Why I swear by fresh beetroot and carrot juice twice a week?

The Recipe- Take a medium-size beetroot. Cut it into half. Take one-half beetroot and 4 baby carrots. Blend it in a blender. Add some water. Liquefy it. Sieve and get the fresh juice out. Keep the residue for adding it in some recipe. Don't throw. It has important fiber still left. Water though dilutes the nutrition, but too much concentration of these nutrients can also be a problem. Go slow and go safe.

The Nutrition-What goes in are rich vitamin and mineral content-vitamins A, B-1, B-2, B-6, and C, as well as folic acid, manganese, potassium, calcium, iron, and fiber with the benefits from carrots too. (Not to forget carrots add a bit of sweet taste too.) No additional sweetener is required.

The Health-One of the biggest benefits that studies have shown is the effect of beetroot on Blood Pressure.

What is Blood Pressure?

In a layman's language, it is the force of the blood flow against the artery walls.

While 120/80 is the normal and ideal range, it becomes a matter of concern when these limits move beyond. A Prehypertension range is 120-139 over 80-89. Beyond this, one is diagnosed for having high blood pressure.

Among many triggers/causes, research has shown that sodium intake is one of the important causes for having high Blood Pressure.

Therefore, one of the significant factors that need to be controlled is the sodium intake and keeping it below 1500 mg per day. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends that individuals consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day and that certain groups limit intake to 1,500 milligrams per day. http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/fda-recommended-sodium-intake-1873.html

That pretty much means that it's the salt shaker we should control and the sodium content in lots of packaged and canned food that we buy. Restaurant foods are the highest in sodium content. Hence, restaurants should not be a regular affair. Indo-Chinese foods-ranging from noodles to soups, are the big devils. One of the key ingredients of Indo-Chinese food is soy sauce, which is pretty high in sodium content (1 tsp contains 560mg of sodium). Keep your restaurant trips limited.

The chicken fries, French fries, buffalo wings dipped in various sauces, or those pakoras(fritters), samosas, chaats,paani puris are food very high in sodium content. Various salad dressings are very high in sodium and hence should be avoided. Use herbs and spices to add flavor to your food rather than just relying on salt or salt-related products—the point is-keep outside food, packaged food, and processed foods to a limit.

It's recommended that one should always check the sodium level (found in the nutritional table printed on every product). Keeping the 1500 mg/day in mind, one can decide what to buy and what not to buy.

Walking the talk- Every time I go grocery shopping, I look for food that contains 140 milligrams of sodium or less in each serving. These are considered low-sodium foods. A food with a sodium concentration of 5 milligrams or less per serving can be labeled a sodium-free food. For more information, do check out the FDA’s label reading tips for determining the sodium levels in your favorite products. Therefore, make a healthy choice.

Why talk of Beetroot here?

Because studies have shown an inverse relationship between potassium found in beetroots and sodium that you can utilize to reduce the sodium in your body, and increased potassium level in the blood reduces the sodium level. By consuming potassium-rich foods, you can help eliminate some of the excess sodium from your body.

Other potassium-rich foods are dark leafy vegetables, yogurt, bananas, beans, and legumes.

That is just one factor that we looked at-Sodium-Blood Pressure-Beetroot.

Maintaining safe blood pressure limits, maintaining sound health is a health-conscious diet, healthy lifestyle habits, and not to forget the big E-EXERCISE.

_{Disclaimer: This article aims not to provide/suggest any medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.}

Image courtesy-Pixabay