The pigments from the nutrients in beets can discolor your urine. It's not blood --- only a sign of having a distinct, but harmless, acidity level in your gut. All kinds of foods, such as blackberries, dark leafy vegetables and even high-iron foods, can affect the color of your urine as well as your stools. So long as you can trace the discoloration to recent consumption of a richly colored food, there's no cause for alarm. Not many people may count beets among their favorite foods, but their nutritional value outweighs the minor problem of a change in urine color.
The Beet Goes On
Beets are a source of good nutrition. They are inexpensive and easy to prepare. They contain good amounts of folate, a B vitamin that assists with metabolism, lowers your risk of heart disease and protects unborn babies from birth defects. In addition, beets are full of vitamin C. A beet's a vegetable, which makes it naturally cholesterol and fat free, but unlike most other vegetables, this one's sweet. Some food manufacturers use beets to make sugar. A cousin to the turnip, beet's skin and leafy stems are edible and pack a wallop of fiber. You can eat them raw, cook them or slice them on top of a salad. They are also full of antioxidants.
Other Health Effects of Beets
In a letter to the editor of the June 2004 "Journal of Ethnopharmacology," a group of researchers headed by one from Georgetown Medical School noted that nontraditional health care providers, or "healers," often use beets to treat fibroids in women. Giving some credence to the practice, the researchers said that beets' fiber content can affect women's estrogen levels. The leaves on beets also contain phytoestrogens, which could modulate a woman's hormones to the point of weakening the chance for fibroids. Proof, they said, lay in studies showing the reproductive system changes in animals that were fed sugar beets. The researchers also said other chemicals in beets could conceivably prevent the growth of fibroids.
Beets' Effect on Urine
Consuming beets can change your urine color to red, pink or brown. This can be an alarming sight, but there's no need to worry. It's just the coloring from the carotenoids and flavonoids in the beets. In most people, the pigment from these phytochemicals will wash away due to the acidity of their stomachs. Few people will see a change in urine color or it will be very faint. However, about 10 to 14 percent of the population can experience visible "beeturia," as it's called. When it is visible in your urine, it's often because of what else you ate with the beets. Note, if your urine noticeably changes color and can't be traced to recent consumption of food, see a health care provider as soon as possible.
Digestive Timer
Some health and sports medicine practitioners may advise you to eat beets to time how long it takes for food to leave your colon. This is a rough measure of your digestive health. You would simply eat beets at one of your meals and write down what time you ate them. Not only can beets affect the color of your urine, but they can also discolor your stools. When you see darker or reddish stool, you'll know your body has processed the beets.
References
- Harvard Medical School: Urine Color and Odor Changes
- MedlinePlus: Urine Abnormal Color
- RaySahelian.com; Urine Test, Color and Oder Information (sic);
- MayoClinic.com: Urine Color: Causes
- Pennsylvania Nutrition Education Network; Beets; January 2010
- "Journal of Ethnopharmacology"; Letter to the Editor; Adriane Fugh-Berman et al.; June 2004
