Beetroot, it does your body good

From keeping your blood sugar levels in control to improving your sexual stamina, this vegetable is a well know antidote for anemia in many Indian households. In addition to acting as a natural food color, it can be consumed in the form of salad, juice or halwa.

Beetroot is known to contain large amounts of soluble fibers, flavanoids and betacyanin. Betacyanin is the compound that gives beetroot its purplish-red color and is also a powerful antioxidant. (1) It helps reduce the oxidation of LDL cholesterol and does not allow it to deposit on the walls of the artery. This protects the heart from potential heart attacks and stroke reducing the need for medication.

People suffering from diabetes can fulfill their sweet craving by adding a little beetroot in their diet. Being a medium glycaemic index vegetable (means it releases sugars very slowly into the blood), it aids in maintaining your blood sugar levels low while satiating your sugar craving. (2) Also, this vegetable is low in calories and fat-free making it a perfect vegetable for diabetics.

Beetroot is a great source of nitrates, which when consumed, is converted to nitrites and a gas called nitrite oxides. Both these components help to widen the arteries and lower blood pressure. Researchers also found that having just about 500 grams of beetroot every day reduces a person’s blood pressure in about six hours.

Another amazing quality of the root is that it has an abundant supply of folic acid. Folic acid is important for pregnant mums and unborn babies because it is an essential component for the proper formation of the unborn child’s spinal cord, and can protect the child from conditions such as spina bifida (is a congenital disorder where the child’s spinal cord does not form completely and in most cases looks like it has been divided into two at the base). Beetroot also gives mums-to-be that extra energy boost required during pregnancy  Because of its high soluble fibre content, beetroot acts as a great laxative. It helps in regularising your bowel movement by softening stools. It also cleanses the colon and flushes out the harmful toxins from the stomach.

It is a common myth that because beetroot is reddish in color, it replaces lost blood and is therefore good to treat anemia. While this may sound a bit outrageous to many, there is a partial truth hidden in the myth. Beetroot contains a lot of iron. Iron helps in the formation of haemagglutinin, which is a part of the blood that helps transport oxygen and nutrients to various parts of the body. It is the iron content and not the color that helps treat anemia.

Also known as ‘natural Viagra’, beetroot has been commonly used in a number of ancient customs to boost one’s sexual health. Since the vegetable is a rich source of nitrates it helps release nitric oxide into the body, widening the blood vessels, and increasing blood flow to the genitals – a mechanism that medicines like Viagra seek to replicate. Another factor is that beetroot contains a lot of boron, a chemical compound that is important for the production of the human sex hormone. So the next time, ditch the blue pill and have some beetroot juice instead.

The betacyanin content in beetroot has another very important function. In a study done at the Howard University, Washington DC, it was found that betacyanin helped slow the growth of tumors by 12.5 percent in patients with breast and prostate cancer. This effect not only helps in the diagnosis and treatment of cancers but it also helps cancer survivors remain cancer-free longer.