Health Benefits of Beets

Beets have cancer-fighting benefits

There are several cancer-fighting benefits of beets. Beets certainly have high levels of antioxidants and is an anti-inflammatory, that studies show may help reduce the risk of some cancers. Beets get their deep red color from betacyanin, a plant pigment that research shows might help cells fight off harmful carcinogens. Beets also have high levels of a uniques fiber that may be linked to a lower risk of colon cancer.

Beets lower risk of heart disease

Beets are an excellent source of folate and betaine. These nutrients work together to help lower blood levels of homocysteine, which can increase your risk of heart disease by causing artery-damaging inflammation.

Beets are good for eye health

Beets are a good source of lutein, which is a powerful antioxidant that helps prevents the eyes from age-related macular degeneration and cataracts. They also contain a bunch of different phytochemicals that research shows can improve the health of your eyes and nerve tissues.

Beets boost endurance

British researchers completed several studies that showed athletes who drank beet juice before working out reported greater endurance and a lower resting blood pressure than those who did not. The performance boost was determined to be credited to the nitrates found in the Beet root. And these aren’t the only energy-boosting benefits of beets. Research testing on older subject suggests that a beet-apple juice mixture could make certain activities (like walking) less exhausting for seniors.

Beets may reduce dementia risk

Beets supply us with nitric acid, which helps increase blood flow throughout the body, especially to your brain. MRI tests done on older people showed us that after eating a high-nitrate diet that included beet juice, the subjects had more blood flow to the white matter of their frontal lobes.

Beets combat constipation

Fiber helps keep your digestive system running smoothly, and one of the many benefits of beets is that they are full of fiber.

Health Benefits of Beets for Athletes

Beets are a nutrient-dense vegetable that contains vitamins, minerals, and other antioxidants. But the most significant health benefits of beets are a result of a group of phytonutrients called betalains. Betalains provide the vegetable’s vibrant red/ violet or yellow colors: yellow beets contain a betalains called betaxanthins (vulgaxanthin, specifically) while red beets contain betalains called betacyanins (betanin, specifically). These nutrients have been shown to provide antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification support (phase 2 detox steps involving glutathione). Although you can see betalain pigments in other foods such as the stems of chard or rhubarb, most of the health benefits of beets are due to the high concentration of betalains found in the peel and flesh.

Why Beets for Athletes? Nitrogen and Nitrates!

Aside from the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, betalains are also filled with nitrogen. Why is nitrogen important? Nitrogen is an important element for humans. All amino acids necessary for protein formation contain nitrogen as does the DNA in genes. Nitrogen can be sourced from various things, including plants that contain nitrates (celery, spinach, parsley, fennel, cabbage, turnips, etc.) But among all the plant foods, the one with the highest concentration of nitrates is… beets.

Through a chain reaction in the human body, nitrates are converted into nitric oxide, a powerful vasodilator. Though the effects are brief (nitric oxide is quickly destroyed in the body), they are substantial. It increases blood flow to skeletal muscles, allowing more oxygen flow and control of muscle contractions.

VO2 max increases endurance and strength (eases mitochondrial load to raise energy production), regulates blood pressure by dilating arteries, it also assists in gastric motility and assists the immune system in fighting off bacteria. It has been known for a long time that the production of nitric oxide (NO) occurs via synthesis from l-arginine, an amino acid. However, as more research has been done over the last 10 years, it has demonstrated a less complicated method for the body to break down nitrate to nitrite via food consumption. The nitrite in food is converted to NO in the acidic environment of the stomach. Unlike the production of NO from l-arginine, the production of NO from nitrate does not require any cofactors and is independent of oxygen.

Beets for Athletes in Endurance Sports

There have been a lot of research on the health benefits of beets for athletes – more specifically, is to take a look at performance and endurance.

Studies have shown that individuals who drank beet juice experience up to a 20% increase in endurance compared to those who did not. Both the group drinking beet juice and a control group who were drinking a placebo were given a series of endurance tests. Those who had taken the beet juice performed for an average of a minute and a half longer than those on the placebo and were shown to cover the same equivalent distance as the other group in less time.

Another study using trained cyclists had participants consume 500mL of beetroot juice (6.2mmols of nitrate) 2 ½ hours before exercise. The participants then proceeded to do two-time trials – a 4km and a 16km ride. In the 4km time trials, there was a 2.8% improvement, and on the 16km time trial, there was a 2.7% improvement in time. The cyclists exhibited a 7-11% improvement in power output with no increase in oxygen cost of exercise. Plasma nitrite levels increased before exercise with the beetroot juice. It should also be noted that resting systolic blood pressure also dropped while having no effect on the diastolic blood pressure.

In another study, subjects ate either 200 grams of baked beetroot or a placebo (cranberry relish) before completing a 5-kilometer treadmill time trial test. The researchers wanted to know if eating 200grams of beetroot (about 2 medium-sized beetroots) before exercise would have any significant improvement in running times. They found that the group who consumed the beetroot had increased running velocity by 3%.

