If you haven’t heard the term “betalains” before, the odds are you’ll be hearing about it a lot more in the near future. While they certainly aren’t anything new, betalains are especially powerful antioxidants and the pigments that give some foods a vibrant red hue. They are an anti-inflammatory bioflavonoid that serves to help the body to reduce inflammation while providing valuable healing properties.
Too much inflammation in the body leads to poor health and is the root cause of nearly all illness and disease such as diabetes, stroke, heart disease as well as obesity and depression. Chronic inflammation often leads to premature aging making you look older and sometimes even haggard on the outside, while causing a similar effect inside.
Many people have been turning to natural ways of fighting off inflammation by following an anti-inflammatory diet, and betalains may be one of the best weapons you can have in your arsenal to do just that. Betalains offer antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and detoxification support to the body and can assist in a total transformation by neutralizing toxins and naturally assisting the cell’s detoxification process. Battling those toxins and preventing them from accumulating in our body’s cells serves to avoid chronic inflammation.
Which foods contain betalains?
There are actually 24 types of betalains and each have a specific purpose in helping the body to maintain a healthy balance. Swiss chard and beets are two excellent sources, but the Nopal Cactus or Prickly Pear as it’s more commonly known, has the highest concentration of betalains that are found in nature. This “superfood” is grown in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico – it’s frequently used in pico de gallo and found in many other traditional Mexican dishes.
By including foods in your diet that contain betalains, they can restore vitality at a cellular level while reducing the toxins that surround your cells. Ultimately this can reduce the inflammation that will eventually lead to illness or disease.
Making sure that your body receives the anti-inflammatory fighters that it needs will allow it to naturally rid itself of toxins.
If you want to increase energy and vitality, look and feel younger and potentially live a longer, high quality life, be sure to get your betalains!
Have you ever heard of betalains? Will you be looking for Prickly Pear at your market? We will!
– The Alternative Daily
