Benefits of beets leaves have a lot. Beet greens, which resemble Swiss chard, are packed with essential nutrients that support your body’s immune system and help strengthen your bones. An excellent source of potassium, which is vital to your heart and digestive tract, beet greens also contain magnesium to maintain normal nerve and muscle functions. Here we are going to discuss the benefits of beets leaves.
Benefits of Beets Leaves
Boosts Immunity
Vitamin C is known as nature’s immunity booster and beet leaves are incredibly rich in it. It’s important to have a healthy immune system during winters to fight colds and flu.
Healthy For Eyes and Skin
Beet leaves contain Vitamin A, which is great for maintaining a healthy vision and is also important for cell differentiation and healthy skin.
Healthy For Bones and Teeth
Vitamin C is essential for healthy bones and teeth, as well as glowing skin, and beet leaves, fulfill all these needs, due to high levels of vitamin C in them.
No Fat or Cholesterol
Beet leaves are nutritious as they are rich in Vitamin K, copper, manganese, iron, and calcium, but they are great for maintaining a healthy weight, as they contain zero saturated fat and cholesterol.
Beet leaves are a great natural source of fiber and are packed with antioxidants, just like the red tuberous part of the plant. So the next time you cook beetroot in a soup or toss it in salads, don’t forget to clean and chop the beet leaves and add them to your dish as well.
Other Potential Benefits
- Beet tops are one very versatile, nutritious green leafy vegetable. The greens are indeed very low in calories; 100 grams hold just 22 calories. Nonetheless, they are one of the healthiest greens recommended in the diet for their low fat, no cholesterol but health-benefiting vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants.
- Just as in the case of beetroot, its top greens to are a good source of the phytochemical compound, glycine betaine (Trimethylglycine). Betaine has the property of lowering homocysteine levels in the blood, especially in persons with homocystinuria, a kind of inherited homocysteine metabolism disease. Homocysteine is a highly toxic metabolite that promotes platelet clots as well as atherosclerotic plaque formation inside the blood vessels. An excessive amount of this compound in the blood can damage blood vessels resulting in the development of coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, and peripheral vascular diseases.
- Beet greens carry more minerals, vitamins, and fiber than beetroot (except for the folate vitamin), yet they are low in calories, fat, and sugar.
- Beet greens are the finest sources of ß-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin. These flavonoids have strong antioxidant and anti-cancer activities. Beta-carotene can be converted into vitamin-A inside the human body.
- Zeaxanthin, an important dietary carotenoid, is absorbed selectively into the retinal macula lutea in the eyes, where it is thought to provide antioxidant and protective UV light-filtering functions. Thus, it helps prevent retinal detachment and offers protection against “age-related macular degeneration related macular degeneration disease” (ARMD) in older adults.
- The top greens are excellent sources of vitamin-A; 100 g of leaves provide 6,326 IU or 211% of RDA. Vitamin-A is required for maintaining healthy mucosa and skin and is essential for vision. A diet rich in this vitamin is effective in protecting against lung and oral cavity cancers.
- The greens are excellent vegetable sources of vitamin K; 100 g provides 400 ugs of this vitamin; which is about 333% of recommended daily intake. Vitamin-K has the potential role in bone health by promoting osteoblastic (bone formation and strengthening) activity. Adequate vitamin-K levels in the diet help limit neuronal damage in the brain; thus, has an established role in the treatment of patients who have Alzheimer’s disease.
- 100 g of fresh leaves contain 30 mg or 50% of daily recommended levels of vitamin C. Vitamin C is a moderately powerful water-soluble antioxidant, which helps the human body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful oxygen-free radicals.
- This leafy vegetable is notably good in many B-complex groups of vitamins such as riboflavin, folate, niacin, vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), thiamin, and pantothenic acid that work as coenzymes during the metabolism in the human body.
- Its leaves are also a rich source of minerals like magnesium, copper, calcium, sodium, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps control heart rate and blood pressure by countering the effects of sodium.
- The human body utilizes manganese as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase. Iron is required for cellular oxidation and red blood cell formation.
100g Beets Leaves Nutrition
- Energy 22 Kcal 1% of RDA
- Carbohydrates 4.33 g 3% of RDA
- Protein 2.20 g 4% of RDA
- Total Fat 0.13 g <1% of RDA
- Cholesterol 0 mg 0% of RDA
- Dietary Fiber 3.7 g 10% of RDA
- Folates 15 µg 4% of RDA
- Niacin 0.400 mg 2.5% of RDA
- Pantothenic acid 0.250 mg 5% of RDA
- Pyridoxine 0.106 mg 8% of RDA
- Riboflavin 0.220 mg 17% of RDA
- Thiamin 0.100 mg 8% of RDA
- Vitamin A 6326 IU 211% of RDA
- Vitamin C 30 mg 50% of RDA
- Vitamin K 400 µg 333% of RDA
- Sodium 226 mg 15% of RDA
- Potassium 762 mg 16% of RDA
Beet Leaves Side Effects
Beet leaves are possibly safe for most people when taken by mouth in medicinal amounts. Beet leaves can make urine or stools appear pink or red. But this is not harmful. There is concern that beet leaves might cause low calcium levels and kidney damage.
