Summer Beetroot Salad with Berries and Balsamic

If you are haven’t heard the buzz yet – beetroots are rockstars! Not only are they gorgeous – pigmented in brilliant shades of red, purple and yellow, a sign that they deliver powerful phytonutrients to the cells of your beautiful body, but they are also known as a ‘functional food’ which means that they offer health benefits that boost your well-being beyond just providing nutrients and calories for energy. Beets are a natural source of nitrates that promote the nitric oxide in your body, helping to lower blood pressure and counteract oxidative stress and inflammation by acting as a vasodilator, relaxing the smooth muscle of your blood vessels. They are packed with polyphenols, ascorbic acid, carotenoids, flavonoids and phytonutrients called betalains. I am an advocate of eating whole foods since many of the compounds you need to boost benefits are assisted by other nutrients naturally packaged in that food. The vitamin C and polyphenols found in beets may enhance their “functional” effects, since reactions between nitrate, vitamin C and polyphenols work to generate nitric oxide in the stomach before being absorbed into the blood and muscle tissues.