What’s new and beneficial about beet greens?
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What’s new and beneficial about beet greens?
A recent study from Chile has shown beet greens to be one of the top 10 food contributors to iron intake in that country. Even though legumes were the most important food group contributor to iron (with pinto beans ranking as the number one food source), beet greens were nevertheless a standout source, especially within the vegetable group. (Our WHFoods rating system ranks beet greens as a very good source of iron, providing 15% of the daily recommended amount in a 1-cup serving.)
Dark green leafy vegetables (DGLV) are often lumped together as a group and treated interchangeably. However, up-to-date nutrient information reveals important differences between members of this incredibly nutrient-rich food group. For example, when beet greens are compared with two other common DGLVs—turnip greens and mustard greens—only beet greens provide excellent amounts of both calcium and magnesium, While all three of these DGLVs provide excellent amounts of calcium, only beet greens also provide an excellent amount of magnesium at 98 milligrams per serving, or nearly 25% of the recommended daily amount. This unique aspect of beet greens gives them a calcium:magnesium ratio of 1.6:1, in comparison to the ratio in turnip greens of 6.2:1, or the ratio in mustard greens of 9.2:1.
Both beet greens and beet roots can provide you with outstanding nourishment. The roots are especially concentrated in folate, providing 5-6 times the amount of this vitamin as the leaves. However, from an overall nutritional perspective, beet greens achieve 11 rankings of excellent, 6 rankings of very good, and 3 rankings of good in our WHFoods rating system, for a total of 20 rankings. (By comparison, beet roots achieve a total of 10 rankings.) This outcome places beet greens in our Top 10 foods in terms of total rankings.
A recent study has shown beet greens to be a major contributor in many diets to total intake of the carotenoids lutein and beta-carotene. While not as concentrated in lutein as collard greens or spinach, beet greens have nevertheless been shown to be an outstanding source of this key carotenoid. (Lutein is known to play an especially important role in eye health, including the health of the retina.)
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