Be Healthy with Beets

Select small to medium-sized beets with firm, smooth-skinned roots and deep color. Younger beets may tender enough peeling won't be needed after cooking. Avoid spots, bruises or soft, wet areas. Shriveled or flabby beets are signs that the roots are aged, tough and fibrous.

• Betacyanin, which gives beets their rich, purple-crimson color is also a powerful cancer-fighting agent.
• In one study a high beet fiber diet led to increased activity of two antioxidant enzymes in the liver.
• Other studies have shown animals fed beet fiber had an increase in immune cells responsible for detecting and eliminating abnormal cells.
• Beet juice was found to inhibit the cell mutations caused by certain preservatives.
• A beet-rich diet can help lover LDL cholesterol and triglycerides while increasing beneficial HDL cholesterol.
• Folate-rich foods such as beets are important during pregnancy for proper development of the infant’s infant's spinal column.
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  Source: World’s Healthiest Food