BEET Your Way Back To A Healthier BodySayer Ji Which leads us to beets. Anything we can eat that bleeds as red and readily as the beet deserves our immediate respect. In fact, this vegetable often leaves a veritable crime scene behind it, converting a spotless kitchen counter into a nutrient-dense blood bath in a matter of minutes. There is ancient wisdom buried in the doctrine of signatures that reveals itself so bloodily in the beet: it nourishes our blood and circulatory system. Indeed, thanks to the burgeoning growth of food science on the topic, we now know that beets are one of Natures finest cardiovascular tonics Beets Blood Vessel Dilating Properties A 2008 study published in the journal Hypertension found that beets contain pharmacologically significant quantities of blood vessel dilating nitrate. Three hours after ingesting 500 ml of beet juice study subjects experience a significant drop in blood pressure that could be directly correlated with increased plasma nitrate concentrations.[i] As endothelial dysfunction, or the inability of the blood vessels to dilate fully, is considered the canary in the trousers, beets legendary ability in ancient times to enhance virility and act as an aphrodisiac now makes perfect scientific sense. Beet Back Muscle Fatigue But beets dont just increase cardiovascular and bedroom performance but athletic performance as well. In 2009, a study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that dietary nitrate supplementation in the form of beetroot juice reduced the oxygen cost of submaximal exercise and enhanced the tolerance to high-intensity exercise.[ii] Beet Back Infections Consider that beets live in the dirt, a place full of microbes which love a free meal. This means that nature has equipped the plant with natural defenses. No wonder that beet has been found to fight off the following infectious organisms: Undoubtedly, future research will find beet to have a wider range of antimicrobial applications. But beets powers dont end there. Other already researched properties include: Beets, of course, have basic nutritional gifts to offer in addition to their aforementioned medicinal properties. They contain exceptionally high levels of folate at 148 mcg or 37% the Daily Value in just a one cup serving. They also sport an impressive 6.7 mg or 11% Daily Value of vitamin C, keeping in mind that vitamin C activity expressed through food its very different that isolate, semi-synthetic ascorbic acid; in other words, that 6.7 mg is worth far more than the story of molecular weight alone can tell. Another way to understand this is if you take a nutrient out of its natural context as a whole food, it behaves less like a nutrient and more like a chemical. For more information consult contributing writer Dr. Vic Shaynes excellent book: Whole Food Nutrition: The Missing Link in Vitamin Therapy. For a full list of beets nutritional components visit Nutritiondata.coms page on beets here. For a full list of beets therapeutic properties on GreenMedinfo.com visit our Beet Health Benefits page. Finally, for those looking for beet recipes visit the FoodNetworks page on the topic, remembering to substitute organic versions of the ingredients listed whenever possible. [ii] Stephen J Bailey, Paul Winyard, Anni Vanhatalo, Jamie R Blackwell, Fred J Dimenna, Daryl P Wilkerson, Joanna Tarr, Nigel Benjamin, Andrew M Jones. Dietary nitrate supplementation reduces the O2 cost of low-intensity exercise and enhances tolerance to high-intensity exercise in humans. J Appl Physiol. 2009 Oct;107(4):1144-55. Epub 2009 Aug 6. PMID:19661447 [iii] Stephen J Bailey, Paul Winyard, Anni Vanhatalo, Jamie R Blackwell, Fred J Dimenna, Daryl P Wilkerson, Joanna Tarr, Nigel Benjamin, Andrew M Jones. Dietary nitrate supplementation reduces the O2 cost of low-intensity exercise and enhances tolerance to high-intensity exercise in humans. J Appl Physiol. 2009 Oct;107(4):1144-55. Epub 2009 Aug 6. PMID:19661447 [iv] Stephen J Bailey, Paul Winyard, Anni Vanhatalo, Jamie R Blackwell, Fred J Dimenna, Daryl P Wilkerson, Joanna Tarr, Nigel Benjamin, Andrew M Jones. Dietary nitrate supplementation reduces the O2 cost of low-intensity exercise and enhances tolerance to high-intensity exercise in humans. J Appl Physiol. 2009 Oct;107(4):1144-55. Epub 2009 Aug 6. PMID:19661447 [v] Stephen J Bailey, Paul Winyard, Anni Vanhatalo, Jamie R Blackwell, Fred J Dimenna, Daryl P Wilkerson, Joanna Tarr, Nigel Benjamin, Andrew M Jones. Dietary nitrate supplementation reduces the O2 cost of low-intensity exercise and enhances tolerance to high-intensity exercise in humans. J Appl Physiol. 2009 Oct;107(4):1144-55. Epub 2009 Aug 6. PMID:19661447 [vi] Stephen J Bailey, Paul Winyard, Anni Vanhatalo, Jamie R Blackwell, Fred J Dimenna, Daryl P Wilkerson, Joanna Tarr, Nigel Benjamin, Andrew M Jones. Dietary nitrate supplementation reduces the O2 cost of low-intensity exercise and enhances tolerance to high-intensity exercise in humans. J Appl Physiol. 2009 Oct;107(4):1144-55. Epub 2009 Aug 6. PMID:19661447 [vii] Stephen J Bailey, Paul Winyard, Anni Vanhatalo, Jamie R Blackwell, Fred J Dimenna, Daryl P Wilkerson, Joanna Tarr, Nigel Benjamin, Andrew M Jones. Dietary nitrate supplementation reduces the O2 cost of low-intensity exercise and enhances tolerance to high-intensity exercise in humans. J Appl Physiol. 2009 Oct;107(4):1144-55. Epub 2009 Aug 6. PMID:19661447 [viii] Violetta Krajka-Kuniak, Hanna Szaefer, Ewa Ignatowicz, Teresa Adamska, Wanda Baer-Dubowska. Beetroot juice protects against N-nitrosodiethylamine-induced liver injury in rats. Food Chem Toxicol. 2012 Jun ;50(6):2027-33. Epub 2012 Mar 24. PMID: 22465004 