Do you like beets? I love beets!

There is another study mentiond in the news recently about how a component of beets called betaine has been found to boost athletic performance:

Betaine is a nutrient found in a variety of animals, plants, and microorganisms [1]. It is a component of many foods, with whole grains (e.g., wheat, rye), spinach, shellfish and beets [2] being rich sources. As an organic osmolyte, betaine or trimethyl glycine, protects cells under stress, such as dehydration; it is also a source of methyl groups, via the methionine cycle, in many key biochemical pathways [1]. Betaine, therefore, plays an important role in several aspects of human health and nutrition and studies show that diets high in betaine decrease disease risk [1,3-5].

In addition to improving health, betaine may also improve sport performance.

Chronic betaine ingestion (at least 2.5 g.d-1 for 14 d) significantly improved bench press repetitions, volume load, throw power, isometric bench press force, vertical jump power, isometric squat force, and muscle endurance during a squat exercise [10-12].

Compared to baseline, betaine ingestion increased average peak power (6.4%; p < 0.001), maximum peak power (5.7%; p < 0.001), average mean power (5.4%; p = 0.004), and maximum mean power (4.4%; p = 0.004) for all subjects combined. Compared to placebo, betaine ingestion significantly increased average peak power (3.4%; p = 0.026), maximum peak power (3.8%; p = 0.007), average mean power (3.3%; p = 0.034), and maximum mean power (3.5%; p = 0.011) for all subjects combined.

source: Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition: Effect of betaine supplementation on cycling sprint performance

Beets have been already known to increase endurance. E.g. this study from 2009

Beyond all this, do you like beets? I actually really love them. Fresh grated beet root is an awesome addition to salads. I know one vegan restaurant in my city actually has a beet salad. But sadly more and more I see in a lot of places that the only beets offered are steamed beets which totally depletes them of their wonderful flavor and I’m sure most of their nutrients as well.

I’m glad this new study was in the news because it gave me impetus to start consuming beets regularly again. Since I’m at the gym a lot these days that extra bit of power and energy is a really good thing. My favorite is a salad with some green such as kale or lettuce, beet root, and maybe something like peppers or tomatoes, with midichlorian powder sprinkled on it.