You’ve all seen this colorful anti-inflammatory, body cleansing, energy-inducing, mind relaxing, and sexually stimulating rooted vegetable before. I love to just eat it raw. If you want something extra tasty, just slice it up and mix it in with some burrata cheese, baby greens, pistachio, olive oil, salt and pepper, and some balsamic reduction sauce and you have yourself a tasty beet salad.

 

[Image Via: mysocalledvegan]

Now, lets go through the list of keywords I just mentioned, starting with anti-inflammatory. Turns out beets have been proven to fight tumors and other cancer-causing annoyances due to their betanin pigments that give them their rich color. They are also a wonderful tonic for the liver and work as a purifier for the blood (that’s how it cleanses the body) – I bet Dracula would’ve loved that!

 

Their energy inducing aspect is due to its high sugar content, but don’t let that stray you away. The sugar is actually released into your system gradually – unlike what happens when you eat cake. The sugar you get from sweets gets dispersed in your body all at once. That’s how you put on the weight.

 

Beets relax the mind due to its tryptophan, putting you in a state of well-being, which explains why it helps lower your blood pressure too.

 

And last but not least, beets are nature’s viagra without the side effects. That’s right, I said it! They contain a high amount of boron, which is directly related to the production of sex hormones. This isn’t a recent finding either. The Ancient Romans used beets medicinally as an aphrodisiac. Is that why beets have that sexy deep red color?

 

The best way to consume these bad boys is raw! If you have to cook them, don’t go over 15 minutes as a huge hunk of their precious vitamins and minerals will break down. Other notable things to note about beets is that they come in orange and yellow colors. Those versions actually contain a lot more lutein, which are good for your vision. So, did I give you enough reasons to beet it?

 

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