China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Mike Peters
The humble beet probably never imagined itself as anybody’s secret weapon, but that’s what culinary studentJamesChanthinkshehasin the brilliant red root.
“I always knew I wanted to be a chef in a fine dining restaurant,” says the Guangzhou native now working as a kitchen intern in Shanghai. “I was sure I could learn tocreatetastydishes,butIwasnervous about presentation. I have always loved good food, but making a pretty plate is so important, too.”
Enter the beet, once considered a grandma vegetable best-suited for winter menus, perhaps tucked up against the Sunday roast with some new potatoes. More recently, the simple root has become trendy, first in roasted veggie platters that could also feature parsnips and sweet potatoes. Now, TV chefs who turn plates into artworks and a dining public eager for healthier fare have found common ground — or underground — in the beet. Every meal in a top Western restaurant now seems to include at least one plate with a big swoosh of red.
Beets, in fact, have been turned into luminous fingerpaints — and even cocktails.
Health benefits
The beet, however, another pretty face.
Wellness websites such as OrganicFacts.netcelebratetheroot’susein treating everything from indigestion and dandruff to cancer and heart disease. Its rich payload of nutrients, vitamins and minerals has long been credited with improving blood circulation, and athletes have long been grabbing bottles of beet juice for a promised boost in stamina before competitions.
“Beets are rich in natural chemicalscallednitrates,”reportsthewebsite WebMD, noting that your body changes nitrates into nitric oxide in a chemical chain reaction that improves blood flow. “Most lists of ‘super foods’ don’t include beetroot juice, but maybe they should.
“Beet juice may boost stamina to help you exercise longer, improve blood flow, and help lower blood pressure, some research shows.”
“Beets contain a significant amount of carbohydrates that provides fuel for energy and prolonged sports activities,” reports another site. “These are the natural building blocks of energy metabolism, and beets provide them without any of the negative side effects of many other carbohydrate-heavy foods.”
Clinical trials, however, have been mixed. The beet’s potential benefits prompted a recent Pennsylvania state study that tested the ability of the juice to enhance blood flow to exercising muscles.
The researchers found that the widely held belief regarding improved muscle blood flow did not isn’t just hold up to their test, they reported in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism.
Subjects were given either a placebo drink or a relatively high dose of nitrate-rich beetroot juice. They found that the latter did not enhance the natural rise in blood flow to the forearm muscles during graded handgrip exercise.
The investigators did observe a direct correlation between nitrite levels in the blood and the slowing of participants’ arterial pulsation velocity, an indication that the supplement did indeed have a biological (artery de-stiffening) effect.
They speculate that the lack of a measurable blood-flow boost might be due to a pool of already-strong subjects.
“Subjects were young individuals with blood pressure and cholesterol levels in the ‘very healthy’ range,” the study leader noted. “These subjects had well-preserved vascular endothelial function to begin with.”
Enjoy in moderation
Experts like award-winning author Doctor Joseph Mercola say beets — like everything else — should be consumed in moderation, since they contain high amounts of sugar as well as carbohydrates.
(One cup of raw beets has 58 calories and 13 grams of carbohydrates. A cup of beet juice is usually around 100 calories and 25 grams of carbohydrates, because of the way it is processed.)
Despite these caveats, Mercola says beet roots have always been included on his most recommended vegetables list.
“Although beets have the highest sugar content of all vegetables, most people can safely eat beet roots a few times a week (and their greens in unlimited quantities), enjoying not only their sweet, earthy flavor but also their powerhouse nutrients that may help lower your blood pressure, fight cancer and inflammation, boost your stamina, and support detoxification.
“Beet greens are equally, if not more, nutritious with nutrients that may strengthen your immune system, support brain and bone health (potentially helping to ward off Alzheimer’s disease and osteoporosis), and more,” he notes on his website.
“Try adding beet roots raw to salads or as part of your vegetable juice; beet greens can be sauteed with spinach or Swiss chard.”
Especially since the advent of molecular cuisine, of course, professional chefs are getting much more out of beets. They come pureed and even powdered, crisped and caramelized, sweet and sour.