Why Eat BEETS

[liveonearth]

Great website here on nutrition of beets, right down to the cytokines and blood markers affected by some of the nutrients: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=49

I never used to eat beets. I bought my first beets to prep for my spring cleanse this year. I was eating smoothies of beet, celery and carrot. I think I'm going to learn a few more beet recipes. Got any?



NUTRIENTS IN BEETS
(in order)
folate
manganese
potassium
fiber
vit C
magnesium
tryptophan
iron
copper
phosphorus

color = betacyanin, shown to fight cancer esp CRC and gastric

EFFECTS OF BEETS
incr glutathione peroxidase and glutathione S-transferase --> better detox in liver
decr chol 30%, TGs 40%, incr HDL
choline (found in eggs) is metabolized to betaine (found in beets)
pts with >310mg choline qd in diet: 22% lower CRP, 26% lower IL-6, 6% lower TNFalpha
pts eating >360mg/day of betaine: 10% lower homocysteine, 19% lower CRP, 12% lower TNFalpha

OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD
WHY BEING OVERWEIGHT CAUSES YOU TO BE ANXIOUS
IL-6 is an interleukin that signals the body to have fever, be anxious
yep, that's right, it's inflammatory, it's supposed to make you uncomfortable
IL-6 usu from T-cells and macrophages-->immune response to trauma
BUT it is also released by visceral adipose cells, so it called an adipokine
so I just lost a bunch of adipose, and ate a bunch of beets
and I feel substantially less ANXIOUS

from wikipedia:
IL-6
one of the most important mediators of fever and the acute phase response
can cross BBB
causes synthesis of PGE2 in the hypothalamus changing body's temperature setpoint
in the muscle and fatty tissue IL-6 stimulates energy mobilization-->incr temp
mb secreted by macrophages in response to pathogen assoc molecular patterns (PAMPs)
PAMPs bind to pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), incl Toll-like receptors (TLRs)
PAMPs are on cell sfc & intracellular-->induce intracellular signaling-->inflam
estrogen inhibits IL-6!! used to tx postmenopaus osteoporosis
(adipose also secretes estrogen)
IL-6 produced by adipocytes, mb why obese individuals have higher CRP
2009 study: intranasal IL-6 improved sleep-associated consolidation of emotional memories
wiki doesn't say anything about anxiety! THAT I learned from Dr Zwickey.

Comments

[neptunia67.livejournal.com]

The beet hummus turned out great! I adapted the recipe to my tastes:

Ingredients

* 1/2 pound beets (about 4 medium sized beets), scrubbed clean, cooked, peeled, and cubed*
* 4 Tbsp tahini sesame seed paste
* 2 Tbsp lemon juice
* 2 small cloves garlic, chopped
* 1 tsp ground cumin
* 1 Tbsp lemon zest (zest from approx. 2 lemons)
* Generous pinch of sea salt or Kosher salt
* Fresh ground pepper to taste

Method

Place all ingredients in a food processor (or blender) and pulse until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings and ingredients as desired. Refrigerate for a few hours to allow flavors to fully blend. Serve with pita chips, or with sliced cucumber or celery, or on a crostini with goat cheese and shaved mint.

Next time, I'm going to add a couple tablespoons of chopped cilantro on the last couple pulses of blending. Fresh mint would be nice, too.

[liveonearth.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree that it needed more TAHINI. Yum.