10+ Health Benefits of Eating Beetroot and Drinking Juice

Beets, Beetroot(Chukandar) is a very nutritious vegetable. It belongs to family Chenopodiaceae. Some other nutritious member of this family are bathua, spinach (paalak), and chard. Beets are very good source of vitamins, minerals and folate. Folic acids are required in the body for cell regeneration and growth. Its deficiency during first trimester of pregnancy can cause birth defects in foetus. So if you are planning for a baby or pregnant, start taking beetroot.

Beet is tonic that helps to improve overall health. It is good for the heart and lowers blood pressure. It gives energy, improves stamina due to the presence of natural sugar.

Betacyanin, which gives beets purple color is powerful anticancer agent and inhibits tumor formation.

To know more about benefits of eating beet, read on.

Scientific Name: Beta vulgaris
Common Name: Beetroot, beet, red beet, sugar beet, chukandar

Nutrition Information of Beetroot

Nutrients per 100 g in Beetroot

Health benefits of eating Beetroot

• Antioxidant, richest sources of flavonoids
• Anti-inflammatory effect in the body and reduces the swelling
• Contains four important vitamins, nine essential minerals and folic acid
• Improves quality of blood, cures anemia and helps in generation of RBCs
• Inhibits tumor/cancer formation caused by nitrates
• Good for the digestive, lymphatic, excretory and circulatory system
• High levels of soluble and insoluble ?bre, cleanses body and cures constipation
• Helps to lower blood pressure
• Protects the liver from toxins
• Powerful cleansing action, removes heavy metals, cholesterol deposits from the body
• Excellent vegetable for women’s health as it is a good source of folic acid, iron, gives relief in menstrual problems
• Also supportive in the treatment of uterine ?broids
• Supports treatment of the kidney and bladder disorders, gallstones, jaundice, gout, constipation, anemia and cancer (anti-tumor properties)

Here are few recipes of beet or chukandar.

Beetroot salad

Cook beets in pan by adding water till they become tender. Cut them in small pieces. Add vinegar, roasted jeera powder, pepper, salt and olive oil. Mix and serve with any dish.

Boiled beets

Wash carefully under running water to remove dirt and soil. Cut in small pieces. Take a pan, put two inch water and bring it to boil. Put beet pieces and cover pan with lid. Cook for not more than fifteen minutes as prolonged heat exposure reduces beetroot nutritional value.  This will make beets tender. Add ghee, mix well and eat.

Beet Sandwiches

Take boiled beetroot and mash them. On bread slice spread butter, mashed beetroot, cheese, and salt as per taste. Put the other slice. Sandwich is ready to eat.

Beetroot Halwa

Clean and grate beetroot (200 gm). Put in a thick base pan, add some water and cook well. Add desi ghee (50 gm) and fry for a few minutes. Add sugar (as per taste) and Khoya (100 gm). Cook for a few minutes. Remove from stove and garnish with nuts.

Beetroot Juice

Take one beetroot, one carrot and one apple. Wash and peel outer skin to remove dirt.  Extract the juice using juice extractor. If you do not have extractor, then take fine grater or shredder. Grate, tie pulp in thin cloth and squeeze to get the juice.

Amazing Health Benefits of Beetroot Juice

It can be eaten as salad, chutney, pickles or as juice. Beetroot juice is one of the best vegetable juice. It offers several health benefits. Beetroot juice is recommended as a supportive therapy in diseases such as high blood pressure, gallstone, fatty the liver, jaundice, gout, lumbago and kidney diseases. You should drink a glass of beet juice daily to get its health benefits.

Benefits of drinking Beetroot Juice

• Tonic for health
  Beetroot is a rich source of natural sugar. This sugar is easily digested and get assimilated in the body.  Beet root is also good source of folate, manganese, potassium, copper, magnesium, fibre, phosphorus, vitamin B6, C and iron.  Beet root juice is good for the digestive system, circulatory system and body detoxification. It reduces blood pressure, improves circulation, haemoglobin level and immunity.
• Anti-oxidant
  It is an excellent antioxidant that scavenges free radical from the body and protects against various diseases.
• Cures Anemia
  Beetroot contains iron and cures iron deficiency.
• Good for the digestive system
  Beetroot juice is helpful in digestive disorders such as constipation, piles. It is also helps to remove toxins from the body. In the case of nausea, vomiting, jaundice, hepatitis, diarrhea, dysentery intake of beet juice is beneficial. Beet juice alkalises body and reduces acidosis (increased acidity in the blood and other body tissue).
• Solvent of inorganic Calcium
  Beetroot juice is excellent solvent for inorganic calcium in the body. The deposition of inorganic calcium within blood vessels causes thickening of their walls and hardening of arteries. This causes high blood pressure and other heart diseases. Drinking of beet juice helps body to get rid of this inorganic calcium from the body. For the same reasons, beet root juice is useful in stones, kidney and the liver disorders, gout, arthritis and similar chronic diseases.
• Detoxifies body
  Beetroot juice is excellent in detoxification of the body. When taken in combination of carrot and cucumber juice, it cleanses body and gives relief in kidney and gall bladder disorders.
• You can extract juice of fresh tender beet root using juice extractor or grinding small pieces of beet in grinder, then squeezing through thin cloth. This juice can be made more palatable by mixing lime juice. The combination of beet and lemon juice is helpful in treating the liver diseases, jaundice, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and dysentery.
• In the case of gastric ulcer, you can mix honey in this juice and take empty stomach every morning.
  You can also mix carrot and beet root juice. Beet, carrot, and celery juice mixed together are helpful in nervous disorders and arthritis.

Caution: This juice is rich in natural sugar, so it should not be consumed by diabetics.
After consuming beetroot juice, the color of urine can turn pink or purple. This is harmless condition and known as beeturia. It is due to unmetabolise betalain pigments such as betanin in beetroot. Do not take in excess.