content of the article:
Beet( ! No beets) - a plant family amaranth, usually two years, but most often cultivated as an annual. Appreciated for tasty and healthy roots, as well as not less tasty and healthy leaves.
Beet is not only a tasty vegetable on the table, but also a whole storehouse of healing substances to maintain our health. Let's try to understand the benefits of beets for the human body.
Benefits of beets
No other vegetable contains such a rich set of useful substances as roots and leaves of beet:
- Vitamins C, P, PP, U, group B, provitamin A. Especially rich is beet folic acid( vitamin B9).
- Bioflavonoids;
- Amino acids( lysine, betaine, valine, agrinin, histidine and others).
- Organic acids( citric, malic, oxalic).
- Trace elements( copper, iron, magnesium, sulfur, potassium, calcium, zinc, iodine, phosphorus, sodium, cobalt, cesium, rubidium, manganese).
- A small amount of protein and fat.
- Plant fiber and fiber.
Due to the use of beets in our body occur:
- Stabilization of digestion. Organic acids help better digestion of food in the stomach, normalize the production of gastric juice. Cellulose strengthens intestinal motility, cleans its walls. Pectic substances destroy putrefactive bacteria. Beetroot has a mild laxative effect, helps to treat chronic constipation.
- Regulation of fat metabolism in the liver. Betaine does not allow fats to linger in liver cells. According to recent studies, betaine is opposed to the formation of malignant tumors.
- Treatment of hypertension and atherosclerosis. Beets, due to the large amount of magnesium, help strengthen the walls of blood vessels and normalize the composition of blood. Regular consumption of beets with honey can increase hemoglobin and dissolve blood clots.
- Normalization of the thyroid gland , since the beet contains a large amount of iodine.
- Supports the brain and improves the mental state of a person's , protects it from the effects of heavy metals. Increases the overall tone and vitality of the body.
- Prevention of SARS. During epidemics of influenza and ARVI, for the prevention and early stages of the disease, it is useful to take beet juice. With a cold, a few drops of juice can be dripped into the nose. During sore throat beet juice is useful to rinse the inflamed tonsils.
- Treatment of Allergies .Beets contain antihistamines.
- Prevention of male and female health .Men are advised to eat beets to maintain sexual activity. Beetroot is especially useful for women during “critical days”, as well as during menopause. It improves well-being and reduces pain. Also, the limited use of beets is useful during pregnancy.
- Weight Reduction .The calorie content of beets is only 42 kilocalories and therefore it is part of many popular diets. The use of beets helps to normalize metabolic processes in the body, which helps to rid it of excess fat, as well as remove excess fluid from it.
- Rejuvenation of the body .Folic acid is involved in the formation of new cells. The longer our body can produce young cells, the slower its aging will occur.
It must be remembered that beets contain substances that block calcium absorption in the intestines. Therefore, dishes from it must be carefully used by people with calcium deficiency and pregnant women. Foods rich in calcium should not be consumed simultaneously with beets. But at the same time the beet contains a lot of folic acid, essential for pregnancy.
Now let's talk more about the benefits and harm to the body of beet raw and boiled.
Raw beets
Fresh beets can be used in the form of salads, desserts, as well as juice. Beet juice is useful to mix with fresh apple juice or mashed potatoes, as well as carrot. Oilcake remaining after juicing can also be used as food. It is rich in ballast substances and a sufficient amount of vitamins.
The benefits of beetroot juice and fresh salads are hard to overestimate:
- Beetroot juice helps improve body tone. This is effectively used by athletes. It is useful for anemia. Fills iodine need of the body.
- Beet juice binds and removes heavy metal salts and radionuclides from the body.
- Beetroot juice will help restore complexion and skin health.
- Beet juice can be applied externally in the form of lotions: it heals well the boils and ulcers on the skin, has anti-inflammatory effect.
- Betaine, contained in raw beets, is able to withstand cancer cells. Betaine regulates the hematopoietic system, strengthens capillaries and vessel walls, counteracts atherosclerosis. When heated, the betaine is half destroyed.
- Grated beets or beetroot salads are useful for people who want to lose weight. Betaine contained in beets, normalizes lipid metabolism in the liver, and fiber improves the bowels.
Raw beets contain a small amount of saccharides, which makes it dietary products for diabetes. The adsorbing ability of raw dietary fiber is several times higher than boiled. And most importantly: in the dishes and juice from raw beets, all vitamins are saved as much as possible.
