December 15, 2022 general

No, that isn’t a misspelling, as you probably guessed because of the photo, that is just me trying to be cute. We’ve all heard many times (maybe hundreds of times?) that we should eat more vegetables. Oh goody, French fries are vegetables, right? Well, yes, technically according to the government . However, you won’t be surprised that they are not all that healthful. it isn’t just about the fact that they are fried. Most folks have been trained to say to themselves, “oh no, FAT”. (The problem for me is the type of fat usually used. I. e. PRO-inflammatory omega-6 rich vegetable oils are oversupplied in the US diet. Also, the fried fat is made more damaging by the high heat.) What if the fries were baked in an air fryer? Better, but potatoes are still starchy, and we want to take it easy with starchy carbs because they tend to elevate our blood sugar and encourage body fat. A more important factor is the spud’s lack of color. The most healthful vegetables contain antioxidants and are brightly colored by plant nutrients such as carotenes, flavonoids and polyphenols.  Potatoes do contain some vitamin C (assuming that it was not destroyed in cooking), some potassium and a few other nutrients, but not the colorful ones.

Once digested, the nutrient-rich vegetable antioxidants go directly to protecting our cells. Those colorful polyphenols play a big indirect role in health. They feed our good bacteria which digest them into wonderfully beneficial compounds (postbiotics) that have important health effects in every organ and system in the body, including the immune system and the brain.

What vegetable is more colorful than beets? (They have been used throughout history to dye yarns and fabric…and not always on purpose.E.g. if one lands on your white table cloth.)  In case you are not a fan of the flavor of beets, please hang in here because I have a practical and delicious solution for you. To appreciate the direct and indirect value of beets, just look at this abbreviated list of health effects that science has discovered:

• Beets encourage the body to make nitric oxide (NO). I did a quick search in the pubmed.gov science database for “nitric oxide” and got back 189,594 results. Let’s not go through all of those! A few notable benefits of NO are to relax blood vessels and thereby gently and naturally lower blood pressure. NO is also known to help with erectile dysfunction, to lessen muscle soreness, to improve exercise performance and perhaps even to better manage Type II Diabetes.
• Support liver health and detoxification.
• Reduce inflammation (a major aging factor and disease risk).
• Improve lung function.
• Beets may be a secret weapon against memory loss. Researchers found that giving older adults a daily dose of beet juice helped increase blood flow to the area of the brain that is associated with dementia.
• Beets are rich in the B vitamin, folate, which plays a key role in:
  • controlling damage to blood vessels
  • red blood cell formation
  • healthy cell growth & function
  • producing immune cells in bone marrow
  • producing DNA and RNA
  • transforming carbohydrates into energy

The easy and tasty way I get my daily dose of beets. If vegetables all tasted like pizza or chocolate chip cookies, no arm-twisting would be required. While it is true that not everyone would order beets in a restaurant, few people object to the flavor of apple juice. I am so grateful that I discovered BrightBeets+®. It is an easy-to-use blend of organic Beet Powder, Aronia Berry and Black Currant (more colors!). The synergy of those ingredients is not only yummy (better than apple juice), but also an antioxidant / polyphenol powerhouse! Why is it important to use organic beets? Obviously, beets are roots and roots are known to store and concentrate whatever chemicals and toxins were used on the plants. We want beets to help us detoxify that crap, so it doesn’t make sense to take in more by supplementing conventional beets. I greatly appreciate Brightcore Nutrition’s past support of the Healthy by Nature show, their highest-quality products and the special deals they always offered our listeners. (Save in quantity. Don’t worry about buying too much because I bet that you will be taking the product forever and in any case, they offer a 60-day satisfaction guarantee.) For the best savings, 888-958-5331 and just say that you read about the product on Martie’s website.

Of course, green vegetables also have a well-earned health reputation and most of us don’t eat enough of them either. I am happy to have Brightcore’s gluten free organic Sweet Wheat as an easy and delicious way to get more greens. I can make a quick feel-good “meal” by mixing a scoop of BrightBeets+ with a scoop of Sweet Wheat in a glass of water. It is actually a tasty treat.

Copyright Martie Whittekin, CCN 2022-2024