7 Amazing Benefits of Beets to Your Health

As we continue gut-healing foods, beets are at the top of the list for many reasons.  They may not be high on your list of favorite foods, but the benefits of beets are enormous!

That’s why we’re covering the amazing benefits of beets AND sharing how to cook them. 

Plus, in the end, you’ll find a simply delicious recipe for beets plus 2 ways to cook them.

There’s so much about beets! They are a good source of many nutrients.

Did you know that the gut holds important keys to our health? It’s complex and not completely understood, but doctors and scientists have discovered that a healthy gut leads to physical, emotional, and mental health.

Therefore, we need to clean it out.

(You can find out more about gut health and foods that promote gut health here and here.)

Happiness begins in the gut.

Mindfulness begins in the gut.

Clarity and drive begin in the gut.

So let’s get our gut working for us.

What Do Beets Do For You?

Beets are packed with nutrients. They are rich in fiber, vitamin C, iron, folate, and manganese. Moreover, beets help to detoxify your body. Beets contain betalains, which have been shown to support activity in our body’s phase 2 detoxification process. Phase 2 is the metabolic step that our cells use to hook, neutralize, and remove unwanted toxins.

Beets are on my top 10 list of foods that transform your gut. Why? Because gut health impacts the health of the rest of the body.

Like spring cleaning to get all the built-up junk in our homes, feeding our gut cleans out the built-up junk in our bodies so our days are filled with energy and happiness.

Beets detoxify our bodies.

Beets are powerful detoxifiers and blood purifiers.

You know what detoxifiers are, right? They clean things out. They filter the junk, the toxins, and harmful elements. And beets go beyond just purifying our organs, it helps purify our blood.

How much healthier are we when we eat things for our health?

We purify our water and purify our air, but we seldom think about the need to focus on foods that are a good source of purifying our bodies.

However, when we focus on the health benefits of certain foods, rather than just how they excite our taste buds (spoiler alert: When we eat healthily and cut out the junk, our taste buds learn to rejoice over healthy foods!), we begin to heal from the inside out.

Beets improve our energy

Deliciously sweet and low in calories, the natural sugar content is excellent for reviving a low energy level.

Remember, sugar isn’t the enemy. High amounts of refined sugar are.

Beets are one of those foods that fit Principle 1 of eating what God created as food. He’s made it in such a way that offers sweet goodness.

Beets aid the liver

The liver is the major organ you cannot live without because it removes toxins in your body. It is the toxin eliminator!

The liver, intestines, kidneys, and gallbladder are the maids that help you look amazing and feel like conquering the day.

The liver produces enzymes that cleanse. One of the biggest health benefits of beets is they help the liver purge harmful substances efficiently.

If you are a person who thinks about exposure to toxins and wants to give your body as much detox support as possible, beets are a food that belongs in your diet.

Beets help your body fight for health

Beets have anti-viral and antioxidant properties and are particularly effective in combating cancerous changes.

In other words, they help boost your immune system and may help it be better armed against harmful invaders.

Did you catch that? Beets not only help your body clean out harmful impurities to your body, it also helps your overall health by fighting. 

The nutrients beets contain are both offensive and defensive in your body’s fight for getting and staying healthy.

Beets are loaded with fiber

Beets are super high in fiber, which makes it a perfect weight loss food. Foods high in fiber like beets help stabilize blood sugar and stimulate the circulatory system, resulting in a higher metabolism.

Fiber also slows down the processing of carbs. This promotes a steady supply of energy instead of the crazy ups and downs that come with foods high in sugar and low in fiber.

Beets pump iron

Beets have iron which is an essential mineral. We have to eat it to get it. And we lose iron every day, so we need to eat something with iron every day to keep our hemoglobin – which impacts oxygen delivery – up. 

Iron is important in many ways, but not the least of which is it helps reduce liver toxicity, anemia, heart problems, and constipation.

Beets may help improve your mood

Keep in mind: a healthier gut, a healthier body, a healthier mind. All three are connected.

Beets have a positive impact on mental wellness because the nutrients beets contain help with anxiety and hormones.

Manganese is another of those nutrients. Manganese is needed for the formation of interferon – a powerful anticancer substance.

Beets have also been found to contain high amounts of boron, which helps to increase the efficiency of human sex hormones.

There is no doubt that beets help your body in so many ways! I hope you can now see the amazing health benefits of beets and why you should eat them daily.

And if eating beets is not in your favor – then many days I just use this powder from the Mental Wellness company to make it simple and many times less expensive. I get the hormone boost and microbiome healing. All in one powder.

