds that yet another reason why beets are so great for heart health is that they have an antioxidant called vulgaxanthin, which is linked with anti-inflammatory properties. That’s a lot of heart-healthy benefits for one veggie.
2. Eating beets also supports brain health
According to Ingraham, the same nitrates that make beets such a heart-healthy food also directly benefit the brain. “The nitrates may help dilate blood vessels and improve blood flow in the brain,” she says. “This increased blood flow to the brain is thought to improve cognition and slow the progression of an aging brain.” To her point, poor blood flow is linked to dementia and other cognitive-related diseases. “Early research suggests that eating beets may also improve cognitive function, particularly in older adults, but there is more research to be done to confirm this because there is also research that has shown no effect on cerebral blood flow,” Nielsen adds.
3. They’re good for your gut
Want to do something to support your digestive system? Incorporating beets into your diet will help keep it running smoothly. Both experts say that this is because beets contain fiber, key for digestive health. “Fiber serves as a source of fuel for the bacteria in our gut,” Ingraham says. She adds that eating a wide variety of fiber-rich foods is truly what’s best for gut health, so think of beets as just one of many beneficial gut-healthy foods.
4. Eating beets regularly can help decrease the risk of chronic diseases
Fiber isn’t just beneficial for keeping the digestive system running properly. Ingraham says that fiber is also linked to lowering inflammation. This helps protect the body from chronic diseases, including cancer. “Having a wide variety of ‘good’ bacteria in the gut supports immune function and reduces chronic disease risk,” she says, reiterating that consuming fiber from a wide range of sources is the way to get there.
5. Beets can help protect against certain kinds of cancer
While the fiber in beets certainly plays a role in protecting against chronic inflammation, Ingraham says beetroot’s high antioxidant properties also make it beneficial for protecting the body against diseases, including certain types of cancer. “In lab studies, beetroot extract has been shown to reduce cancer cell growth, [including prostate cancer and breast cancer href=“https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27565811/” target="_blank"],” she says. Certainly, there’s no silver bullet in protecting against cancer, but this preliminary research shows that beets may play a supportive role in using diet and lifestyle to your advantage.
6. Beets may help athletic performance
Nielsen says there has been a lot of interest around drinking beet juice before a workout as a way to benefit athletic performance. “Research suggests that beet juice, consumed two to three hours pre-activity may enhance not only performance but also recovery, potentially reducing fatigue, though not all research agrees,” she says. How exactly could it help? Nielsen says that this is likely because of the nitrates in beetroot, which help increase blood flow. “This helps oxygenate the tissues and enhance performance capacity, particularly in endurance activity,” she says. So it just might be worth sipping on beet juice before your next long run.
7. Eating beets help support the immune system
Since beets contain vitamin C, Ingraham says this makes them an immunity-supporting food. She adds that vitamin C is also important for cellular health and also plays a role in protecting the body from free radicals, which can cause inflammation.
Are there any side effects to eating beets?
In general, both experts say beets are well-tolerated by most people. But Ingraham says that eating a large quantity could increase the risk of kidney stones, though this is rare. Beyond that, you can enjoy beets without worrying too much. Nielsen says that since beets are so vibrantly colored, they could change the color of your urine or stool, but it’s nothing to freak out about. Want to incorporate them into your diet more? Beets can be eaten raw, boiled, roasted, steamed, or grilled. Ingraham says she likes to add cooked, chopped beets in salads and she also slices them to put on burgers. “You can also juice beets and even pickle them—the options are endless,” she says. If you’ve never cooked with beets before, you may be surprised at just how versatile they can be. Besides adding a pop of color to your plate, the benefits are clearly plentiful. Some may say the perks of the veg are hard to, well, beat. Next up, check out these creative ways to cook with beets.
Sources:
Erica Ingraham, RD, registered dietitianDesiree Nielsen, RD, registered dietitian, author of Good For Your Gut, and host of The Urban Vegetarian
