Do you like beets? Most people do and find many benefits from eating them.
In Eastern Europe and especially in Ukraine, they make soup from them and
call it “Borscht”.

A substance called betanin in beets has proved to be a strong antioxidant,
which protect against cancer. It inhibit the growth of breast, stomach, colon,
lung and nervous-system tumor cells.

Beets are a helpful weapon against your daily confrontation with free radicals
and the associated problems they cause. Make sure you load some of these
bright red coloured vegetables in your shopping trolley.

Beets are also a good source of folate, a B vitamin that is essential for normal
tissue growth. It may also lower your risk of heart disease , and according to
the national Institutes of Health, it helps protect your DNA from damaging
changes that can lead to cancer.

Also, doctors have found that folate is a pregnant woman’s best friend,
because it helps protect against birth defects.
The Daily Volume of folate is 400 microgram, but pregnant women need
600 microgram daily.
A half cup boiled, sliced beets contains 68 micrograms of folate, which is
17 percent of the DV.

If you are among the people who like to cut back on meat, which provide
you with iron, you will find that beets are a good substitute.
A half-cup of sliced beets contains 0.7 milligrams of iron, or about 4%
of the Daily Value for this mineral.

You can get the most of them by eating them raw or cook them lightly.
Studies have shown that the antioxidant power of beets will be lost strongly
by heat. So grate beats and toss them into salads or cook them lightly
to get the most nutrients.

One of the nice things about beets is that they are almost as nutritious out
of a can as they are fresh from the ground. So you can take advantage of their
health benefits all year round!