Table of contents:
- Benefits of beet leaves for the body
- 1. Maintain eye health
- 2. Reducing the risk of falling ill
- 3. Maintain healthy muscles and nerves
- 4. Helping the blood clotting process
- Include beet leaves in your diet
Beetroot is becoming popular among the people. The reason is, the tubers which are more suitable to be processed into side dishes are known to have many benefits. Not only the tubers, the leaves and stems are also often made into a variety of healthy dishes. What are the benefits of beet leaves? Come on, find out the answer below.
Benefits of beet leaves for the body
The beet plant comes from a family Amaranthaceae-Chenopodiaceae, that is, one family with turnips and other root vegetables.
The tuber is shaped like a potato with a purplish red color and tastes sweet when eaten.
While the shape of the leaves is very similar to lettuce, the color is green but the stems and leaves are purple in color.
Initially, this plant was consumed only in the tuber. The leaves and stems of beets are usually removed without being used as a snack.
But now, people also consume tubers as well as stems and leaves. The reason is because beet leaves are known to have many benefits.
The following are various benefits of beet leaves when viewed from their nutritional content according to the Nutrition Value page.
1. Maintain eye health
Beet leaves contain vitamin A which is quite high. This vitamin comes from various active compounds such as alpha and beta carotene, beta cryptoxanthin, zeaxanthin, and lutein which are good for the body.
This vitamin is fat soluble. That means, the body will use fat to process and store vitamin A in the body system for longer.
Vitamin A will be used by the body to help increase immunity, skin health, and cell differentiation.
In the eye, vitamin A plays an important role in helping the retinal rods and cones to absorb light. This will help keep your eyesight free of distractions.
2. Reducing the risk of falling ill
Apart from vitamin A, beet leaves also contain vitamin C which provides benefits to the body.
This vitamin is needed to produce collagen, which is a vitamin that supports the growth of healthy skin, bones, teeth and blood vessels.
White blood cells also need vitamin C to fight germs and bacteria that cause infection.
If you eat beet leaves or other foods high in vitamin C, your immune system will get stronger.
That way, beet leaves can help lower your risk of catching a cold or a cold which is very contagious.
3. Maintain healthy muscles and nerves
Another benefit of beet leaves that you can get is maintaining healthy muscles and nerves. Beet leaves contain various B vitamins, such as niacin (vitamin B3), riboflavin (vitamin B2), and thiamin (vitamin B1).
This vitamin is needed by the body along with other minerals, such as potassium to keep muscles healthy. It also supports the performance of nerves in receiving and transmitting signals to the brain and muscles.
4. Helping the blood clotting process
Beet leaves are also rich in vitamin K. This vitamin is needed by the body for the blood clotting process. This natural process in the body is useful for stopping bleeding when there is a cut or tear in the skin.
The body's ability to clot blood can also lower the risk of dying from severe bleeding.
Include beet leaves in your diet
You can get the benefits of beet leaves by adding them to the diet. Just like kale or spinach, you can serve beet leaves by sautéing them. You can also add it to salads.
Choose beet leaves that are still fresh on the market, that is, they are dark green, the stems and leaves do not wither, and are not damaged. Before processing, wash it first with running water until clean.
