This versatile product has been used as a sweetener, a natural food coloring agent, a nutritional supplement, an ingredient in makeup and so on. It provides some natural sweetness without adding sugar to items, so beet powder shows up in many health recipes.

Though beet powder continues to be useful for these reasons, more and more people are taking it as a nutritional supplement. Just a teaspoon of beetroot powder is equivalent to an entire beet, and contains tons of healthy nutrients.

Beets are particularly useful for maintaining heart health because they contain a lot of nitrate. According to a 2008 study in the medical journal, Hypertension, ingesting beetroot can help to significantly lower blood pressure. Since high blood pressure is linked to strokes, dementia and cardiovascular disease, the ability of beets to lower blood pressure can be life-changing.

The ability to lower blood pressure is not the only heart-healthy benefit associated with beetroot powder. The nitrate supplementation from beets also helps blood cells to transport oxygen throughout the body more effectively. This leads to more endurance during exercise and higher oxygen levels in the brain. Overall, more oxygenation leads to better physical and mental performance. For example, athletes who took beets before they ran or biked in one trial had a 2.8 percent shorter time.

Another helpful nutrient in beetroot powder is alpha-lipoic acid, which is a powerful antioxidant. In general, antioxidants help to reduce inflammation, minimize oxidative damage and decrease cancer risks. Medical research has found that alpha-lipoic acid is particularly good at managing diabetes symptoms. This antioxidant helps the body to heighten insulin sensitivity, so eating sugar does not cause as many problems. People with diabetes who regularly consume the alpha-lipoic acid found in beets are less likely to develop the nerve damage and numbness that severe diabetes can cause.

beetroot powder can also be used to treat erectile dysfunction. Though many people worry that this condition is caused by diminished virility, it is actually just a problem with blood flow to the reproductive areas. Since beetroot powder is so helpful for increasing circulation, it can be effective at managing some erectile dysfunction issues.

Liver detox. Beets help to flush toxins out of the liver because they are full of folate, nitrate and iron. All of these helpful nutrients work together to thin bile, letting it flow more effectively through the liver, and they also help to improve blood circulation to the liver. Many people find that this sort of detox helps to boost energy and mood.