Beets have a PR problem. For most people they're either the thing they push to the side of their plate or the vegetable their health-obsessed friend won't stop talking about. Both camps are missing the point. Beet powder—made from the same root vegetable that's been cultivated for thousands of years—is one of the most researched functional foods on the planet. Cardiovascular support, athletic performance, brain health, anti-inflammation. It does a lot. We put it in Poma Punch for a reason. In this article we'll get into beet powder's history, what makes it work and answer these questions:
- What is the history of beets as a functional food?
- What are the active compounds in beet powder?
- What does beet powder actually do for your body?
- How does beet powder support athletic performance and heart health?
The ancient Romans used beets as a medicine before they used them as food. They were onto something.
Beets Have Been Earning Their Keep for Centuries
Beets (Beta vulgaris) have been cultivated since at least 2000 BCE, originally grown for their leaves rather than their roots. Ancient Assyrians grew them in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The Romans ate them to treat fever and constipation and used them as an aphrodisiac—which, given what we now know about nitric oxide and circulation, isn't entirely wrong. By the Middle Ages beet root was widely used across Europe for blood and digestive complaints.
The modern obsession with beet powder isn't wellness culture inventing a trend. It's science finally catching up to what traditional medicine knew for millennia.
How Beet Powder Is Made and Why It Matters
Beet powder is made by dehydrating and grinding whole beets into a fine powder. Simple. What matters is that research suggests dried and pureed beet contains higher phenolic, flavonoid and antioxidant levels than juiced or pickled versions. The dehydration process concentrates the good stuff. You're getting more of what makes beets worth eating in a form that's easy to add to anything—including fruit chews.
The Compounds Doing the Work
Dietary Nitrates and Nitric Oxide
The primary reason beet powder has attracted serious research attention is its nitrate content and what the body does with it. The pathway works like this: dietary nitrates from food are absorbed in the small intestine, concentrated in saliva, converted to nitrite by bacteria on the tongue, then further converted to nitric oxide — a signaling molecule — in the bloodstream and tissues.
Nitric oxide causes the smooth muscle in blood vessel walls to relax. The vessels widen. Blood flow increases. Oxygen delivery to working muscles improves. In practical terms, this means the cardiovascular system operates more efficiently under the same workload — a meaningful benefit whether you're running, training, or just trying to move through your day with less effort.
Research published in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that dietary nitrate supplementation from beetroot reduced the oxygen cost of submaximal exercise — meaning study participants used less oxygen to produce the same power output. That's not a marginal effect. It's the kind of finding that gets sports scientists interested. (Source: Bailey et al., Journal of Applied Physiology, 2009.)
Betalains: Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidant Protection
Betalains are the nitrogen-containing pigments responsible for the deep red-purple color of red beets. They're divided into two groups: betacyanins (red-violet, including betanin) and betaxanthins (yellow-orange). Both have documented antioxidant activity — they neutralize free radicals, the unstable molecules that contribute to oxidative stress and chronic inflammation.
Betanin specifically has been studied for anti-inflammatory properties. Research published in the Journal of Functional Foods demonstrated that betanin inhibits certain pro-inflammatory enzymes, including cyclooxygenase-1 and cyclooxygenase-2 — the same enzymes targeted by common anti-inflammatory medications, through a different mechanism and at food-appropriate doses. (Source: Reddy et al., Journal of Functional Foods, 2014.)
Betalains also distinguish beets from most other red foods. The red color in most berries comes from anthocyanins. The red in beets comes from betalains — a structurally distinct class of pigment with its own documented biological activity. You can't approximate the function of betalains by swapping in cheaper red ingredients.
Betaine: A naturally occurring compound in beets that supports liver function, helps regulate homocysteine levels in the blood and plays a role in cellular health. Elevated homocysteine is associated with cardiovascular disease. Betaine helps keep it in check.
Folate, Potassium and Vitamin C: Beets are legitimately nutrient-dense. A single serving provides meaningful amounts of folate for cell function, potassium for blood pressure regulation and vitamin C for immune support. A beet contains more potassium than a banana. That's not nothing.
What Beet Powder Actually Does For You
Supports Heart Health and Blood Pressure
This is the most well-researched benefit and the evidence is solid. Nitrates in beet powder convert to nitric oxide which relaxes blood vessel walls, improves circulation and reduces blood pressure. A 2022 meta-analysis found that nitrate from beet juice lowered systolic blood pressure in adults with hypertension. The effect can appear within hours of consumption. For anyone concerned about cardiovascular health this is one of the most direct dietary levers available.
Boosts Athletic Performance
The International Olympic Committee recognized beet juice as a legitimate sports food. That's not marketing—that's a governing body of sport acknowledging peer-reviewed evidence. Research shows that beet powder's nitrate content improves oxygen delivery to muscles, reduces the oxygen cost of exercise and extends endurance. In one study recreational athletes rode exercise bikes longer at higher intensity after six days of beet juice consumption. Researchers called the results remarkable. The mechanism is the same nitric oxide pathway—more oxygen to working muscles means better output for longer.
