Beetroot’s deep, overpoweringly red juice has earned it the reputation as the bossiest of vegetables. It’s much-deserved place at the centre stage of a healthy diet is because these ruby gems are a goldmine of essential everyday nutrients like iron, manganese, copper, magnesium, and potassium.
Whether you blend into a classic soup, drink as juice like elite athletes or roast whole and create a delicious fulfilling salad like our ‘Garden Beet Salad’ (pictured above), beetroot is low in fat, full of vitamins and minerals and packed with powerful antioxidants – a health-food titan.
Belonging to the same family as chard and spinach both the leaves and root can be eaten, making the beetroot of exceptional nutritional value. They are an excellent source of folic acid and fibre, essential to the health and maintenance of the intestinal tract.
Beetroot is rich in nitrates and when ingested, scientists believe our body converts nitrates into nitric oxide, a chemical thought to lower blood pressure.
If ever we had a perfect food to cleanse the liver, it would be beets! Why? Because beets are extremely high in plant ‘flavonoids’ and beta-carotene. Beetroots have long been used for medicinal purposes, primarily for disorders of the liver as they help to stimulate the liver’s detoxification processes.
Need a boost to make it through your next workout? Beet juice may again prove valuable. Those who drank beet juice prior to exercise were able to exercise for up to 16 percent longer. Researchers believe beetroot juice may work to boost stamina by affecting how the body processes nitrate into nitric oxide, thereby reducing the amount of oxygen burned by the body during a workout.
Beets are a unique source of betaine, a nutrient that helps protects cells, proteins, and enzymes from environmental stress. Research also found have found that drinking juice from beetroot can improve oxygenation to the brain, slowing the progression of dementia in older adults. And let’s not forget choline, a very important and versatile nutrient in beetroot, which helps with sleep, muscle movement, learning and memory.
Beetroot’s delicious but distinctive flavour and nutritional status have escalated it to the root you can’t beat!
GARDEN BEET SALAD
Ingredients
beetroot
arugula
shaved fennel
long beans
vanilla goat cheese
seville orange and honey dressing
brasserie bee pollen
Method
Combine beetroot, arugula, shaved fennel, long beans and goat cheese. Drizzle with dressing and sprinkle with bee pollen.