It is necessary to gradually switch to the regular use of raw beets, starting with a few teaspoons of salads or juice. Otherwise, immediately after a large dose, bloating may occur.
Very useful raw beets. The benefits and harm to the body, it brings, of course, are not comparable. Possible factors include possible individual intolerance to raw beets. Therefore, before including in your diet, you need to taste it in a small dose.
There are a number of other contraindications to the use of beets:
- Hypotension.
- Gastritis with high acidity, gastrointestinal ulcers.
- Pancreatitis.
- Cirrhosis and hepatitis.
- Chronic diarrhea.
- Urolithiasis.
- Osteoporosis.
- With care - during pregnancy.
Boiled beets
Cooked beets almost completely retains the entire set of useful mineral salts and vitamins. Although in boiled beets useful components are somewhat less, at the same time they are absorbed by the body much better. This is due to the fact that many substances in raw beets are found in unassimilated compounds that are destroyed during cooking. Betaine and vitamins C, B5 and B9 are also destroyed. Food fibers are almost completely destroyed and nitrates are removed to the decoction. These properties make beets a diet product for people with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
The number of saccharides increases in boiled beets. Therefore, it can not be eaten for people with diabetes. Excessive absorption of boiled beets can provoke a strong appetite and cause a sharp jump in blood sugar levels.
Boil the average beet for about 40 minutes, in the peel, without cutting off the tail. With this treatment, all the nutrients remain inside the root. If you digest, then the vitamins will begin to leach into the decoction. The larger the root crop, the longer it must be boiled. To cut the beets to speed up cooking is impossible, so as not to lose its useful components. Beets can be used in a variety of dishes: salads, soups, vegetable soup, desserts.
Useful properties of boiled beets:
- Like raw, strengthens blood vessels and capillaries, improves blood formation.
- Relieves allergies.
- Stabilizes the health of women and men in the intimate sphere.
- Treats anemia.
- Normalizes digestion.
- Treats constipation.
- Slimming.
- Replenishes stocks of trace elements in the body.
Boiled beets are contraindicated in the following cases:
- Diabetes.
- Osteoporosis.
- Pancreatitis.
- Gastritis with high acidity, gastrointestinal ulcers.
- Liver disease.
- Urolithiasis.
- Chronic diarrhea.
As we can see, the benefits and harms to the body of cooked and raw beets are somewhat different. However, the beneficial properties still prevail. If you do not suffer from the aforementioned ailments, then you can safely include this wonderful root vegetable in your diet.
Beet leaves: useful properties and contraindications
Separately, you need to say a few words about the benefits and harms of the above-ground part of beets - its leaves. As food, you can use not only the tops of root vegetables, but also special leafy beet varieties( chard).
Beet leaves are even richer in content of individual useful elements than root vegetables. They contain:
- Carotene.
- Ascorbic Acid.
- Folic acid and other B vitamins.
- Vitamins P, PP,
- Potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, iodine, phosphorus, manganese, cobalt.
Beet leaves contain less saccharides than root vegetables, so the tops are not so good to taste. To get rid of the specific taste of the tops before cooking, pour over boiling water. Use it in fresh salads, okroshka, soups, side dishes, as a shell for cabbage rolls and fillings for cakes. An old Russian dish - botvinia is made from beet tops.
The beneficial properties and contraindications of beet tops are basically the same as for root vegetables.
Beet topper is useful:
- For blood formation and strengthening of blood vessels and capillaries.
- In diabetes mellitus, since it contains almost no sugar.
- With anemia.
- In diseases of the thyroid gland.
- For chronic constipation.
- As an antitumor agent.
- With atherosclerosis and hypertension.
Beet tops are contraindicated in the following cases:
- Diarrhea addiction.
- Acute inflammation of the urinary system and urolithiasis.
- Gout.
- Pancreatitis.
- Cirrhosis and hepatitis.
- Hypotension.
- Individual intolerance.
Beet leaves can also be used as an external agent:
- In case of migraine, beet leaf should be applied to the sore spot on the head and held for 15-20 minutes.
- When conjunctivitis, a ground leaf of beets must be applied to the eyelids.
- Juice, mashed paste, as well as a decoction of fresh beet leaves are used as a wound healing agent, as well as for healing cracks in the soles of the feet.
- For the treatment of mastitis, crushed leaves are applied to the seals on the breast.
As we can see, only in a small number of cases beet tops can be harmful. The benefits of beet tops are obvious. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to include this extremely healthy vegetable in your daily diet.
