Beets Past and Present

History

Since long before the cold press machine beets have been a popular and well known natural medicine for a multitude of ailments. 

Beetroot cultivation reaches far back into history.  There are even Assyrian texts that say that beetroots were growing in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in the 800 BC.  Common ancient uses for the beet were centered around gut and blood health, with many using the roots to cure high blood pressure long before the modern blood pressure medications that are so widely used today.  Ancient peoples knew these benefits and availed themselves of them to treat their medical conditions with diet rather than drugs.

Current Research

Fast forward to today, and science is starting to catch up with the why and how the beet can do this for our bodies.  Researchers have concluded that one glass of beetroot juice a day is enough to significantly reduce blood pressure in people with high blood pressure. 

“Beetroot contains high levels of dietary nitrate (NO3), which the body converts into biologically active nitrite (NO2) and nitric oxide (NO). In the human body, NO relaxes and dilates blood vessels.”

This relaxation helps to lower blood pressure and increase circulation.  Having this all natural way of treating a now sadly common condition is not known to enough people.  

We at Farm Juice feel that whenever possible, if you can use good nutritious food as medicine you should!

Oral Microbiome

But Beets don’t just stop there, they also have some pretty interesting benefits that are only just now being discovered.  A study recently published in Redox Biology has found that beetroot juice helps you grow the oral bacteria that turns the inorganic nitrate in the vegetables you eat into nitric oxide which is extremely important for cardiovascular and cognitive health.  

“Maintaining this healthy oral microbiome in the long term might slow down the negative vascular and cognitive changes associated with aging”

Though the research is still ongoing to uncover more about beetroot juice and it’s uses, it is pretty safe to say that having it as a daily part of your diet is a good thing.

Additional Advantages

Here on the farm, we grow several types of beets from the traditional red, to the golden and stripped varieties.  Having this as a storage crop to boot just adds to its appeal as there is less waste.  Beetroot greens are also an underutilized sauté green we feel and on top of being a beautiful addition to any meal are packed with nutrients and minerals.  We love crops like this as we can use every part and there is no waste created.

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