Health Benefits of Beet Juice
The health benefits of beet juice may not be known by many, but are profound. Beet juice is an excellent tonic for overall health. Most people know beet juice as a blood builder and blood purifier that helps create red blood cells. In addition to this, beet juice helps improve the structure of blood and also treats illnesses related to the digestive system, large intestine, and circulatory system. What are the beet juice health benefits that one can get? Beet juice has a number of health benefits.
These benefits include the following:
- High blood pressure: Research shows that drinking a glass of beet juice daily helps lower high blood pressure.
- Endurance: Drinking beet juice also helps increase your endurance by 16%.
- Acne: Regular intake of beet juice helps prevent acne and also helps tackle dry skin problems.
- Gallbladder: Beet juice is extremely beneficial for kidney and gallbladder issues. Beet juice when combined with cucumber and carrot juice is one of the best cleansers for your gallbladder and kidneys.
- Hypertension: Circulatory disorders such as hypertension can also be treated with the help of beet juice.
- Anemia: Beet juice has high iron content, and this helps reactivate the red blood cells in your body, thereby preventing anemia.
- Alzheimer’s: Research shows that the key to preventing Alzheimer’s disease is drinking beet juice. Oxygenation and increase of blood flow to the brain is necessary to prevent cognitive decline in old people.
- Cancer: Research indicates that consuming beet juice in its powdered form helps slow the development of certain types of tumors, thus aiding cancer patients.
- Constipation: Beet has cellulose content that helps increase peristalsis. Regularly drinking beet juice helps prevent constipation.
- Dandruff: Using a decoction of beets and vinegar directly on your scalp can help rid your hair of dandruff.
Beet Juice Calories
Beet juice has a number of uses from non-food applications to nutritious drinks. If consumed in the right quantity, beet juice can add to your daily energy requirements and also to their nutritional goals. In beet juice, the calorie content in an 8-fluid-ounce serving is 110 calories. One 2 inch piece of beet contains about 35 calories. If you are following a 2,000-calorie diet/day, this would amount to 5.5% of the total calories you need to consume daily. Most of the calories in this juice are from carbohydrates. An 8-fluid-ounce serving of beet juice gives you about 26 g of carbohydrates. This amounts to about 20% of the total carbohydrates you need per day. A serving of this juice also contains 0.5g of fat and 2g of protein.
In a two-cup serving of fresh beet juice, the calories found are approximately 200. It is important that you take into account the sugar and extra calories in beet juice. If you don’t make adjustments to your calorie intake, then additional beet juice could lead to weight-gain of about 1½ pounds per month. This could offset any cardiovascular benefits that you might gain from drinking beet juice. Research suggests that drinking beet juice has a number of benefits. However, you have to be careful while drinking this “powerful tonic”. It is advisable to mix this juice with some other vegetable or fruit juices so as to prevent your body from being detoxified too quickly.
Beet Juice Nutrition Facts
Beet juice is considered to be very good and has high nutritional content. It is also an excellent source of natural sugar and contains phosphorous, calcium, potassium, chlorine, sulfur, iodine, copper, vitamins B1, B2, B3, and C. Beet juice is high in carbohydrates (digestible), but the calorie content in this juice is low. The amino acids or protein factors are good in quantity and quality. Here are some beet juice nutrition facts that you should know.
- Vitamins: Beet juice is an excellent source of vitamin C and folic acid. It also contains vitamins B1, B2, B3 in small amounts. It also contains vitamin A (beta-carotene).
- Minerals: Beet juice is rich in magnesium, calcium, sodium, phosphorus, and potassium. It also contains small amounts of zinc, copper, iron, selenium, and manganese.
- Amino acids: Small amounts of amino acids are also found in raw beet juice.
- Calories: A 5 cm piece of beetroot contains about 35 calories.
- Antioxidants: The flavonoids and carotenoids in beet juice help slow down LDL cholesterol’s oxidation.
- Anti-carcinogenic color: Beet has a deep red color that comes from the betacyanin in it, which is a powerful anti-carcinogenic agent.
- Silica: Beet is rich in silica. This silica makes perfect use of the calcium in the body and is also needed for healthy hair, skin, nails and bones.
Beet juice has high nutritional content, and drinking one glass of this juice daily can give you a lot of benefits. This juice is extremely good for lowering your blood pressure and improving blood circulation and calming your nerves. As mentioned earlier, beetroot juice can be quite potent, and to get the best beet juice nutritional value you need to drink the juice after diluting it with other juices such as cucumber, carrot, or celery.
Beet Juice for Athletes
Are there any benefits of beet juice for athletes? The answer is yes. Regularly consuming beet juice may help boost the performance of athletes.
- Athletic performance: Drinking beet juice helps is by lowering your blood pressure. It also helps reduce any fatigue.
- Cycling: Research shows that drinking beetroot juice is good for cyclists as well. Findings of a research indicated that men who drank this juice could cycle for 92 seconds (16%) longer than those who did not. This meant that they were able to cover distance 2% faster. These participants were also found to have a lower blood pressure while resting. Beet root juice causes the body to burn oxygen slowly, thus keeping away tiredness for a longer period.
- Marathon: As mentioned earlier beet juice is good for runners, and it helps bolster long-distance performance. Research indicates that adding the juice to your diet provides a performance boost just like foods such as milk or cherry juice. You tend to last longer because the juice helps reduce the energy needs on your muscles. The high content of nitrate is believed to be responsible for the athletic benefits one may get on drinking the juice. Having extra content of nitric oxide in the body helps you work out with less oxygen.
If you plan preparing beet juice at home, make sure you choose beets that are firm and smooth. The size of the beets really does not matter, but make sure that they are fresh. Look for beets that are beautifully colored. You could use the entire raw beet for preparing the juice. Wash it well and then peel it before juicing it. You could use the beet leaves as well for preparing the juice. By juicing beets, you will be able to get the nutrients and vitamins in a concentrated form and reap all the benefits. However, do consult a dietitian before beginning on a beet juice regimen as it a potent juice and cause as much harm as good.
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