Benefits of Beetroot Powder for Athletes: Everything You Need to Know
Beetroot and Goat's Cheese Salad Recipe
Saying that beets have been around for a long time is a major understatement. In fact, beets are prehistoric food that grew along the coastlines of North Africa, Europe, and Asia. Now they are being grown, distributed, and consumed all over the world.
Despite its ancient status, people are not very familiar with its health benefits. If we talk about eggs, we can say they are full of protein; when we talk about oranges, we can say they are rich in Vitamin C. But what exactly do beets have? What do beetroots contain? Why should we consume beetroot powder?
This is what we are going to discuss through this article. We will be talking about the various benefits of beetroot powder, and we’ll go into detail about how it functions.
Now if you are an athlete, or at least someone who lives an active lifestyle, you need to pay close attention because beets have plenty of health benefits that can help you step up your game. It can help you improve your performance, whether you’re out there in the field, on the court, or training.
Who knew that simply consuming something as simple as beetroot can provide you with the competitive edge you need to win those medals? A simple change in diet can go a long way after all.
If we told you that beets could help extend your endurance and improve your performance, are you going to include them in your diet? Most of the time, achieving excellence is all about making the right choices. And when it comes to athletics, it’s all about making healthy choices.
Read the benefits of beets and beetroot powder below to find out how it can help you optimize your training and performance. A glass of beetroot juice every now and then couldn’t hurt.
Beets: A Brief History
Did you know that in the early times, only the beet greens were consumed? It wasn’t until the era of ancient Rome that the sweet red beet root was cultivated.
By the 19th Century, the natural sweetness of beets came to be appreciated, and began being used as a source of sugar. Nowadays, many companies use sugar beets as a raw material for the production of sugar. And lately, the potential of beet roots is being harnessed, as more people are realizing how great it can be when consumed in whole form, as part of their regular diet.
What Is Beetroot Powder?
Beetroot is a vegetable—a highly nutrient-dense one, at that. Being a vegetable, it has quite a lot of health benefits in it. It has Vitamins A, B, and C. It had antioxidants like beta-carotene and beta-cyanine. It has minerals like magnesium, potassium, phosphorous, and iron.
Beetroot powder is the ground-up form of the vegetable, meaning you can enjoy it as a drink when you don’t want to use it as an ingredient in your meals.
Beetroots are full of nitrates—these are converted into nitric oxide.
If beetroots are known for anything, it’s for their noticeably red pigmentation. These pigments are known as betalains, and have two color types. The red/violet variants are vibrant and are called betacyanins. The betaxanthins, on the other hand, are yellow in color.
Both forms of betalains contain nitrogen. They aren’t just pigments though: they also work as antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents.
Because of these pigments, you may notice some pink coloration in your urine and/or stool after consuming large doses of beetroot. This is harmless, although it’s easy to see why some people may get uncomfortable with this.
This is the only known side effect of beetroot powder. Although in rare cases, some people have experienced mild gastrointestinal discomfort after eating large doses of beetroot.
Too much of a good thing is always bad after all.
But beyond that, beets and beetroots are among the most recommended vegetables that people should eat more of. If you’re looking for new vegetables to include into your diet, this is a good one to start with. Not only will you enjoy its sweet, earthy flavor, you’ll also reap its various nutrients. You can improve your health in many ways. And if you’re an athlete, you may be able to take your performance to the next level.
What are the Most Common Benefits of Beetroot Powder?
Before we get into further detail about the various ways beetroots can help you, here are some of this curious root’s most common benefits:
Beetroot powder can help lower high blood pressure and elevate low blood pressure. Basically, if you need to regulate your blood pressure, this is the best vegetable to eat.
It is also an excellent source of iron and folate—both nutrients are needed by pregnant women in order to stay healthy. They’re eating for two now, and so it’s a good idea to eat healthy.
Thanks to its betaine, beetroot powder has even been shown to have significant anti-cancer properties. It works by inhibiting the formation of cancer causing cells in the body. It is particularly great against colon and stomach cancer, slowing down its development and keeping the body healthy.
