1 Beets are a variety of Amaranthaceae, which is the same plant family as Swiss chard. Like chard, beetroot greens can be eaten for an incredibly rich source of nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin. The roots are naturally sweet so some people may wonder whether or not it’s a fruit. But both the greens and root are edible vegetables. It’s the sweetness that may be confusing, especially since beetroot contains more natural sugar than any other vegetable. There are around 9 grams of sugar in one cup of cooked beets. One serving of AIM RediBeets contains only 3 grams of natural sugar from this super nutritious root vegetable.
2 Some people do not appreciate the somewhat earthy taste of beetroot. The source of that particular flavor is an organic compound that occurs naturally in beets: geosmin. Beets that taste the best have a balance between geosmin and sugar. Interestingly enough, there’s a connection to the smell produced by rainfall on soil because of the presence of geosmin. Human beings have an incredible ability to detect the odor of geosmin in the air when rain falls on earth and disturbs this compound. In fact, the estimation is that people can detect geosmin in as low a concentration as 5 parts per trillion. By comparison, that would be around one teaspoon of geosmin in 200 Olympic swimming pools. Consider this olfactory sensitivity the next time you get a whiff of rain . . . or a taste of beets.
3 The three main varieties of beets are red, golden and Chioggia. An Italian heirloom variety, Chioggia beets are named after a town near Venice. This especially sweet beet is aptly nick-named both candy cane and candy stripe beet for its appealing red and white rings when the root is sliced. Golden beets are named for their interior orangey-yellow color. They tend to have an earthier taste and less sweetness than red beets due to the likely dominance of geosmin over sugar. Crimson red to the core, red beets are the most common type to appear on dinner tables, especially as a cooked vegetable or in delectable bowls of borscht soup. Red beets are the variety used to make the juice powder in RediBeets.
4 Your best bet for understanding the nature of beets is 3 words than begin with bet: betalains, betacyanins and betaine. Betalains are water-soluble plant pigments. One classification is betacyanins, the pigment in red beets. Beetroot extracts containing betalains are used as food coloring in edibles that include soups, sauces, jams, fruit yogurt and ice cream. This distinctive pigment also finds its way into cosmetics and drugs. But beyond the outer use of coloring, betalains provide inner benefits for people from various health properties: anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, cancer-inhibiting and chemo-preventative. The betaine in beets is an amino acid compound that can help break down fatty acids in the liver and help people to recover from liver damage. Betaine may also help the liver to process harmful chemicals, such as carbon tetrachloride and ethanol, and eliminate them from the body.
The more you learn about beets, the more you realize that eating these vegetables and supplementing with RediBeets can support better health.
–♦♦♦–
The AIM Companies has been dedicated to improving the quality of people’s lives with life-changing products like BarleyLife and RediBeets and by rewarding passionate Members with a free-enterprise compensation plan.
The AIM Companies 