I think beetroot is one of those foods where the amount really matters.
— Too little and you’re just eating another vegetable.
— Too much and you’re dealing with pink toilet water and stomach cramps.
Most people do fine with about one medium beet a day. That’s around 200 to 250 grams if you’re eating it raw. If you’re drinking beetroot juice, about 250ml works for general health stuff. Athletes looking for performance benefits need more, closer to 500ml, but that’s a different story.
Analysis From Scientific View Point on Beetroot
The science on beetroot focuses on nitrate content. Your body converts those nitrates to nitric oxide, which does some useful things.
A study from 2012 in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that 500ml of beetroot juice improved cycling performance by 2.8%. It also reduced how much oxygen the cyclists needed during exercise. Blood pressure studies show reductions of 4 to 10 mmHg within a few hours after drinking 200 to 500ml of the juice. These benefits starts after 2 to 3 hours after you drink it and lasts for 6 to 12 hours.
Its effects are dose dependent, the more the nitrate means more effect but it results gets vice versa once you go above 400 to 500ml.
Side Effects of Overeating It
Here’s where beetroot gets tricky. These are the downsides everyone must know before getting adding it to his/her daily routine –
- High fiber content means bloating and gas if you suddenly start eating large amounts. Some people get diarrhea from beetroot juice on an empty stomach. It’s not wise to ignore such an important note. Beetroot is also loaded with oxalates about 300 to 900 mg per 100 grams. If you’re prone to calcium-oxalate kidney stones, you need to limit how much you’re eating. Cooking reduce oxalate content by 30 to 87%, so that becomes a different case.
- Pink or red urine affects some people even with small amounts. That’s called beeturia. It happens to about 10 to 14% of people and it’s more common if you have iron deficiency. Completely harmless but alarming if you don’t expect it. One person on Quora mentioned eating one medium beetroot daily for a month and their doctor freaked out about the red urine until they mentioned the beets.
- If you take blood pressure medication, beetroot juice can lower it further. Check with your doctor if you’re on nitrate medications because this can be dangerous for you.
Best Way to Consume Beetroot
Most people aren’t downing 500ml of beetroot juice every day. That’s expensive, somewhere between $3 to $5 per bottle, moreover it causes bathroom issues. Casual consumers add sliced beets to salads upto 2 to 3 times per week. Health conscious folks drink 250ml of beetroot juice a few times per week or eat one medium beet daily.
Athletes are seen drinking 500ml juice for several days before competition but many quit because of cost and gastrointestinal problems. A user on Reddit mentioned drinking 70ml concentrated beetroot shots before half marathons for about 6 months. They felt more peppy during runs but couldn’t say if it actually improved race times. Main complaint was that it tasted bad and cost too much. Smoothie people throw in a small beet with fruits to mask the taste. The earthy, slightly sweet flavor of raw beetroot changes taste and colour for sure.
For endurance athletes, 500ml of beetroot juice provide legitimate performance enhancement. Even the research backs this up that you need to drink it 2 to 3 hours before training or competition for it to work. Some athletes load up for 3 to 6 days beforehand because they know nitrate conversion takes time & the nitrate content varies wildly between beets depending on soil, season and variety. You can’t always predict what you’re getting.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Thinking beetroot detoxes your liver is one. There’s No evidence for this. Your liver detoxifying itself is just fine enough. Believing more is always better is another mistake. Beyond 500ml of juice, benefits decreases while side effects increase. Red urine doesn’t mean kidney problems in most cases. It’s usually just beet pigments passing through and you can’t expect it to work in 30 minutes. The conversion process takes at least 2 to 3 hours.
Daily Limit : How much Beetroot to Consume in a Day
Beyond 500ml of juice daily or about 2 to 3 large beets, you’re mainly increasing your chance of digestive problems. The oxalate load also becomes concerning at these levels for long term daily consumption. You’re not getting additional benefits at that point. One medium beet or 250ml of juice works best for most people who want general health benefits.
Although if you are an Athlete that dose can become 500ml but you must know for what value you are drinking this. As different exercises ask for different nutritional value. The legitimate blood pressure reduction and good amounts of folate, manganese and potassium make beetroot worth including in your diet. Just don’t start expecting miracle results from Day 1 as its still a vegetable not a magic spell.