Beets VO2 Max and SuperBeets are Pretty Awesome for Health

Beets VO2 Max is one of my favorite supplement. It boasts all the great benefits of Beets, which includes a boost in circulation in the body, which improves stamina and energy levels. Beets VO2 Max offers a high concentration of beets, which as we know are rich in dietary nitrites and nutrients, but also includes BCAA Amino Acids, Vitamin B12 and L-Arginine.

SuperBeets is marketed as a “superfood” supplement that boosts circulation in the body which is said to help improve stamina and energy levels. It offers a highly concentrated form of beets rich in dietary nitrites and nutrients.

Both of these products use a special, patented drying process for retaining the integrity of nutrients and dietary nitrites from the beets. They both contain dietary nitrites which are then converted by the body into nitric oxide which offers a number of benefits like increasing energy level, supporting healthy blood pressure levels and promoting healthy circulation in the body.

I have been using Beets VO2 Max now for over a month. I take one scoop in the morning to get a boost of energy, which keeps me feeling absolutely fantastic all day, and then I do another 2 scoops before my workout for that extra energy and stamina to power through even the toughest weight training or sprint session.

source https://www.healthy4lifeonline.com/health-benefits-of-beets/

The 3 Real MCT Oils

The 3 Real Biological MCT Oils: Why lauric acid acts like an LCT, not a real MCT

Coconut oil researchers often say there are about four kinds of MCT oils found in coconut oil: C6, C8, C10, and C12, with the numbers telling you the length of the carbon chains.

Even though scientists long ago decided to call all of these MCTs, biologists now understand that the cheapest and most common of the MCTs, C12 or lauric acid, is a pseudo-MCT.

Lauric acid is an excellent food source, but it acts like an LCT which means long chain triglyceride, not an MCT, so when consumed, you don’t get the fast ketone energy from it that you can get from C8 or C10.

From a scientist’s perspective, the lauric acid should be considered an LCT; unlike the biological MCTs, lauric acid gets processed by your liver. This is important because your body metabolizes MCTs differently than LCTs; MCTs get very quickly converted into energy to fuel your brain and body instead of requiring a pit stop in the liver for processing.

Chemists found the number of carbon chains and then decided what medium was. Lauric acid is a chemical MCT, but it is not a real biological MCT, this is because our bodies do not treat it as a conventional MCT. Almost every study about the human and animal uses of MCTs you’ve ever seen does not measure lauric acid for this reason.

Since your body reacts with lauric acid differently from the beginning, so, therefore, it deserves to be treated on oil marketing labels too! Hopefully, chemists will eventually change the classification to be more accurate. Lauric acid is not an MCT.

What is MCT Oil you ask?

The Official List of MCTs In Coconut Oil

Several main types of fatty acid oils are found in coconut oil, but the first three below are the only ones that behave in your body as real MCTs. Which means that they bypass the metabolic burden of processing in the liver, so they quickly become energy in your brain and muscles.

They are:

Caproic Acid, C6:

There’s not enough of it to make a difference in straight coconut oil, it tastes bad, and it often results in stomach/gastric upset, but it converts extremely quickly to ketones. If your MCT oil makes your throat burn or has a not so good flavor, and one reason may be because the distillation did not remove enough of the C6, but there are other reasons that this can happen too, which is covered below.

Caprylic Acid (C8): ~6% of coconut oil

C8 has potent anti-microbial properties which are much stronger than lauric acid, also to help you maintain a healthy gut, and it is the fastest to metabolize in the brain. Your liver doesn’t need to process this rare type of MCT, and it only takes three steps for your body to turn it into ATP, which is the cellular fuel you use. To put it into perspective, sugar takes about 26 steps. This is why Brain Octane is so good at suppressing cravings and is the most potent oil to put in Bulletproof Coffee. You would need 18 tablespoons of coconut oil to get just one tablespoon of Brain Octane.

Capric Acid (C10): ~9% of coconut oil

The second shortest form of MCT, which is also very rare. It is a little slower to turn into energy but is much more affordable than C8. XCT Oil is triple-distilled in a non-oxygen atmosphere without any solvents ever used and contains C10 and C8 because they are the only two MCT oils that turn into ATP without the liver. You would need around six tablespoons of coconut oil to get one tablespoon of XCT oil, that’s how strong it is.

Lauric Acid (C12): ~50+% of coconut oil

It requires a stop in the liver rather than getting immediately converted into energy like the other MCTs. This is why it is described as an LCT, not an MCT like marketers claim. It can raise cholesterol more than any other fatty acid, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It also is commonly cited as having antimicrobial benefits, which it does, except for the shorter chain, MCT oils are more effective against aggressive candida yeast and even gonorrhea and chlamydia (as a monoglyceride).

It is a little confusing since coconut oil researchers imply that lauric acid is the same as monolaurin, an extremely potent antimicrobial that is derived from lauric acid. Given how common and cheap this stuff is, it’s no wonder that companies are tempted to sell it as a straight MCT. Two years ago, I looked into making a more affordable MCT oil contains lauric acid. I’d have made a killing selling what is coconut oil as something special, but it only doesn’t work, and it’s not just marketing.