The fiber content of beetroot powder is great for improving bowel movements. If you’re suffering from chronic constipation, beetroot powder may relieve your discomfort, especially if you drink it on a regular basis. Beetroot powder can even help detoxify your liver.
On top of all this, it has properties that relax the mind and create a feeling of well-being—much like chocolate!
So if you’re looking for a food supplement that’s all natural and beneficial, this might be the right choice for you. Now here are some of the specific benefits that may appeal to athletes, and those who try to maintain an active lifestyle.
Recovery Benefits
Athletes go through a lot of physical stress. During training, they push themselves to the limit in order to get better. They do this several days a week, spending most of their hours mastering their game. Overexertion of the muscles is a common thing that happens to athletes. If they are not careful, they can even suffer from a sports injury.
When your body goes through this much stress, it needs time to repair itself. Athletes who are training constantly almost have no time to allow their bodies to recover. Resting and eating healthy is the only proper way to deal with these problems naturally. Your body has an incredible way of restoring itself—you just need to allow it to do so.
And of course, you can always lend it a helping hand by being conscious about your food choices. You can speed up your recovery being eating healthy. And even if you’re not injured or exhausted, you can still benefit from the right food options so you can last longer in the game.
Athletes consume various smoothies and protein bars to help keep their energy levels up. You can achieve this effect using beetroot powder.
Improve your recovery time by drinking beet juice.
Studies have shown that the beetroot supplements can influence the performance outcomes of athletes. Drinking beet juice provides a small improvement in an athlete’s recovery time. In a competitive industry, these small margins can mean the difference between victory and defeat. Having an advantage provided by an all-natural supplement is an ideal way to improve your chances of succeeding.
Imagine being able to last for 2 to 4 minutes longer, just because you drank that beet juice beforehand.
This boost is attributed to the inorganic nitrate that is found in beetroot. It can help improve the efficiency of the cell’s energy factory, the mitochondria. Not only does the body work overtime, it also accelerates our natural rate of healing.
After drinking the beet juice, the amount of oxygen required to sustain exercise goes down significantly.
The beetroot juice may even have positive effects on a person’s heart health. This naturopathic approach can lower the risk of heart disease as well as metabolic syndrome, including high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Beetroot powder can help normalize your blood pressure levels.
This antioxidant-rich vegetable also helps open up the blood vessels. This allows more oxygen to flow at a time. This is known to help speed up recovery, while also providing more energy.
It is interesting to note that beetroot powder has a significant advantage over plain beetroots in this particular area. When it comes to lowering blood pressure, it’s a good idea to drink beetroot in order to reap its maximum benefits.
Cooking vegetables causes the nutrients to diminish. As a juice, it can give you all of the phytonutrients you need in order to lower your blood pressure. So if you want to make the most out of beetroot, you might as well take the powder form.
Again, the only known side effect is that it can give your urine and stool a little shade of red. But there’s no need to worry about this. It is considered harmless.
Joint Benefits
As an athlete, you’re going to need all the endurance you can get. But you’re also gonna have to be in good shape if you want to take advantage of all that endurance. If you’re suffering from pain and stiffness, particularly in your joints, your performance may be hindered.
As we age, joint problems become more common. It can limit your ability to do the things you should be able to do with ease. Arthritis can get worse over time. Even if you’re not involved with sports, joint pain can ruin your quality of life. We put our joints to work every single day—and so it’s pretty hard to ignore this type of pain.
There are more than 200 types of inflammation that may affect the joints. The most common one is osteoarthritis. It occurs when the tissue in between joints wears away. This normally acts as the cushion to protect the joints from hitting one another as we move. Without this layer of tissue, the joints can rub together and cause discomfort.
The pain and stiffness can limit your mobility, preventing you from doing your regular day to day activities. This condition can be debilitating for an athlete.
If you’re suffering from never-ending pain in your joints, this simple juice can help make you feel much better. Try drinking beet juice at least once a day for a week, and you may notice a dramatic change in the amount of pain you’re experiencing.
You can even try beetroot juice for back pain, shoulder pain, leg pain, and neck pain!
A change in your diet can go a long way in maintaining a healthy body—athletes and non-athletes alike should know that.
