Natural Life Choices®, Inc

Health & Wellness Coach 

Today I would like to talk more about red beet or beetroot. It is a colorful and a multipurpose vegetable at many stages of growth. Both the leaves and roots are edible and packed with goodness. Let’s start from the beginning.

The Red beet/beetroot (Beta vulgaris) is found along the Mediterranean coast as well as the Atlantic coast into Scandinavia, throughout the Middle East and in India, Iran, and Azerbaijan. Ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian civilizations described the use of the vegetable beet in their cuisines and medicinal remedies, but most of these recipes focused on beet leaves. These sources indicate that the beet was primarily a leaf crop and not widely consumed as a root vegetable. The first information about the swollen rooted forms reveals that they existed in the 16th century. The red beet was domesticated in Europe and spread to the Middle East, Asia and America.

Beetroots are commonly consumed in form of supplemental juice, powder, bread, gel, boiled, oven-dried, pickled, pureed or jam-processed across different food cultures. It is a rich source of diverse source minerals such as potassium, sodium, phosphorous, calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, zinc, and manganese. Beetroot consists of multiple biologically active phytochemicals including betalains, flavonoids, polyphenols, saponin and inorganic Nitrate (NO3). In the table below there is some information about nutrition composition of red beets and their byproducts. As a rich and nutritious source, it is believed to hold health-promotional characteristics, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, anti-carcinogenic and anti-diabetic activities and hepato-protective, hypotensive and wound healing properties.

Nutrient composition of beetroot and its byproducts (per 100g or L) (Parvin M., 2020 17:3)

a as mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE/100g); b as mg rutin equivalent (RE/100g sample)

The studies show more evidence in favor of blood glucose lowering effect of beetroot and beetroot juice in particular. It can be implied that beetroot juice is able to effectively lessen the impact of insulin resistance in a drug- comparable manner.

It was revealed that chronic and regular ingestion of fermented beetroot juice may lead to the sustaining intestinal microbial ecosystem and modifying metabolic activity to reduce the risk of food intolerance related diseases.

It is well established that the administration of NO3 supplementation as beetroot juice enhances cardio-protective and cardio-enhancing properties. Based on the current prevailing perception, NO3 and its subsequent NO product are mainly responsible for cardio-protective and the hypotensive effects of beetroot supplements; while so additive, or synergistic, effects of other bioactive compounds such as vitamin C, polyphenols and carotenoids should not be neglected.

Red beetroot is a vegetable rich in carbohydrates, fat, micro-nutrients, and constituents with bioactive properties. The bioactive constituents include betaine, polyphenols, carotenoids, flavonoids, saponins and the water-soluble pigments the betalains. Members of the betalain family are categorized as either betacyanin pigments that are red-violet in color or betaxanthin pigments that are yellow-orange in color. Betalaines are extracted and used as a natural food coloring or dye (commercial dye E162).

Sometimes people may notice that their urine and stools have turned pink or even red after eating red beet roots. It is the betalains that cause this. It is harmless and occurring only in 15% of people who lack the gut bacteria that normally degrade betalains. The urine and stool usually return to their normal color after a day or two.

As noted above, red beets are a multipurpose vegetable at many stages of growth. They are mostly cultivated as an annual vegetable. The swollen root can be either rounded or tapered and are red, yellow (golden beet) or white. The leaves sprout as a rosette above-ground and, when they are two or three inches tall, they are a delicious addition to salads. Then, when the greens are higher than six to eight inches tall, you can steam up a mess of greens. At last, you can use roots when they are an inch and a half in diameter or bigger. The smaller roots for some people taste the best.

You can grow them by yourself; beets are suitable for growing in either gardens or large containers. Beets tolerate frost and grow best in cooler climates; however, they can be grown in most climates. They tolerate both full sun and partial shade, and prefer loose soil, which allow roots to grow freely.

Beets grow the best and taste best when they grow fast, so they need rich soil and plenty of water. Some believe that they are fairly drought-tolerant and actually growing in many nutrients if kept slightly on the dry side. But if you leave to dry the vegetable becomes tough and stringy. So, the key, as always, is in moderation.

If you are planning to grow them in a pot, you need one the 10-12 inches deep, because they have a long taproot. You seed them half an inch deep and two (for greens) or three (for roots) inches apart directly in the container or ground. You can make the first planting a month before the last frost, with small succession plantings every two weeks or month. Although they like to grow in cool weather, beets germinate best in warm soil. So, it is good to cover the container with black plastic.

It does not matter how carefully you space the seeds of your beets you should know that each beet “seed” is actually a cluster of seeds so beets will emerge as a clump of plants. You can thin some of the plants, but even if you don’t, they will do fine, especially if you harvest some of the crop early for greens. You should know that if you decide to thin, use the scissors, clipping the unwanted plants at soil level; the roots of the plants in any cluster are thoroughly intertwined, and any attempt to thin by pulling the extra plants will disturb the roots of the plants you want to save. They are easy to keep and unlikely to be bothered by pests or diseases.

You harvest mature beet roots 3-4 months after sowing depending on area and seasonal conditions. If you are planning to store beets longer than a couple days, you should cut the majority of the greens and their stems from the roots, so they do not pull moisture away from the root. Leave about two inches of the stem attached to prevent the roots from “bleeding”. Store the unwashed greens in a separate perforated plastic bag, where they will keep fresh for about 4 days. You can also can and pickle them and freeze tender young beets. Don’t freeze raw beets. Cook them until tender and slice, chop or leave whole. Cool and transfer to plastic containers, then freeze for up to 6 months.

Red beets are amazing a multipurpose vegetable: You can grate or slice raw and add to salads; you can bake, steam, or boil them; you can puree them with oil and spices to make a dip; or as in Eastern Europe kitchen they use them to make the soup, borscht. You can cook and use the leaves as you would use a spinach. Blanched, they can be added to soups, salads, or pasta sauces.

Being from the Eastern Europe beets are part of my heritage. Here are some ideas how they can be used in the kitchen. I hope you will enjoy!

Please let me know if you have any more question about red beet!

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Ela

Bibliography:

Clifford T., H. G. (2015, 7). The potential benefits of red beetroot supplementation in health and disease. Nutrients, 2801-2822.

Goldman IL., J. J. (2021, vol 12). Evolution of root morphology in table beet: Historical and iconographic. Frontiers in Plant Science.

Lechner JF., S. G. (2019, 24, 1602). Red beetroot and betalains as cancer chemoprevetative agents. Molecules.

Madadi E., M.-R. S. (2020, 9, 1219). Therapeutic application of betalainw: A review. Plants.

Murray M., P. J. (2005). The encyclopedia of healing foods. New York, London, Toronto, Sydney: Atria Books.

Parvin M., H. Z. (2020 17:3). Functional properties of beetroot (Beta vulgaris) in management of cardio-metabolic diseases. Nutrition & Metabolism.

Rowney, K. (2010). Growing vegetables. New York: Metro Books.

Schwarcz J., B. F. (2004). Food that harms foods that heal. New York Montreal: Reader's Digest.

Smith, E. C. (2011). The vegetable gardener's container bible. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing.

Wong, J. (2016). Grow of flavor. Buffalo NY: Firefly Books (U.S.) Inc.

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