Aging Backwards Tuesday Tips #55: Beauty and the Beets

People take all kinds of measures to lower their blood pressure, because elevated blood pressure is associated with heart attack, stroke, heart failure, kidney disease and even blindness, according to the American Heart Association. The association makes recommendations for controlling blood pressure, such as limiting salt intake, staying at your ideal weight, staying physically active, having your blood pressure checked regularly and seeing your doctor. But did you know there's a little vegetable that can make a big difference in your quest for optimal blood pressure? It's the red beet or beetroot, as the British call it.

Researchers Amrita Ahluwalia of the William Harvey Research Institute at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Ben Benjamin of Peninsula Medical School reported study results earlier this year online in the journal Hypertension that revealed drinking a little more than two cups a day of beet juice can significantly reduce blood pressure.

Now, before you say, "Just two cups," keep in mind that beet juice is strong-tasting, so you'd probably want to mix it with water or another juice, such as organic tomato or apple.

Normally, you would think it's the antioxidants in the juice, due to its deep red color, that provide the benefits, but it's actually the nitrates. Nitrates are converted to nitrites by bacteria in your saliva. The nitrites help with proper blood flow and also have anti- platelet properties, which can help lower the risk of blood clots. According to statistics, more than a quarter of the world's adults have elevated blood pressure, which causes about 50 percent of coronary heart disease and about 75 percent of strokes.

Aging Backwards Beet Tips:

1) Grate boiled or roasted beets into a salad. Adding beets to salad is an excellent way to add color, texture and blood-pressure- lowering benefits to your meal.

2) Try borscht. Borscht is a soup made primarily of beets, served hot or cold and usually with a dollop of sour cream (use lower fat, organic cream).

3) Color your pasta. I once made linguini from scratch and used boiled, mashed beets to color the pasta a gorgeous shade of pink. Remember, portion control when enjoying pasta.

4) Make a lip tint. Adding beet juice to your lip gloss is a quick way to make home-made lip tint - pretty!

5) Use beets in carrot cake. We all enjoy cake on our birthdays. Add a healthy element to your celebration by substituting cooked red beets for half the carrot in your carrot cake recipe.

So, "beet" it on over to the store and start lowering your blood pressure today!