Unfortunately, joint pain can also be caused by stress. And in our fast-paced world, stress is almost completely unavoidable. Mental stress from work can affect our physical health. Those who live active lifestyles, as well as those who have physically demanding jobs, will be exposed to physical stress on top of that.
Stress is hard to avoid—but in order to survive, we must cope with it. Some people thrive under pressure. Some people use stress as a learning experience. These resilient people always come out on top and achieve the things they set out to do. And you can achieve the same results by giving your body a little push. With the right diet and plenty of exercise, you will be well-equipped to deal with life’s stressful situations.
Beets contain anti-inflammatory compounds—not only betanin, but also isobetanin and vulgaxanthin. These can inhibit certain enzymes that can trigger inflammation. And like we mentioned earlier, it helps improve blood circulation. This allows it to reduce pain.
Energy Benefits
Beets are known to help athletes become more enduring. Studies suggest that beetroot juice can help increase energy levels throughout the day. This is of course linked to the fact that beetroot can improve blood flow. It helps the body distribute nutrients across all the organ systems effortlessly. At the same time, it allows the body to receive more oxygen.
If you need to improve your energy levels throughout the day, beet juice may be the right choice for you. This is especially helpful for athletes because they need it throughout their training. With enough energy and stamina, they can gradually improve their performance and increase their chances of succeeding. Practice makes perfect, as they say.
Weight Loss Benefits
If you’re interested in shedding off those extra pounds, beetroot can also serve as an excellent food supplement. Beetroot has a very low calorie content. 100g of beetroot contains around 38 calories and just 0.1g of fat. This is great for those who are trying to build muscle, or those who just want to get in shape in time for summer.
Whatever your fitness goals may be, if it involves losing some weight, then consider having this vegetable as part of your diet plan.
Beetroots also happen to have a very low glycaemic load. This means that when you consume it, it converts into energy very slowly. This means it will not overload your bloodstream with sugars. It prevents sugar highs and the subsequent crashes known as sugar lows.
At the same time, this prevents you from craving sugary and fatty foods—a good benefit to have if you’re trying to live a healthy lifestyle.
Beetroot also happens to be rich in insoluble fibre. This means that the body cannot digest it, and therefore expels it through the body as waste material. This is great if you’re trying to maintain a certain figure. It also ensures that our digestive tract is healthy, because it helps us with our bowel movement. It reduces your risk of colon cancer.
Beetroot Recipe to Try: Beetroot and Goat’s Cheese Salad
If you want to include beetroot in your everyday diet, there are a number of recipes you can try. Having this vegetable regularly can improve your health.
Beetroot and Goat’s Cheese Salad is a nice and simple salad recipe you can serve either as an appetizer or as a filling lunch. The ingredients are: 6 beetroots, 75g soft goat’s cheese, 60g of toasted walnuts, 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar, and 100g of baby spinach leaves. You can also add one pinch each of dried oregano, salt, and black pepper.
Just place the beetroots into a pan of boiling salted water and simmer it for 15-40 minutes until it is fork tender. Take them out and leave them to cool until you can handle them and peel the skin off. Pat them dry and then chop into bite-sized chunks.
Whisk the oil, vinegar, oregano, salt, and pepper together. Pour it over the beetroots.
Next, divide the spinach leaves between six plates and place the beetroot over them. Add the goat’s cheese over the beetroots, add some toasted walnuts, and add some extra salt and pepper to taste. You’re ready to go! That’s a simple salad recipe for those who want to add some beetroot into their diet.
Who says athletes can only have smoothies?
Why Athletes Love Beetroot Powder
With all the health benefits we mentioned above, is it really surprising that athletes love beetroot powder?
It relieves the pain in your joints, it gives you more energy and stamina, it keeps your colon healthy, and it even helps you lose weight. Beet juice is a simple yet significant addition to anyone’s diet, whether they are training regularly or not.
For athletes in particular, beetroot can enhance their performance in a natural and safe way.
Changing your diet and including healthy food options can improve your health drastically. The performance benefit is just a great side effect to all that. At the end of the day, our goal is to stay healthy, happy, and fit.
If drinking beetroot juice can help us achieve that, then why not go for it? Whatever your fitness goals are, beetroot powder can work as a worthy supplement.