10 Surprising Facts about Beets

If you can’t beet ’em, join ’em. When it comes this earthy vegetable, you’ll want to join in on these these quirky beet facts and interesting history. Title: 10 Surprising Facts about Beets Assyrian texts reveal that beets grew in the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon in 800 BC. 2. Beets have the highest sugar content of any vegetable. 3. Drinking beet juice helps lower heart disease risk and blood pressure. It also improves stamina and digestion. 4. In Greek and Roman mythology, Aphrodite (Venus) attributed her romantic power to the beet. 5. As recently as the early 20th century, the phrase “taking favors in the beetroot fields“ was a popular euphemism for prostitution. 6. In 1975, Soviet cosmonauts gave American astronauts borscht, or beet soup, as a symbol of camaraderie. They jokingly pasted vodka labels over the tubes of pink soup. 7. Nightly scalp massages with cooled water left over from boiling beets can help treat dandruff. 8. Many cultures believe that if a man and woman eat from the same beetroot, they will fall in love. 9. The ancient Greeks regarded the medicinal value of beets so highly that they included beets in their offerings to the god Apollo. 10. Albert Einstein famously hated beets. For more surprising facts about beets, click here: Fact Retriever is the leading source of interesting facts, trivia, history, and more. Learn more about the world and beyond. Subscribe to Fact Retriever here: