Beetroots
Photography and styling by Grain(e)s & co.
Beetroots are a powerhouse of nutrients and lend to both sweet and savoury dishes! With their vibrant dark reddish-purple hues and sweet, earthy flavour, they may be slightly intimidating to cook with, but it’s worth the effort. So here are some reasons to add beetroots to your plate:
Part of your 5-a-day
Beetroots are root vegetables, belonging to the same family as spinach and chard. Only 3 small beetroots or 7 slices of a regular-sized beetroot count as 1 of your 5-a-day.
Folate (folic acid) - growth & pregnancy
Beetroots are rich in folate, an essential B vitamin - vitamin B9.
Folic acid is crucial during periods of rapid growth and development - such as pregnancy & infancy - as it is needed for cell growth and multiplication. Adequate folic acid intake is essential for those planning a pregnancy and during pregnancy as it is a key player in the healthy development of babies, supporting skull, brain and spinal cord development and protecting against birth defects - particularly neural tube defects.
Folic acid also plays a role in producing and keeping healthy red blood cells and blood vessels, and supporting our immune system.
Potassium - heart health & fluid balance
Beetroots are a great source of potassium, a mineral that supports the proper functioning of our heart muscles and helps control & maintain normal blood pressure.
Potassium also controls fluid balance in our bodies, meaning it regulates the water balance inside and outside our cells. This is important because maintaining equal fluid balance is crucial to avoid dehydration which in turn can affect our health.
Nitrates - blood pressure & exercise performance
Beetroots are naturally rich in nitrates, which, when consumed in the form of vegetables, have many benefits. Natural nitrates in beetroots can help lower our blood pressure by helping open blood vessels, which in turn can reduce the risk of heart disease.
On top of this, natural nitrates can help support exercise performance and endurance by improving blood flow and the way our bodies use oxygen which strengthens muscle contraction and can help muscle recovery. Natural nitrates have also been linked to better brain/cognitive function as they increase blood flow to the brain.
Dietary Fibre - gut health & digestion
Kiwis are a source of dietary fibre. A portion - 2 kiwis - provides more than 4g grams of dietary fibre, making a valuable contribution to our fibre intake.
Dietary fibre has been shown to feed the good bacteria in our gut, which in turn promotes good gut health. It also bulks up and softens our stool decreasing constipation and reducing the risk of certain diseases - such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and bowel cancers.
Find out more on my previous blog post: Dietary Fibre.
The take-home:
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References
NHS. Rough guide - Fruit & vegetable portion sizes. Livewell. 2021 https://www.nhs.uk/livewell/5aday/documents/downloads/5aday_portion_guide.pdf
McCance & Widdowson. The Composition of Foods integrated dataset 2021. 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2023, from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/composition-of-foods-integrated-dataset-cofid
NHS. Vitamins and Minerals - B Vitamins and folic acid. NHS Sources. Retrieved October 8, 2023, from https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-b/
British Nutrition Foundation. Vitamins and Minerals in our Food. Retrieved October 8, 2023, from https://www.nutrition.org.uk/media/5xeeolog/vitamins-and-minerals-in-our-food-pdf.pdf
NHS. Vitamins and Minerals - Others. NHS Sources. Retrieved October 8, 2023, from https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/others/
Webb AJ, Patel N, Loukogeorgakis S, Okorie M, Aboud Z, Misra S, Rashid R, Miall P, Deanfield J, Benjamin N, MacAllister R, Hobbs AJ, Ahluwalia A. Acute blood pressure lowering, vasoprotective, and antiplatelet properties of dietary nitrate via bioconversion to nitrite. Hypertension. 2008 Mar;51(3):784-90. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.107.103523.
Murphy M, Eliot K, Heuertz RM, Weiss E. Whole beetroot consumption acutely improves running performance. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2012 Apr;112(4):548-52. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2011.12.002.
Barber TM, Kabisch S, Pfeiffer AFH, Weickert MO. The Health Benefits of Dietary Fibre. Nutrients. 2020;12(10):3209. Published 2020 Oct 21. doi:10.3390/nu12103209