Fermented Beets for Massive Health Benefits
The fast-paced life of today forces people to lean on fast food all too much, thus neglecting food that is much more healthier and nutritious. One of those neglected foods is vegetables, and skipping them is a really bad idea.
They come in all shapes and sizes and each of them has something good to offer. Beetroots should definitely be on your list, even though they are “accused” of containing a lot of sugar. That can be said for the crude beets, but the matured ones are healthier and contain less sugar.
Benefits from crude beets
Although we said that matured beets are better than their crude counterparts, the latter still have merits of their own. Consuming raw beets or raw beet juice has shown in several studies that improve your circulatory system, thus lowering your heart rate.
- That also makes crude beets good for your plans to work out. Drinking only two-thirds of a glass of raw beet juice has shown enhancements in strength and stamina results in participants.
- All of this happens because of the nitrates of the beetroot transforming into nitric oxide in your body. That helps your veins to widen, which improves your blood flow.
- But if you want this to work, then you must avoid chewing gum or using mouthwashes because they prevent the aforementioned transformation.
- Beside this, beets have shown other benefits as well. Research has shown that beetroots fight off tumors and cancer in multiple organs, and they are great for your liver.
Fermented beets
As said before, aged beets contain all the good stuff as the raw ones, but even better, because of the process of maturation. Kvass is a type of fermented drink that is consumed by people in Eastern Europe for a very long time, because of its healthy properties.
It can be made from many things, but here we will discuss the one made from beets. It can be consumed both directly and added to different meals. But be careful if you are new to this.
It is advised that you start with as little as an ounce a day and then work up your way towards a regular glass. People used it for various reasons, from treating kidney stones to thickening hair. Let us show you how to make it yourself.
Beet kvass recipe
For this simple beetroot kvass recipe you need only two crude beetroots, three tablespoons of sauerkraut or pickle juice, and some kind of filtered water. You can add some salt to the mix as well, but don’t overdo it.
The beetroots should be cut into one-inch cubes and peel them only if you want to avoid eating pesticides because the skin is beneficial too. Put the beet cubes in a wide mouth jar until it fills about a third of the jar. Then add the rest of the stuff, but don’t fill the jar.
Leave some space at the top. Then close the jar and shake it for some time. Leave the jar for about five days at room temperature. It can take up to a week if it’s winter.
Discharge weight daily, and if foam creates at the top, just wipe it off. When it is done, it should taste fine and bubbles should show on top. If that is the case, then put the jar to cool off to stop maturing.
And that is how you make your own beet kvass. Just don’t forget about the recommendations that we mentioned previously.
