the benefits of eating beets.

As a kid, there wasn’t a vegetable I didn’t like. From asparagus to zucchini, we grew the staples in our giant garden in northwestern Minnesota. My two favorites: peas straight off the vine and carrots “washed” by rubbing the dirt off on the grass. But, I also loved beets, and my home ec teacher mom made them often by simply peeling and boiling them (usually to accompany a tuna hotdish dinner… ha!). And, grandma’s borscht… the best.

My love of beets waned a bit in adulthood – until right before Ironman Canada in 2013 when I first tried pure clean powder, an organic dehydrated beet powder that can be easily mixed into oatmeal, smoothies, quinoa, banana bread, etc. Since then, beets have been a staple in my daily eats… a packet of pure clean powder as well as most recently, pickled beets from Costco.

While beets may be an acquired taste – they’re a bit earthy, which I oddly like – it’s a taste worth acquiring because of their superfood status. Beets are a great source of nitrates, an essential plant nutrient that’s found in soil (hence root vegetables are higher in it because they grow in the soil). These nitrates enhance our body’s ability to produce nitric oxide (NO), a cellular molecule that plays a key role in regulating several of the body’s metabolic processes, including blood flow and energy production. Beets relax “the smooth muscle lining of the blood vessels, increasing blood flow and oxygen to an athlete’s hard-working muscles,” per pure clean powder’s website. In other words, beets naturally boost your blood oxygen level – and, what athlete doesn’t want that?! 

A few other reasons you should eat beets:

• Because they’re good for you!
• Because they help speed up recovery
• Because they help reduce internal inflammation 
• Because they help increase your speed, strength and stamina 

All that said, if you only eat beets or a packet of pure clean powder once a week, you’re not going to reap the NO benefits. It’s important to eat them daily – and, if your system can handle it, two servings are even better (fair warning, though: increasing your beet intake too quickly can result in an upset GI).

So, how do you know if you’re eating enough and if your NO levels are optimal? You test them via a simple saliva test first thing in the morning prior to eating breakfast. After placing your saliva on the test strip, wait 30 seconds for it to change color. Light pink means you need more beets; dark pink, and you’re good! Below’s a picture of three of my test strips. The bottom two were from two consecutive weeks in January when I first started upping my beet eats. The dark pink one on the top was from February… after eating a lot of beets – and, supplementing with chocoberry blast, a blend of whole foods packed with antioxidants, micronutrients, probiotics and nitrates. I mix with unsweetened almond milk, usually after my evening workout… it’s SO good!

So, my favorite ways to eat beets – other than pickled beets straight outta the jar! I mix pure clean powder into smoothies (you can’t taste it, I promise!), and it’s tasty in quinoa and is a great add to banana bread and oatmeal! Here’s my current go-to breakfast – coconut chia beet oatmeal! 

coconut chia beet oatmeal

1-2 tbsp unsweetened coconut
1 tbsp chia seeds
3/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free old fashioned oats
one serving pure clean powder (one packet or one scoop)
unsweetened almond milk

Mix the coconut, chia seeds and oats and add the almond milk (I eyeball it… maybe a half-cup?). Pop in the microwave for 1:47-ish. Remove and mix in the pure clean powder. Top with your favorite fruit… blueberries and raspberries are delish! 

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Interested in trying pure clean powder? Use ERIN20 for 20 percent off your order. You’ll also get two free nitric oxide test strips with your first order. 

• Order pure clean powder
• Order NO test strips
• Order chocoberry blast

References: Core4Nutrition.com 

Full disclosure: I’m a pure clean powder ambassador, so receive occasional product (though wasn’t compensated for this post). However, even if I weren’t an ambassador, I’d still use the powder daily (and did prior to joining the team!); I believe in it that much!