Just Beet It

Have you ever turned beet red? Well, what if I told you that beetroots weren't always red. They weren't even roots!

These are the kinds of things I love learning about the foods that end up on our plate but often get taken for granted.

Let's look at some of my favorite beet fun facts that'll have you seeing these bulbous little veggies in a whole new light.

Beets Were Once Used to Make "Love" Potions

Ancient cultures considered beets an aphrodisiac. The Greeks depicted Aphrodite, goddess of love, eating beets to enhance her appeal. The Romans believed that drinking beet juice would make you fall in love... or at least lust. That's probably why you can find frescoes of beets on the walls of brothels in Pompeii.

They weren't totally wrong. Beets are actually a source of tryptophan (you know, the thing that makes you sleepy after the Thanksgiving turkey). Tryptophan and betalain, also present in beets, have been proven to promote an overall feeling of well-being. They also contain high amounts of boron, a trace mineral that amps up sex hormones in the human body.

So, if you wanna fall in love, eat more beets!

Beets Can Help You at the Gym

Beets contain nitrates that affect your physical performance by improving the efficiency of your cells' mitochondria, which are responsible for producing energy in your cells. Before you run a 5K, swim some laps, or carry bags of compost out to your garden, it's a good idea to drink your beet juice!

Beets Weren't Always Red

Beets may have earned the gory-sounding nickname "blood turnip", but they weren't always red. Back in the days of Ancient Greece, beets were either black or white. Over time, beets made more and more betalains and became more red, possibly because humans and pollinators are really drawn to the color.

By the time 19th century European immigrants brought beets with them to the United States, this vegetable resembled more of the bulbous red root crop we know today.

Today, of course, we have varieties of beets that are red (like Bull's Blood), white (like Albina Vereduna), yellow (like Golden Beets), and even red striped with white on the inside (like Chioggia Beets). Red beets get their deep color from betanin, an antioxidant that can help you prevent DNA damage.

Beets Are the Best Vegetable to Eat If You Have a Sweet Tooth

Not only are beets good for you, but they're a great natural sweetener.

In 1747, a German chemist named Andreas Sigismund Marggarf discovered a way to produce sucrose (sugar) from beets. Beets were then used to make beet beer, molasses, and lots of other products. The king of Prussia even created the first sugar beet factory in what's now Western Poland.

Then in 1813, Napoleon banned sugar imports. Without sugar cane from the colonies, people turned to beet sugar.

Today, the US grows over 1 million acres of sugar beets each year. These aren't grown to be enjoyed as a vegetable but to be turned into sugar. This might surprise you, but sugar cane only accounts for 45 percent of the sugar produced here; sugar beets make up the other 55 percent. Beet sugar production actually requires four times less water than sugar cane production, and the sugar produced by beets and sugar cane is basically identical. Today, around 20 percent of the world's sugar comes from sugar beets.

I wish I could say this sugar is a healthier alternative. The healthiest way, of course, to enjoy beets is in their naturally sweet state.

Beets Might Help Us Control Mosquito-Born Illnesses

Some people don't like beets because of the earthy flavor. (That may be why President Obama asked that beets not be planted in the organic vegetable garden at the White House.) The earthiness comes from a substance called geosmin, which also gives us that wet soil scent after rain. It turns out, humans are sensitive to even very low doses of geosmin, and we either love it or hate it.

Interestingly enough, the type of mosquitos that carry diseases like yellow fever and dengue (Aedes aegypti) are also very sensitive to geosmin. And they love it. Biologists at Florida International University found that these mosquitos will even lay their eggs in geosmin baits. Since beet peels are so rich in geosmin, the research team is working on building mosquito traps using beet peel extract. Fingers crossed this works to decrease disease-carrying mosquito populations!

Each Beet Seed Can Grow Several Plants

Believe it or not, each beet seed is actually a little cluster of two to four seeds. It's a special type of seed called a multigerm. If you're growing beets in the garden, you'll need to come back about 7 to 10 days after planting and thin your seedlings. That way, each remaining beet has enough space to grow into a full, round root.

