Have you ever consumed beets? Or are you not that familiar with beets? You need to know, beetroot is a type of tuber that is generally a slightly reddish-purple, which looks like a potato.

Despite the name beet fruits, this plant is not a fruit at all. It is a plant that comes from the Amaranthaceae chenopodiaceae family and is still a family with radish vegetables as well as root vegetables that grow in the soil.

In the past, people in Africa consumed this fruit for its content and properties. They believe the content of beets can be beneficial for health.

Beets contain quite a lot of nutrients that are needed by the body. Not only the tuber part that can be consumed, but you can also process the leaves of the beetroot into a dish. In one beet, you can find various vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin C, folate, potassium, magnesium, sodium and iron.

While on beet leaves, you will find protein, phosphorus, zinc, fiber, vitamin B6, copper, manganese, vitamin A, potassium, and iron which are higher than spinach. That’s why you can also have the health benefits of beets for blood pressure, which are definitely useful for adults and seniors.

Seniors can take a healthy amount of beets to their diet to make themselves healthier by the day. With a great taste, digesting it should be better than other veggies. One can also process beets into juice for easier intake.

Health Benefits of Beets for Seniors

• Control blood pressure

High blood pressure is pretty common in seniors. Though it’s common, it’s very important to keep it under control, since the risk of various fatal health problems like heart attack or stroke can be increased along with the blood pressure.

The effectiveness of beets to decrease blood pressure have been proven through several studies, resulting in a decreased level of blood pressure hours after consuming beet fruits.

However, you will get more of these benefits when the beets are still raw.  It’s all thanks to the nitrate in the beets, found in a high level. High level of nitrate resulting in higher nitric oxide which functions to dilate your blood vessels, effectively decreasing blood pressure.

• Overcoming inflammation

Inflammation is surely painful, and fortunately, you can treat it with some beet fruits. Chronic inflammation is usually associated with several serious diseases, including obesity, heart disease, liver disorders, and cancer.

Beets contain betalain, which is a pigment that has anti-inflammatory properties that can help your body deal with various inflammation. A 2014 study has shown that beet juice and extract can reduce kidney inflammation.

It’s possible due to the betalain content that’s responsible for reducing pain and discomfort in osteoarthritis patients. Even so, researchers still have to do further research to prove the truth.

• Increase stamina

Beets can be an ideal food for athletes because of their abundant nutritional content, making beets beneficial as a food that increases stamina. Well, we think you’ve been very familiar with it, it’s the nitrate.

The reason is, consuming nutritious beets to increase the ability of mitochondria to carry out their duties of producing energy from cells in the body. That way, your physical performance will also increase. In fact, a study in 2011 also supports this statement.

The study, which was conducted on nine cycling athletes, showed that consuming beetroot juice could increase performance by up to 2.8% in athletes who cycled a distance of 4 kilometers (km) and 2.7% in athletes who traveled 16.1 km.

But remember, the right time for you to eat beets is two to three hours before doing exercises or participating in sports competitions. For maximizing the result, combine it with the benefits of drinking lion dates syrup with milk.

• Prevent senility

Not only reducing blood pressure levels, nitrate in beets can also make smoother blood flow through your body and brain. This can be effective in fighting senility that often occurs in seniors. Hopefully, by eating beets, they can gain their brain strength once again.

• Improve brain function

Increasing age results in decreased brain function or cognitive and mental function. This may occur due to reduced blood and oxygen flow to the brain. If this is not resolved immediately, it is likely that you will develop dementia in old age.

However, you don’t need to worry, because eating beets has benefits for improving brain health and function. The reason is, beets contain nitrates which can improve cognitive and mental function by dilating blood vessels. That way, blood flow to the brain increases again.

In addition, a study shows that beets can increase blood flow to the parts of the brain related to thinking functions, such as making decisions and working memory. Even so, researchers still have to carry out further research to confirm the truth of their findings.

• Prevent cancer

Similar to the benefits of tempeh, beets are one type of fruit that is high in antioxidants, so it can help you prevent cancer. This one disease is classified as fatal and deadly, and usually presents with signs of uncontrolled cell growth and occurs abnormally.

A study shows that beetroot extract can help reduce the growth of tumor cells found in animals. Meanwhile, other studies on human cells have shown that beetroot extracts that contain the pigment betalain can reduce the growth of prostate and breast cancer cells.

However, to prove it, experts still have to do further research related to the benefits of this one beetroot.