Beetroot: A vegetable Viagra? What's special about this superfood and how to include it into your diet
Queensland and Emily Burch, Southern Cross University Queensland
Beetroot has been in the news for all the wrong reasons.
Supply issues in recent months have seen a shortage of tinned beetroot in supermarket shelves. But as supplies increase, we turn our attention to beetroot's apparent health benefits.
Is beetroot really vegetable Viagra, as UK TV doctor Michael Mosley suggests? What about beetroot's other apparent health benefits — from reducing your blood pressure to improving your daily workout? Here's what the science says.
What's so special about beetroot?
Beetroot — alongside foods such as berries, nuts and leafy greens — is a «superfood». It contains above-average levels per gram of certain vitamins and minerals.
Beetroot is particularly rich in vitamin B and C, minerals, fibre and antioxidants.
Most cooking methods don't significantly alter its antioxidant levels. Pressure cooking does, however, lower levels of carotenoid (a type of antioxidant) compared to raw beetroot.
Processing into capsules, powders, chips or juice may affect beetroot's ability to act as an antioxidant. However, this can vary between products, including between different brands of beetroot juice.
Is beetroot really vegetable Viagra?
The Romans are said to have used beetroot and its juice as an aphrodisiac.
But there's limited scientific evidence to say beetroot improves your sex life. This does not mean it doesn't. Rather, the vast number of scientific studies looking at the effect of beetroot have not measured libido or
