Beet juice is an amazingly healthy juice that can do wonders for your body by improving blood flow, lowering blood pressure (so reducing your risk of heart disease) and boosting your immune system.
And it’s one of the tastiest juices out there!
This article explains all of the health benefits of beet juice, as well as the potential side effects that can come if you drink beetroot juice.
Let’s get stuck in!
In This Article
Why is Beet Juice Good For You?
Beet juice has lots of essential nutrients but the big benefits come from its nitrate content. Nitrates, like nitric oxide, help with blood flow in the body and are usually found veggies, like leafy greens or root vegetables because they absorb nitrates from the soil.
What’s interesting is that the benefits you can get from the nitrate content in veggies is usually more pronounced in men. Men’s bodies aren’t as good at storing nitrates naturally, so a boost of dietary nitrate is useful.
But nitrates are only one of the benefits of beetroot juice. Beet juice is a good source of Vitamin C, iron and folate, to name just a few.
To learn a bit more about why these vitamins and minerals are actually good for you, keep reading! I’ll tell you a bit more about beet juice benefits below.
7 Benefits Of Beet Juice
In my research for this article, I found 7 benefits of beet juice that are backed by science. I’ve done my best to avoid jargon but I’ve linked to scientific studies where possible, so you can read a bit deeper if you like.
Let’s get into it!
1. Lowers Blood Pressure
High blood pressure is one of the leading causes of death in the modern world.In the US alone, it causes the deaths of 1000 people every single day through a heart attack, a stroke or other cardiovascular diseases. Which to me is absolutely terrifying! Heart health is something we should all be thinking about.
Research shows that drinking beetroot juice every day is an effective way to lower blood pressure almost instantly. Within 24 hours, the subjects in the study found that their blood pressure was lower than before.
You should always seek medical advice before changing your diet but having a glass of beet juice with your breakfast is a simple way to reduce your systolic blood pressure.
2. Improves Exercise Stamina
One of the studies I read showed how a dose of beet juice improved the performance of trained cyclists over a period of 6 days.
Scientists measured how cyclists performed before and after a 10k cycle. After the 6 days were over, the cyclists’ time had improved by about 12 seconds – about 1%.
Now I know that 1% might not seem like a lot. But to have an improvement like this after 6 days in a person that’s already a trained cyclist is pretty incredible. They’re likely already performing at the top of their game, so any improvement to cycling times is a good sign!
This means that if you’re looking to improve your athletic performance, or even exercise more for weight loss, beet juice is an excellent option for you. It’ll give you that edge you’ve been looking for!
3. May Lower Cholesterol
This one isn’t confirmed, since the only studies into this benefit have been carried out on rats, not humans. However, these studies have shown that beet juice can lower cholesterol.
In my research, I also found that a patent has been accepted for a serum that’s 1 part beet juice, 1 part lemon juice, and 0.4 parts bee honey. This serum can be taken once a day before breakfast and it lowers your cholesterol after 10-17 days, depending on how high your cholesterol was when you started taking it.
The patent for this serum expired this year, so have a go at making this serum at home for yourself to manage your cholesterol.
4. Good For Immune System
Everyone loves Vitamin C. It’s an antioxidant that packs a punch! It does so much good for your body, boosting your immune system so that you don’t get sick.
Vitamin C also fights against a molecule called free radicals. These exist in the air and damage your cells by mutating them. Free radicals can be the cause of a great deal of health problems, even certain types of cancer.
5. Prevents Iron Deficiency
Iron deficiency is no joke, especially amongst women. Having periods means that women need more iron than men and being low in iron can leave you feeling low in energy and your mood. Iron deficiency can even lead to anaemia.
This can be a particular problem for people who are vegan or vegetarian, since they don’t eat red meat – one of the main sources of iron. Luckily, beet juice is an excellent source of iron, so if you’re concerned about iron deficiency a cup of beets may be the thing for you!
6. Anti-inflammatory
Beet juice can reduce your blood pressure but can also help prevent other cardiovascular problems. It has anti-inflammatory properties which can reduce the risk of heart disease and even IBS and some types of cancer.
7. Improving Blood Flow
The nitrates that I mentioned earlier have another benefit. They open up your blood vessels, which allows your blood to flow more easily around your body. Your blood carries the oxygen around your body, so if your body is getting oxygen more effectively, you feel more energised and awake!
Improved blood flow can even help with erectile dysfunction. This coupled with the extra energy you’ll have can be a winning combination!
Potential Side Effects of Beet Juice
Nothing is perfect, unfortunately. There are some side effects to drinking beet juice that you should know about before jumping in.
Red Stools and Urine
Yep, you read that right. You might start seeing a red color when you go to the bathroom. This affects about 10-14% of people, so it’s not likely to happen to you but if it does, don’t worry too much about it. You aren’t bleeding!
The red color when you go to the bathroom can actually be a sign of iron deficiency, so if that’s something you’re worried about, then visit your doctor. However, for the majority of people, it’s just the red pigment in beet juice not getting broken down properly.
Potential For Kidney Stones
Beetroot is a source of oxalates, which can prevent calcium from being absorbed properly. If this happens, then you might experience calcium build-up, which is what causes kidney stones.
You can avoid kidney stones by making sure you drink plenty of water. This way any calcium that isn’t absorbed by your body can be expelled in your urine.
Unless you’ve been warned about oxalate kidney stones by your doctor already, or you’ve experienced kidney stones before, you should be fine.
It Can Lower Blood Pressure Too Much
Like I explained, beet juice can reduce high blood pressure. However, if you have low blood pressure -which has its own problems – then drinking beet juice can cause it to become too low.
Low blood pressure can lead to dizziness and fainting, since your blood isn’t circulating round your body properly. If you’re drinking beet juice daily, and you find yourself experiencing these symptoms, then you should probably stop.
Seek out some medical advice if you’re worried about low blood pressure, since a doctor will be able to help you.
When Is The Best Time To Drink Beet Juice?
If you already have a juicing routine, when is the best time to fit beet juice in? In the morning with your breakfast? Or in the evening before bed?
My advice would always be the morning, ideally before breakfast. This means you absorb all of the essential nutrients straight away and enjoy the health benefits all day.
However, if you can’t drink it first thing in the morning, then try to drink it as early in the day as you can. You should also make sure that your beet juice is as fresh as possible, since the nutrients degrade the longer it’s left for.
Conclusion
Now that you know all of the benefits of beet juice, it’s time to start making your own and enjoying them!
Check out my guide to making beet juice here.Or take a look at juicers for beet juice, to make sure you have the right equipment.
Happy Juicing!
Hi
Very informative article. It may help others to overcome many body related problems
Thank you very much for your efforts
my legs and feet were hurting feeling very cold and my first glass of beet juice make them warmer but still very cold in the mornins and late afternoons