Organic Beet Powder: How to Choose the Best Beet Root Powder
Feeling tired? Struggling with brain fog? Ready for better endurance and enhanced athletic ability? Organic beet powder can help you boost circulation, improve your focus, and supercharge your energy without caffeine, sugar, or unhealthy stimulants. In this article, we’ll unpack how all-natural, whole food nutrition from red beets can improve your health (and even fight the cognitive wear-and-tear from aging). Plus, we’ll help you learn how to choose the best beet root powder for your needs.
What is Organic Beet Powder?
Organic beet powder is a powder made from organic red beets that have been dried, ground, freeze-dried, and/or fermented. Depending on preparation method, this powder can last anywhere from 6 months to 3 years, assuming proper storage.
While fresh fruits and vegetables are often preferable due to the degradation of sensitive antioxidants during food processing, the use of supplements in addition to a healthy diet can be beneficial. For instance, beet powder adds an instant nutritional boost to shakes, snacks, and smoothies without the time-intensive demands of washing, peeling, chopping, and prepping fresh beets.
It can also help you add extra nutrition to a meal without altering the texture or flavor. (Hint: if you hate the taste of beets, but still want the nutritional benefits, beet powder is for you!). Additionally, beet powder is a healthy alternative to unnatural red food dyes, adding a red pop to your plate without chemical additives.
Benefits of Beet Powder
Red beets are rich in a number of key nutrients and compounds. That includes antioxidants like betalains (the phytonutrients responsible for beets’ vibrant red hue), naturally-occurring nitrates, and energy-boosting B vitamins.
Better Circulation
Study after study has linked red beet consumption to better circulation. That’s not a mistake: red beets and beet supplements like organic beet powder are packed with nitrates.
In the body, these potent little molecules form a compound called nitric oxide. When nitric oxide enters the bloodstream, it binds to hemoglobin and diffuses into vascular smooth muscle cells, triggering muscle relaxation and vasodilation.
What’s vasodilation? Vasodilation occurs when the muscle cells surrounding major blood vessels relax, causing arteries and veins to widen and allow more blood to move through. When this occurs, the rate of tissue oxygenation rises throughout the body, boosting muscular endurance and strength, reducing fatigue, and improving organ function.
It can also give a temporary boost to immune system activity and tissue healing as nutrients and oxygen move more quickly to sick or injured tissues. This can be especially helpful when it comes to recovering from strenuous exercise.
Mental Clarity
Because of their circulation-boosting nitrates, red beets also improve organ perfusion. It’s simple: as circulation increases, more oxygen-rich blood is able to move through key organs like the lungs, heart, and brain.
Studies show that red beet supplements can help boost oxygen transport to the brain. Specifically, red beets improve blood flow to the frontal lobe, the part of the brain responsible for decision-making and memory. This makes red beets one of our top supplements for brain fog, and a clinch hitter in the fight against Alzheimer’s.
Healthy Energy
Looking to boost your energy the natural way? Here’s a secret: you don’t need coffee, sugar, or unhealthy energy drinks to power through. Red beets are high in both antioxidants and B vitamins, two critical drivers of metabolic health and energy generation.
In fact, functional B vitamin deficiency has been linked to chronic fatigue. Luckily, red beets are high in folate (Vitamin B9), as well as iron and magnesium–two other critical minerals for healthy energy.
Additionally, red beets and organic beet powder contain betalain and vulgaxanthin–two powerful antioxidants responsible for beets’ red and yellow coloration, respectively. Oxidative stress and chronic inflammation have both been shown to impair mitochondrial function (the tiny little organelles responsible for producing cellular energy), leading to fatigue, muscle pain, joint pain, and brain fog.
How to Choose the Best Beet Root Powder
You’re ready to add organic beet powder to your supplement stack but don’t know where to start? Here’s what to look for:
1. Fermentation
Support your gut health by choosing a fermented beet supplement. Not only does focusing on fermentation add probiotic bacteria into the mix–fermented supplements, like fermented foods, can improve the digestion and absorption of key nutrients.
2. Check the Ingredients
Looking for the gold standard in beet supplements? Take a look at the nutrition facts. Here’s what you should see:
Ingredients: Organic beet root.
No additives. No preservatives. No artificial colors or flavors. No added sugar. Just beets.
3. High-Quality Manufacturing
If you’ve been following the news, you’ve seen the articles about dangerous levels of lead and other heavy metals in poor-quality supplements. Whether it’s protein powder, turmeric, or ashwagandha, supplements that make use of synthetic fillers, colorants, or flavorings are more likely to contain toxic contaminants.
Before you buy, always check the ingredients list and manufacturer certification.
Looking for an organic beet powder supplement that meets all three criteria? Check out Dr. Eric Snow’s Red Beet Power, available in our online store.
