Beet Roots and Tops
Nutrition
¼ cup, 2 ounces, 50 grams yield juice
Calories: 22
Protein: .85 grams
Fat: 0.1 grams
Fiber: <1 gram
Vitamin C: 3% of the RDI
Folate: 10% of the RDI
Vitamin B6: 1.5% of the RDI
Magnesium: 3% of the RDI
Potassium: 4.5% of the RDI
Phosphorous: 2% of the RDI
Manganese: 8% of the RDI
Iron: 2% of the RDI
Lower blood pressure
Beet have been shown to lower blood pressure, but don’t get too excited about this fact as it’s only for a few hours and only the systolic bp and not the more troublesome diastolic bp. This effect is most significant with raw beets or beet juice and not cooked. It is most likely related to the nitrate level found in beets. Again, long term effects have not been noted and one would have to consume beets daily to get just a minimal effect.
Some studies suggest that if can improve athletic performance at drinking 500ML daily, but the results were not grossly impressive and again it is related to the nitrates.
Inflammation
They might help with inflammation. There is some science to this, however more human studies are needed and I try not to cite animal studies. The pigment called betalains is thought to be responsible for this. If one has inflammation and they juice beets and it helps, awesome. They did do one human study that showed beetroot extract capsules did help reduce pain from osteoarthritis.
Digestive Health
It may improve digestive health if one is consuming the whole beet, however if juicing most of the fiber ends up in the bucket. It’s truly not much different than any other fiber and most of the studies about beets being good for digestion end up citing fiber studies.
Brain health. Here’s some good shit. The nitrates in beets just might improve cognitive function by dilation of the blood vessels increasing blood flow to the brain.
Cancer
Cancer, the C word. Back to the betalain pigments. In human tissue studies in a test tube, mind you beetroot extract did show that it reduced the growth of prostate and breast cancer cells
Resources
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21434853
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18250365
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23884387
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23596162