What Happens If You Eat Too Many Beets?

One thing to be aware of: consumption of beets can cause urine to become red or pink in color. This condition called “beeturia” is not considered harmful. 

About 5-15% of U.S. adults are estimated to experience beeturia following the consumption of beets in everyday amounts. 

One area in which beeturia may be a potential concern involves problems with iron metabolism. Persons with iron deficiency, iron excess, or known problems with the metabolism of iron are more likely to experience beeturia. 

If you experience beeturia and also suspect iron deficiency, iron excess, or iron metabolism to be a problem affecting your health, we recommend that you consult with your healthcare provider to determine your best dietary and health steps.

What is the Best Way to Eat Beets

You can eat beets raw or cooked. Raw beets are a good choice and may be eaten alone, spritzed with lemon and a dash of chile, or added to a salad. Many people also juice beets. With a good blender, you can easily prepare a delicious and healthy beet smoothie.

If this is not a food that fits your taste buds, and you can’t find a way to incorporate them even knowing all the great health benefits, consider beet juice as an alternative.

Beets can also be cooked in a variety of ways. You can even use beets in cake and brownie recipes to pack a nutritional punch in your dessert.

Today, I’ll give you a recipe and three ways to cook beets for this recipe and more. 

What is the Healthiest Way to Cook Beets

There’s a lot of flexibility in cooking beets. But among the healthiest ways to cook beets are slow roasting and steaming. Try them all out and see which works for you.

How to Roast Beets

Among the three methods on how to cook beets, roasting takes the longest amount of time. 

However, roasting helps bring out that sweet, earthy, and delectable flavor from beets. In fact, it is the best cooking method for this purpose.

Here are the steps on how to roast beets to ensure that fantastic flavor.

1. Wash

Wash the beets thoroughly. Then, cut off the greens and save them for later. You can use the greens for your salads, smoothies, and stir-frys!

2. Wrap

Coat beets with olive oil, salt and pepper. Afterward, use an aluminum foil to wrap each beet and put them on your oven grates.

3. Roast

Small beets take about 45 minutes to roast while large ones can take up to 1.5 hours. However, the rule of thumb is about an hour for medium beets to maintain the freshness and sweet taste. Poke beets with a fork to determine the tenderness.

4. Peel

 Let your roasted beets cool for a few minutes. Then, grab a kitchen towel to hold one end and rub the skin to pop the skin right off. It should be easy to do so once the beets are well-cooked.

5. Prepare and enjoy!

Now comes the fun part – munching! I also love roasted  beets with goat cheese, just like in this super easy beets recipe:

Roasted Beets Recipe with Goat Cheese

Ingredients:

2-3 medium beets – cooked, peeled and chopped

½ cup goat cheese – crumbled

¼ cup freshly chopped chives

Walnuts – chopped

Top with your favorite organic balsamic vinegar

Serve warm or cold – delicious.

Directions:

Stir fry greens and top with chopped beets, top with feta cheese and walnuts. Even better to use this as a topping over grilled mushrooms and onions.

Here are more beet recipes you can try to enjoy munching these nutrient-packed vegetables regularly. Check out this video to learn more:

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If you would prefer to listen to the teachings in this video, here is a podcast episode on this topic. Give it a listen, download and share it with your family and friends whom you think can benefit from it!

 How to Steam Beets in an Instant Pot

The first thing you need to do is to wash your beets well before steaming. You do not need to remove the skin as you will steam your beets with the skin on for more flavor and nutrients. However, there are key steps you need to take when steaming beets in an instant pot:

1. Prepare your pot.

Pour a cup of water in your Instant Pot and put the steaming rack inside.

2. Place the beets.

With the stems cut off, arrange your rinsed beets on the steaming rack. Be sure that they do not pile up to make sure they cook well.

3. Cook for 15 minutes.

Select the Manual Mode in your Instant Pot and put the vent in the sealed position. Cook for up to 15 minutes and let the pressure out before opening the lid.

4. Season and eat.

Once cooked, simply add some salt and pepper to your beets. 

Eat More Beets every day for Better Health

Beets offer so many health benefits to your body.

And the best part – they are flavorful and easy to cook! In fact, you can even eat beets raw or just steam them for a few minutes. These are the best ways to enjoy beets – to eat them with zero processing and as close to how God designed this food. 

With all of the nutritional value you can get from beets, it only makes sense to eat them daily. I hope you’ll try the beet recipe I shared with you, which I’m sure you’ll love.

Let me know in the comments what your favorite way of cooking beets is!