Beetroot
At Pete Fraser Fitness we recommend to our clients a moderate, varied and balanced diet. Beetroot is part of this type of healthy diet.
The only downside of preparing this root vegetable is that your hands look like you’ve committed a bloody or gruesome act for sometime afterwards!! However the nutrient benefits they provide far outweigh any strange looks people may give you when they see your hands!
Beetroot is low in saturated fat and cholesterol. It’s a good source of vitamin c, iron, magnesium and dietary fibre.
Read more about how this top 10 food can improve your sports performance…
Beetroot can not be eaten raw, so try cooking by steaming, gentle boiling or roasting.
It is usually advisable to eat a food in its natural form, i.e. not juiced, pealed or scrapped, as much of the nutrients in vegetables for instance is within or just below the skin and the fiber is often lost. However, juicing the whole vegetable or fruit can be a useful option and in the case of beetroot, the juice can potentially yield sports performance benefits – read further on!
Sport & Health
There has been some research into the high levels of nitrogen found in beetroot and its use as an erogenic aid (performance enhancer) in endurance performance. Some studies have looked into the effect of beetroot juice and found a lowering in V02 levels during aerobic exercise. This could potentially mean that beet juice taken before endurance exercise could help extend the body’s energy stores to allow the athlete to push further. The recommended amount to experiment with would be:
- 2 x shots of pre-prepared beet juice
- taken 90 – 120 mins prior to endurance racing or training
- as always, experiment during training sessions first before using on race day
Nutritional background
Selected nutrient content for a large beetroot (136g):
Energy: 58 kcal
Macro nutrient: protein 2.9g, carbs 50.5g (9.2g from sugar), fat total: 0.0g, sat 0.0mg, mono 0.0g, poly unsat 0.1g
Micro nutrient (daily values): Vit C 11%, Iron 6%, Folate 37%, Riboflavin 11%, Folate 49%, Mag 22%, Pot 13%, Mag 8%, Dietary fibre 15%