Beets Can Potentially Protect You Against Cancer

Beets are in the same family (the Amaranth family) as Swiss chard and spinach, so you can be sure they're super good for you. Beets, in fact, are low in calories and high in vitamins and nutrients, notably fiber (Beets have 3.4 grams of fiber to help you go number two). Studies have linked eating beets to lower blood pressure, higher brain function (specifically improved blood flow to the frontal lobe, which is where we do our higher-level thinking and decision-making), and less inflammation.

If that's not enough, studies have shown that beetroot extract can reduce the division and growth of tumor cells in animals. That means beets look like pretty powerful allies against cancer.

All that to say, this root crop should definitely be a staple in any garden-centered diet. 

Beets Give Us a Natural Red Dye

You know those betalains that give beets their blood-red color? They're much more stable than the pigments that give other red foods their color, like the anthocyanins that make strawberries red, for example. That's why if you check the ingredients for foods dyed red, especially strawberry-flavored things, you might see beet juice listed.

Beets Were Used as Medicine

If they weren't drinking beet juice before a fun night out, the Ancient Romans were eating beets for a not-so-fun night in. They used beet roots and leaves to treat a number of health concerns, including constipation and fevers. In the Middle Ages, physicians used beets as medicine to cure disease related to digestion or blood.

Beets Are Ancient

Beet remains were found in Thebes, Egypt, so we know Egyptians had access to this vegetable. The earliest written mention of beets—someone wrote they're similar to radishes—goes back to the 8th Century BCE. It's even said that beets were grown in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the ancient wonders of the world.

You Can Make Your Own Makeup with Beets

Fashionable women used to apply beets to their cheeks and lips to make them red during the 19th century. The betalain in beets is a red natural colorant.

If you're looking to make your own beauty products, you can cut a beet in half and rub it directly on your skin to transfer the bright pigment, or you can dry beets to create a beetroot powder to use in blush or lipgloss. You can also add the powder to anti-aging scrubs and creams since beets fight free radicals and prevent skin aging.

Beets Were Originally Grown for Their Leafy Tops

Ancient Greeks and Romans mostly ate beets for their leafy green tops, not their roots, similar to how we enjoy Swiss chard, beet's cousin, today.

It wasn't until the early 1500s in Italy or Germany that people started eating beets for the roots. Back then, the roots looked more like carrots or parsnips, which is to say a lot longer and skinnier than the globes we're used to today.

You can (and should!) eat beet greens if you grow your own beets or buy some produce with the greens still attached at the farmers' market. The greens are just as healthy as the roots. They've got vitamins A, C, and K. You can eat them fresh or sauté them the same way you would another beet cousin, spinach. They're actually quite tasty!

Beets vs Radishes

I love to compare foods that grow similarly. Beets and radishes are both root vegetables, they both have edible greens, and they both love cooler weather.

Can you guess which one has more sugars? It's beets. Beets have 6.76 grams of sugar in a daily serving, while radishes only have 1.86 grams. If you're trying to avoid sugars, stick with radishes.

In terms of magnesium, you've got 23 milligrams of magnesium for beets and 10 for radishes. Beets also have almost double the fiber of radishes (2.8 versus 1.6). Beets have 325 milligrams of potassium, while radishes only have 233. But with vitamin C, we have radishes on top with 14.8 milligrams of vitamin C and only 4.9 grams milligrams of vitamin C for the beet.  

When we're looking at mineral comparison, beets pretty much beat radishes about 3 to 1. They have more iron, more potassium, more magnesium, more copper, more zinc, and more phosphorus; but radishes do have more calcium and less sodium. 

Let's talk about ease of growing. From my experience, I've had a lot more success growing radishes than I have growing beets. Even though beets do win out in terms of vitamins, minerals, and a lot of the stuff that's good for you, I prefer growing radishes. They finish quickly and they don't have to be thinned as heavily.

If you've never grown either, then I think you should try both and see which one wins the food fight for you. 

You Can't Beet These Fun Facts

Now that you're all filled up with fun facts about beets, look for more ways to fill up on beets this fall and winter, whether that means growing them yourself or making a point to buy them from your local farmers. Drink your beet juice, make some beets salad, and roast some beets.

I hope you're feeling upbeet about your ability to incorporate this amazing little vegetable and all the goodness it can bring into your life now!

Sources

• ACS
• New York Times
• PBS
• Today's Dietician