John Myers
Beetroot, also known as beetroot, is not only dangerous for white clothes or kitchen surfaces, but also for your health. Strange – when the great tuber contains a lot of valuable vitamins and minerals. Find out here which risks you should consider when eating beetroot!
Enjoy in moderation
Beetroot is a very popular vegetable among athletes, vegans, and those on a diet. It mainly contains vitamins A, C, and E in high concentrations, and minerals such as calcium, magnesium, sodium, and phosphates. However, an excess or a diet that is too one-sided can lead to deficiencies in other substances – even beetroot is no substitute for a balanced diet with fresh ingredients.
Risk of oxalic acid
However, beetroot can also be dangerous, for example, due to oxalates and oxalic acids. These are biochemical compounds that are normally found in plants and usually occur in humans as a metabolic end product. Beetroot contains these oxalates due to its high levels of magnesium, potassium, and sodium. Most of the oxalic acids are excreted through the urinary tract. If the oxalate level in the human body rises too high, the end products are deposited in the kidneys and urinary organs – this can lead to kidney stones and other diseases of the urinary tract.
Caution: If you already suffer from a urinary tract disease, you should rather enjoy other types of vegetables!
Tip: When cooking, oxalic acid is partially destroyed. If beetroot is your favorite vegetable, you should not only eat it raw.
Risk of nitrates
Beetroot can also be dangerous due to the nitrates it contains. Babies in particular are at risk. A beetroot from your own garden probably contains very little nitrate. These salts are mainly used in fertilizers and get into your beetroot when you irrigate fields. Enjoyed in small amounts, they probably have a performance-enhancing effect, which is why the red winter vegetable is considered a power food for athletes.
However, nitrates can be converted to nitrite in the body – and then serious risks arise:
- Infants cannot yet process nitrite, which can impair the oxygen supply of the blood (risk of cyanosis)
- In animal experiments, cell damage caused by carcinogenic nitrosamines leads to tumor diseases, but there is no evidence of this in humans
Tip: Storing raw beets incorrectly increases the risk of nitrate release. Wrapped in foil and provided with air holes, it keeps in the fridge for about a week.
Pregnancy and breastfeeding period
Beetroot contains a lot of folic acids, so it is a very suitable vegetable, especially during pregnancy. It has been proven that folic acid is involved in blood formation and cell growth in the mother and the unborn child. However, breastfeeding mothers should only consume small amounts or avoid the tuber, since the possible nitrate load can harm the baby. If nitrites are ingested through breast milk, they can impede the transport of oxygen in the blood and cause “infant blue fever”.
It’s going to be colorful
Beetroot is a very colorful vegetable. Not only your clothes, your work surfaces, and your hands can become discolored – your body waste can also show a reddish to deep red color after consumption.
As long as you are not in pain and the effect does not last for several days, the red color in the toilet is not one of the risks!
Tip: For a clean kitchen, wear disposable gloves and an apron when preparing, and remove splashes on the worktop directly with lemon juice or vinegar water!
If you want to know the best way to peel beets, check out our article How to peel beets properly.
