Looking for ways to integrate more vegetables into your diet? Check out this Washington Post article “The unexpected value of beets.”

Image courtesy of Simon Howden at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

What makes beets so healthy? This power food is chock full of antioxidants, probiotics, folate, and betaine. According to Jonny Bowden, PhD (aka “The Nutrition Myth Buster”) in this Men’s Health Article, “These two nutrients work together to lower your blood levels of homocysteine, an inflammatory compound that can damage your arteries and increase your risk of heart disease. Plus, the natural pigments—called betacyanins—that give beets their color have been proved to be potent cancer fighters in laboratory mice.”

Beets are not only healthy, they’re delicious. And they’re pretty. They make a great natural food coloring and are the perfect vegetable to integrate into existing recipes, like applesauce, greek yogurt, roasted vegetables, salad, pizza, smoothies and even chocolate cake.

My family loves Jessica Seinfeld’s Chocolate Cake with Beets. and you can transform them into delicious muffins. I’m not a huge sweets person but this recipe is a good way to indulge while still getting in some powerful nutrients. I’d skip the frosting and use 100% raw cacao powder instead of bittersweet chocolate.

When cooking with beets, raw is best to get the most nutrients. The longer you cook them, the fewer antioxidants. Also, be sure to heed the WaPo author’s full disclosure!

Eating beets is often followed by a phenomenon called beeturia, in which urine and feces are tinted red. So before you rush off to the doctor in alarm, check to see whether anyone has slipped you a beet.

Bon appetit. I’m off to try this Beet Cucumber Cleanse Juice!

Shine on!