• Brief History of Beetroot
• Nutrients in Beetroot
• Beetroot for Cholesterol Reduction
• Beetroot for Blood Pressure
• Beetroot for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention
• Beetroot for Healthy Liver Function
• Beetroot for Cancer Prevention
• Glycemic Index of Beetroot
• Adverse Reactions from Beetroot

Modern varieties of beets are derived from the sea beet, an inedible plant that grows wild along the coasts of Europe, North Africa, and Asia. The garden beet has been cultivated for thousands of years. In ancient Greece, beets were so highly valued that, according to myth, a beet was offered on a silver platter to Apollo at Delphi. Today, beets are grown in many regions of the world. The leading beet-producing regions of the United States are California, Colorado, New Jersey, Ohio, and Texas. The beet is a cool-weather biennial that is cultivated as an annual. Beets are grown from seeds sown in early spring and are ready to harvest 60 to 80 days after planting. Beets are not harmed by frost, but hot weather can toughen the roots. Thus, in regions with hotter summers, they are planted in early fall for winter and spring harvest. Consequently, fresh beets are available all year.

Nutrients in Beetroot

Beetroot for Cholesterol Reduction

Beetroot juice has been shown to lower blood pressure in subjects with normal blood pressure. In healthy volunteers, approximately 3 hours after ingestion of 500 ml of beetroot juice, blood pressure was substantially reduced, an effect that correlated with peak increases in plasma nitrite concentration, nitrite being the blood pressure reducing ingredient.

Beetroot and nitrate capsules are equally effective in lowering blood pressure indicating that it is the nitrate content of beetroot juice that underlies its potential to reduce blood pressure. It has also been found that only a small amount of juice is needed – just 250ml - to have this effect.

Betaine, a nutrient found in beets and some other foods lowers plasma homocysteine, a possible risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Betaine supplements are manufactured as a byproduct of sugar beet processing. Betaine "supplementation" has however been found to increase blood LDL cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations in healthy humans, which may undo the potential benefits for cardiovascular health of betaine supplementation through homocysteine lowering.

Beetroot contains the bioactive agent betaine, which supports healthy liver function. When the liver is functioning properly, fats are broken down efficiently, aiding weight loss, and preventing fatigue and nausea.

The in vitro inhibitory effect of beet root extract on Epstein-Barr virus early antigen (EBV-EA) induction using Raji cells revealed a high order of activity compared to capsanthin, cranberry, red onion skin and short and long red bell peppers. An in vivo anti-tumor promoting activity evaluation against the mice skin and lung bioassays also revealed a significant tumor inhibitory effect. The combined findings suggest that beetroot ingestion can be a useful means to help prevent cancer.

In patients that had various forms of gastritis and gastric cancer, it was found that beet juice may inhibit or enhance N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) formation depending on the gastric juice composition, pH in particular. In acid medium (pH-1.3-3.4) there was a trend to inhibition of NDMA synthesis, while in neutral and alkaline (pH = 7.4-8.5) medium NDMA synthesis is activated. N-nitrosodimethylamine is a nitrosamine, and is a suspected human carcinogen.

In a study to determine the estimated Glycemic Index of various foods, it was concluded that beetroot has a medium GI of 64.

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