✓ Evidence Based

9 Health Benefits Of Drinking Beet Juice

Beet juice is one of the most popular juices around today. And it lives up to its name! The taste, as you can imagine, is very similar to beetroots.

This makes it a bit hard for those who aren’t big fans of this unique taste to drink beet juice regularly. However, its health benefits outweigh its taste.

Beet Juice Benefits

Beets are root vegetables that come in red, yellow, and white varieties. They are rich in vitamins A, and C, as well as potassium, iron, and magnesium (1). They are also a good source of fiber (2). Here are the benefits of drinking beet juice:

1. Supports liver health

The liver is one of the most important organs in our body. It performs around 500 different functions, including producing bile and blood, removing toxins, and providing support to the immune system. Because of this, it’s important to keep your liver healthy!

But a healthy liver isn’t just about keeping your blood clean and your digestive system functioning. Your liver also plays an important role in maintaining your energy levels and mental clarity. If you’re feeling sluggish or mentally foggy, it could be due to a sluggish liver. The good news is that there are simple ways to support this essential organ, like drinking beet juice for example!

Beets contain betaine, which is an amino acid that supports liver function (3). Betaine helps support the body by clearing out harmful toxins like ammonia from protein breakdown.

Beets are also rich in nitrates, which help your body produce more oxygen-rich red blood cells (4). This makes them especially beneficial for those with heart disease and high blood pressure, who tend to experience low oxygen levels in their bloodstream.

Summary:Beets contain betaine, which can help support liver health and detoxifying the body.

2. Helps nerves and muscles function properly

Beet juice has long been used as a natural remedy for helping the body heal itself. It was used in ancient Egypt and Greece to treat various conditions. Today, beets are still popularly used to treat heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and even psoriasis. Beet juice is a great source of potassium, which is a mineral that helps your muscles contract and relax (5).

Potassium is an electrolyte, which means it dissolves in water. Electrolytes are important for the body to function properly because they help transmit electrical signals between nerve cells and muscle cells (6). Electrolytes also help regulate blood pressure by allowing your body to retain water or release it into the bloodstream as needed.

Beets contain about 400 milligrams of potassium per cup, which makes them one of the best sources of this mineral in all vegetables. The betaine found in beets can also help with nerve cell function and muscle contractions by increasing the amount of choline in the body.

Choline is an essential nutrient that helps nerves send messages from one location to another within the body. Without enough choline, nerve cells cannot function properly and muscles may not be able to contract properly either.

Summary:Beet juice contains potassium and choline, which help support muscle function, electrolyte balance, blood pressure regulation and nerve function.

3. Boosts stamina

Your stamina is the ability of your body to continue working without getting tired. It’s a measure of your physical fitness, and it can be improved by exercising regularly. If you’re looking for an easy way to improve your stamina, then beet juice is the answer.

Beetroot juice contains nitrates that help increase blood flow throughout your body, including your muscles and brain. This allows for greater oxygen delivery to your organs and muscles so you can perform better during workouts. Betanin in beets is also absorbed slowly into the bloodstream, which means it can supply energy for longer periods.

Summary:Studies have shown that drinking beetroot juice can help boost muscle stamina and improve performance during workouts and activity.

4. Lowers blood pressure

High blood pressure is one of the most important risk factors for heart attack and stroke (7). The good news is that many foods can help lower blood pressure naturally.

If you have high blood pressure, you may want to give beet juice a try. A new study found that drinking beet juice can significantly lower your blood pressure.

Beets are packed with nutrients like folate, potassium, and magnesium. These minerals help to relax blood vessels and reduce inflammation, which are both common causes of high blood pressure (8).

Beet juice also increases nitric oxide levels in your body, which relaxes your blood vessels and lowers your blood pressure (9).

A study found that after two weeks of drinking beet juice, the participants had a significant reduction in their systolic blood pressure (10). Systolic blood pressure is the top number that represents the force of blood against artery walls when the heart beats.

Summary:Beets contain minerals that support blood pressure, including folate, potassium, and magnesium. Research supports drinking beet juice may help lower blood pressure.

5. Promotes healthy skin

The benefits of beet juice for the skin are many. Beet juice is rich in antioxidants and has anti-inflammatory properties that help to reduce redness and improve skin tone.

Antioxidants are a group of nutrients that protect your skin from the damaging effects of ultraviolet light and other environmental factors (11). These nutrients include vitamins A, C, and E and carotenoids, such as lycopene and beta-carotene.