 

C-14 and above:

These are widely recognized LCTs, or long chain fatty acids in coconut oil, which are mostly saturated, including stearic acid (C18:0), oleic acid (C18:1), and linoleic acid (18:2). The exact percentage of each depends on the region the coconut is grown, time of harvest, and other evolving variables. They are useful as a fuel source, but they are also widely available in other oils, and you won’t benefit from eating a lot more of them compared to eating straight medium chain fatty acids.

source https://www.healthy4lifeonline.com/3-real-mct-oils/

Weight Loss – A Purposeful and Healthy Mindset

So here we are…. the over 40 somethings.  The time in your life when things start to make sense, a time when we should be enjoying all the things that life has to offer.  But wait…. “when I get up in the morning I don’t feel that great.  I don’t have that energy that I once had.  My body hurts, and what I see in the mirror is just plain disappointing.   The old adage, youth is wasted on the young, is all becoming quite clear to you.  You remember those youthful days, don’t you?  The days when you were a young athlete, strong, fit and limber, and able to go out and perform at a high level some type of athletic activity.  Or maybe you were just a casual athlete that enjoyed the camaraderie of being part of a team and didn’t take your fitness or athletic career so seriously, but you were fit, felt good and you were happy with that.  As you moved into early adulthood and hit your 20’s for some of you, it became party time.  For others, it was college, marriage and maybe a couple of kids.  Either way, your fitness, and athleticism was sacrificed or ignored, and the bulge started to set in.

I have great news for you.  It doesn’t have to be that way for the rest of your life.  We can all enjoy a healthy, high-performance middle age and beyond, but you must make changes to your mindset and daily habits.  And the sooner you start the better.  I believe that before you can make any physical changes, you must get clear in your mind what your intentions are, what you want to achieve and craft a plan to get there.  You will get resistance, bank on it.  You will find that many people in your life, your age, have also gotten comfortable with being out of shape, overweight, or have allowed bad habits such as drinking or smoking consume their lives.  It could even be a spouse or a significant other.

Jack Canfield teaches in The Success Principles that we all need to take responsibility for our own circumstances, actions, and environments.  That no matter how bad we look or feel, no matter how tired or uninspired we are in life, that this is of our own doing.  You and only you can make the choice to make a change in your life if you want to.  Let’s be honest, if you are happy being out of shape, uninspired to perform at a high level and are frankly just plain lazy, or really don’t care to improve your life at all I cannot help you, reading this will not help you.  This writing is for those of you who have had enough of feeling lousy and being out of shape, and feel like you perform at a low-performance level each day, and are ready to break away from the comfort zones you have lived with for far too long.  There is only one way to do this, and only one way to liberate yourself from all of your bad habits that have driven you down for so long.  Remove them from your life.  If you have friends, family or a significant other in your life that continue to maintain and live with bad habits and an unhealthy way of living, you have to explain to them that you are making lifestyle changes and you cannot be around negative or unhealthy behaviors any longer, and that the new you is going to work on living a more healthy, vibrant, and high-performance lifestyle.  If they don’t understand, cannot support you, or they do not respect your decision, eliminate them from your life.  They will tear you down.  You will never be able to accomplish your goals and dreams of living a healthy high-performance lifestyle with those people in your life.  I am sorry but there is no easy way to put it.  It’s all about you now.  It’s all about your purpose or your “Why” in life.

Your purpose or “Why” is the whole reason for deciding to make this big shift in your life.  I feel many who let themselves go and begin to feel old by the time they reach middle-age have had enough and want to make it a priority to feel better in their lives.  But why?  What is the purpose?  You must define it, write it down and include it on your goals sheet to read every day.  This may not be something you are used to doing.  Writing down your goals and reading them twice a day, in the morning when you wake and at night before bed keeps them fresh in your mind, and gives you an opportunity to visualize the outcome.  Writing down your purpose or your “why” on the goals sheet keeps it right there in front of you daily.  Your purpose or the reason you want to lose weight, feel more energetic, live a life of health and wellness, and ultimately live a high-performance lifestyle could be that you want to be strong and healthy enough in your 60’s and 70’s or beyond to be able to run around and play with your grandchildren.  That is ultimately my “Why”.  I want to enjoy my child and grandchildren until they are all fully grown.  And who knows perhaps even my great-grandchildren.  The great thing about goal setting and defining your “Why” is you can customize it to suit you.  And it doesn’t need to be one thing or one reason.  You can have many reasons for wanting to lose weight, tone your body, or feel absolutely amazing, with tons of energy each morning.  Maybe, you want that 25-year-old body back.  Maybe you want to have the energy to start a new business, or a side business to supplement your income to make for a better life.  It can be one thing, two things or ten things.  They are your goals, write down as many as you want, and one by one check them off as you accomplish them.  You can do it… Trust in the process.  If you never start the process or begin the journey the outcome is pre-determined.  You may already be living it.  But if you start to insert your “Why” into the equation.  Write your goals down, and start on a Healthy 4 Life way of living.  Your dreams of living out a beautiful, high-performance life await you.  Nothing is pre-determined, it is time start working on the remaining chapters of your life story.

 

 

 

source https://www.healthy4lifeonline.com/weight-loss-a-purposeful-and-healthy-mindset/