Beetroot: the underrated superfood

Whie there's a lot of talk of "eat your kale" and "substitute bread with quinoa" and nearly every other person worth their skinny waistline is sipping green smoothies in the morning, I'm going backward by paying attention to root vegetables that I knew in my childhood.

"Eat your beets" was a frequent piece of advice from a neighbour. She was like a grandmother to me and she babysat me for many years.

Every day, she savoured a small bowl of beetroot as part of her lunch.

She used to say, "If you eat a little beetroot, you'll always be healthy. It's very good for the body."

I resisted beetroot and I couldn't even look at it until a few years ago when I tried it like a novice and found that I really liked it.

It's extremely popular in France, India, and the Middle East.

One hundred grams of cooked beetroot has 43 calories, 0.2 grams of fat, and 16 percent of your daily requirement for manganese. It also contains nine percent of the daily requirement of potassium and 20 percent of folate.

Folate is especially beneficial for pregnant women to prevent birth defects. Additionally, beetroot improves blood circulation and digestion, helps prevent macular degeneration, has the power to slow down tumours, improves your skin, and aids the functioning of the lungs.

It's also used as an aphrodisiac and i guess that old lady was right. After beetroot, the next superfood you should consider is sweet potato—just go back to your roots. That's all.

Who can afford quinoa? Have you seen the price? Beetroot is much cheaper.