Antioxidants also work to slow down or prevent cell damage that occurs with age or sun exposure. As you age, your body produces fewer antioxidants and it becomes harder for it to repair damaged DNA strands. This increases your risk of developing cancerous cells in the future.

Beet juice also contains betalain which helps fight free radicals that cause wrinkles and dark spots on the skin. Betalains are pigments that give color to a variety of fruits and vegetables (12). The most common betalains are betacyanins, which give beets their deep red color.

Summary:Beet juice contains nutrients like antioxidants, and betalain, which can help with keeping skin healthy and protect it from damaging environmental factors.

6. May prevent dementia

Drinking beet juice has been shown to improve brain health and boost cognition. Beetroot juice is rich in nitrates, which are converted into nitric oxide in the body. Nitric oxide helps relax blood vessels, which improves blood flow and oxygen levels to the brain. This boosts brain health and cognitive performance (13).

A new study shows that nitric oxide protects against Alzheimer’s disease (14). The findings suggest that boosting levels of nitric oxide could be a promising new way to prevent or even treat Alzheimer’s.

Scientists have known for some time that nitric oxide is important for brain function. For example, it can help how well neurons communicate with each other but its exact role hasn’t been clear.

Summary:Beet juice contains nitrates, which when converted to nitric oxide in the body have been shown to help boost brain power and improve cognitive function.

7. Lowers cholesterol levels

The juice of beets is a natural remedy for lowering cholesterol. Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that occurs naturally in every cell of the body (15). It helps digest fat and absorb vitamins. But when you have too much of it in your blood, it can lead to heart disease (16).

A high level of cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease as well as other serious conditions like diabetes and cancer (17). Beets are rich in folate, which helps reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (18).

Folate is important for cardiovascular health because it helps to prevent levels of homocysteine from becoming too high (19). Homocysteine is an amino acid that can damage blood vessels and contribute to the hardening of the arteries (20).

Researchers found that drinking beet juice can lower bad cholesterol levels by as much as 13 percent within one hour after consumption. The researchers also noted that beet juice consumption did not affect good cholesterol or triglyceride levels.

Summary:Beets are rich in folate, which is important for heart health and can help decrease the risk of heart disease.

8. Promotes eye health

Beet juice has been shown to promote eye health by preventing macular degeneration, which is a major cause of blindness. Macular degeneration is a disease that causes damage to the retina (21). The retina contains millions of light-sensing cells called rods and cones.

The rods help you see in dim light, and the cones help you see fine detail. Macular degeneration damages these light-sensing cells over time and leads to vision loss and blindness in some people.

Several studies have shown that drinking beet juice may help prevent or slow down the progression of age-related macular degeneration.

In one study published in the British Journal of Nutrition, researchers found that drinking beet juice daily for 12 weeks improved blood flow to the retina. It also reduced markers of oxidative stress in people with early age-related macular degeneration.

Summary:Studies have shown that those who drank beet juice for 3 months daily had improved eye health like improved blood flow to the eye and decreased oxidative stress.

9. May prevent cancer

To put it simply, beet juice is a miracle food. The root vegetable is packed with antioxidants and other nutrients that can help protect your body from disease.

Betalains found in beets are powerful antioxidants that help prevent cancer and other diseases by activating detoxification enzymes in the body.

Beet juice helps your liver eliminate toxins, including carcinogens that promote cancer. In addition to helping prevent cancer, beet juice may also help treat existing cancers. It’s one of the top foods on the list of natural remedies for cancer prevention and treatment.

The antioxidants in beets can fight free radicals, which are unstable molecules that damage DNA and cause cell death. Free radical damage can lead to cancer development if left unchecked. Studies show that drinking beet juice can reduce DNA damage by up to 40%.

Betalains also have anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting the production of inflammatory cytokines which are proteins that stimulate immune cells to produce inflammation throughout the body. Reducing inflammation is important because chronic low-grade inflammation can lead to cancer development. In animal studies, betalains have been shown to inhibit tumor growth.

Summary:Beets contain betalains, which have been found to decrease the risk of cancer and even treat existing cancers.

Conclusion

Beets may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but the nutritional benefits of this healthy food are worth considering. For those who do enjoy beets, knowing these benefits can help you make informed choices about how you prepare them and enjoy them in your meals.

So, it’s now easy to see that there are many potential benefits of beet juice. They’re not for everyone. But for anyone looking for a way to increase overall health and stamina, beets may be your answer!