Now, I know Russia isn’t everyone’s enemy, but there are lots of countries that feel uneasy working with their leaders.
But this article isn’t about the scary stuff that may or may not happen behind closed doors with the Russians.
This isn’t about the fact that, if the relationship goes wrong, you could get imprisoned or killed…
Nope.
This is about beets.
Do You Know Why Beets Are A Superfood?
Beets have lots of nutrients that work in multiple areas of the body to help keep us looking and feeling our best.
In order to get the most benefits, you’ll need to eat them raw or just lightly cooked. They lose nutrition the longer you cook them.
Some people think beets are weird or nasty to eat at meals because of their sweetness. If you’re one of those people, I’d suggest juicing or blending into a smoothie.
But no matter how you consume them, you should put them near the top of your healthy foods list.
By the time you’re done reading today, you’ll see just how right the Russians are about this incredible root vegetable.
It’s a superfood for good reason.
Did You Know Beets Work 3 Ways??
Beets contain nutrients called betalains. The two best-studied betalains are Betanin and Vulgaxancin.
If you can’t pronounce those, don’t worry.
That’s not important.
What’s important is that these nutrients have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification power.
That just means they help to…
- keep your body looking young…
- …they decrease pain and swelling, and…
- …they get toxins out of your body so they don’t harm you.
That’s pretty incredible. Though vegetables typically have more vitamins and minerals than meat does, they usually shine in one of the three areas – not all three!
Beets Work Overtime To Help You Look And Feel Young
Every human body on earth makes its own anti-aging nutrient. It’s called glutathione.
Some researchers and doctors call glutathione The Master Antioxidant. It keeps your skin supple, smooth, and wrinkle-free when you’re young…and some companies sell supplements to help you make more of it.
It’s also powerful when it comes to detoxing your blood and liver. You can’t live without it.
Now…unfortunately, your body makes less and less glutathione as you age. But that won’t matter as much if you eat beets.
Beets Have All The Most Important B Vitamins
Did you know that beets contain the b complex vitamins? These include B-12, Biotin, and Folate.
Without enough of the B-complex vitamins, you’ll feel exhausted everyday, you’ll probably have problems with anemia (which means you’ll feel cold a lot of the time), and your hair won’t be as thick or as healthy as it could be.
Your memory will probably be pretty bad, too.
B complex vitamins help with all these things. Add beets to a well-rounded diet, and you’ll pretty much solve all these problems.
I’ll tell you one more thing about beets and then leave you to make your own decision.
This last one might give a lot of hope to hurting families out there.
Beets Help Prevent Dementia
Uncooked beets have high levels of nitrates in them. When you eat beets, the nitrates are transformed into nitrites.
Nitrites cause blood vessels to expand a little…and this lowers blood pressure a bit and also ensures that nutrients from food reach the brain.
The older you get, the smaller and less flexible your blood vessels get. This can make it hard for blood to reach the brain.
When you put all this together, it’s one of the reasons why so many older people are dying of dementia and other age-related brain diseases.
If you want to avoid this, just put beets into regular rotation in your diet.
It’s that simple.
Don’t Avoid Beets Because Of The Russians
Some of the oldest and healthiest people I know eat beets all the time. And while I know that Russia has been in the news a lot for the past few years…I hope you’re not distracted by all of that.
Regardless of where a food is mostly consumed or made most popular, if it’s good for you, it’s good for you.
You can juice beets, put them on salads, or have beet slices in sandwiches. It’s your choice.
To get you started, I’ve included one of my favorite beet-infused recipes.
Hopefully, you’ll love it as much as I do!
Psychedelic Salad Rolls
Ingredients:
For the filling:
- 8 rice paper wraps
- 1 head purple cabbage
- 5 big carrots
- 1-2 avocados
- 1 candy cane beet (though a regular one will work if you can’t find candy cane beets.)
- 1 watermelon radish
For the sauce:
- ½ c. almond butter
- 6 tbsp lime juice
- 5 tbsp tamari
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 4 shakes sesame oil
- water (to thin, as needed)
Instructions
- Prepare your veg: grate your cabbage and your carrots, slice your beet, radish and avocado (a mandolin comes in handy here).
- To make the sauce: combine all ingredients in a jar and shake until combined.
- To assemble your wraps: fill a large bowl with hot water. Insert one rice paper wrap at a time for 20 seconds. This is all the time it needs to soften.
Carefully, remove from water and place on your flat surface.
Arrange vegetables in the center, and roll your wrap like a burrito to finish.
4. Dip generously in sauce and enjoy.
This takes just minutes to prepare and eat. It’s filling…and the beets don’t overpower the taste at all.
I’d love to know how you like these and if you’d like more beet recipes. I can eat them every day!