Supports Liver and Digestive Health
Betaine in beet powder protects liver cells from oxidative damage and supports healthy liver function. Research also suggests beet's bioactive compounds may improve gastrointestinal health, support gut microbiota and stimulate the growth of beneficial probiotics. A healthy gut is the foundation of nearly everything else the body does well.
May Support Healthy Aging
Betalain antioxidants have shown the ability to boost collagen production—relevant to skin health and connective tissue integrity. Combined with beet powder's cardiovascular and cognitive benefits the overall picture is of an ingredient that works on multiple systems associated with aging simultaneously.
The Rest of the Nutritional Profile
Beyond nitrates and betalains, beet powder is a real food source of several nutrients worth noting:
- Folate (B9): Beets are one of the better whole-food sources of folate, a B vitamin essential for DNA synthesis and cell division. A 100g serving of raw beets provides roughly 20% of the daily recommended intake.
- Potassium: An electrolyte important for muscle function, fluid balance, and cardiovascular health. Relevant for anyone losing electrolytes through exercise.
- Manganese: A trace mineral that supports bone development, wound healing, and antioxidant enzyme function.
- Vitamin C: Present in meaningful amounts in raw beets; some is retained in quality low-temperature powder.
None of this is exotic or inflated. It's the nutritional profile of a real vegetable that happens to also have specific functional compounds that make it worth including in a snack formula rather than just treating it as food coloring.
FAQ: Beet Powder
What does beet powder do for your body?
Beet powder is a concentrated source of dietary nitrates, which the body converts to nitric oxide. Nitric oxide causes blood vessels to dilate, improving circulation and oxygen delivery to muscles and organs. Beet powder also contains betalains — the pigments responsible for its deep red color — which have documented antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Additionally, beets are a natural source of folate, potassium, and manganese.
What are dietary nitrates and why do they matter?
Dietary nitrates are naturally occurring compounds found in vegetables — particularly leafy greens and root vegetables like beets. In the body, nitrates are converted to nitrite, then to nitric oxide, which signals smooth muscle in blood vessel walls to relax and widen. Research published in the Journal of Applied Physiology has shown that dietary nitrate intake from beetroot can improve exercise efficiency and support cardiovascular function. It's one of the more well-supported mechanisms in sports nutrition research.
What are betalains?
Betalains are the nitrogen-containing pigments that give red beets their color. They fall into two categories: betacyanins (red-violet, including betanin) and betaxanthins (yellow-orange). Both have demonstrated antioxidant activity. Betanin specifically has been studied for anti-inflammatory properties — research shows it inhibits certain pro-inflammatory enzymes. They're structurally distinct from the anthocyanins found in berries, with their own documented biological activity.
Is beet powder as effective as whole beets?
Quality beet powder made from whole beetroot retains the nitrates and betalains present in fresh beets. The concentrated form allows for consistent, measurable intake that would be difficult to achieve eating whole beets in snack quantities. The key variable is processing — low-temperature dehydration preserves the active compounds better than high-heat methods. Most research on beetroot nitrates has in fact used juice or powder rather than whole beets, so the evidence base is directly applicable.
Can beet powder turn urine or stool pink or red?
Yes — this is called beeturia and it's harmless. Betanin passes through the digestive system and can be excreted, giving urine or stool a pink or red tint. It's more pronounced in some people than others based on gut acidity and individual metabolism. If you eat beets or beet products and notice this, it's the pigment doing exactly what pigments do. Not a cause for concern.
Does Rbel Bee use beet powder for color or for function?
Both. Beet powder contributes to the color of Wild Child Cherry fruit chews — but it's in the formula because it's a real food ingredient with documented nutritional properties, not because it was the cheapest way to make something red. We don't use artificial dyes. The beet powder earns its place for what it does, not just how it looks.
How much beet powder do you need to see a benefit?
Most research on beetroot nitrate benefits has used doses equivalent to roughly 300–500mg of dietary nitrate, typically achieved through concentrated juice or powder. The beet powder in Wild Child Cherry contributes meaningfully as part of a real food diet that includes other nitrate-rich vegetables — it's not designed to be a standalone therapeutic dose. We include it alongside honey, tart cherry, and king oyster mushroom as part of a formula built around real functional ingredients, not single-ingredient supplementation.
You Can Enjoy Beet Powder Every Day
Rbel Bee Poma Punch Fruit Chews contain real beet powder alongside pomegranate, Mexican vanilla, saffron and honey—no refined sugar, no artificial flavors. The beet powder in Poma Punch isn't there for color. It's a functional ingredient doing real work: cardiovascular support, antioxidant protection, anti-inflammatory activity and more. Real food ingredients with a track record measured in centuries, not marketing cycles.
Eat the whole bag. Your cardiovascular system will thank you.