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Cooked beets, one cut open

Beets, cooked

Checked by us One serving: 85 g · 37 kcal

Some folate.

Nothing to watch.

Good for

How we counted this

What one serving (85 g) gives you.

Your body needs enough of each of these. Past enough, more doesn’t help. Amounts are what the food databases list, not what your body absorbs, unless a row says it was measured.

The words: “A lot” means one serving gives 20% or more of Health Canada’s daily amount, “Some” 10% to 19%, “A little” 2% to 9%, “Almost none” under 2%. Strongest word first; within a word, protein and fibre lead, then the biggest share.

A milligram (mg) is a thousandth of a gram, and a microgram (µg) a thousandth of a milligram: 1,000 µg make 1 mg.

21 more nutrients at a little or less

Watch out

How we counted this
Checked for cadmium and lead: fine at normal amounts.
  • Cadmium

    Nothing to watch

    You’d need about 5.2 servings a day, every day, of this food alone to use up what an average adult’s intake leaves under the limit.

    Learn more

    One serving carries 1.4 µg

    How we got this

    A serving a day adds 7.9% to what an average adult already takes in: a share of that intake, not of the limit. With that serving every day, an average adult would be at about 76% of the limit.

    An average adult already takes in about 71% of the limit. One serving a day fits in the room left.

    Counted from zero, with no allowance for what adults already take in from other food, 11,000 g a week would reach the limit.

    Why this rating: Eating it daily comes to 595 g a week, which stays within the 3,100 g of room left before the limit.

    The dataset’s rating: Nothing to watch: under the limit

    A daily serving adds 7.9% to an average adult's cadmium intake (EFSA 2012 adult median, 1.77 µg/kg body weight/week; Canadian adults in 2007: 1.2-1.75), far from doubling it, so no cap.

    Health Canada, Canadian Total Diet Study – Trace Elements (2005–2018 composites) · grade A

    Every food with cadmium

  • Lead

    Nothing to watch

    You’d need about 72 servings a day, every day, of this food alone to double the lead an average adult already gets. No dose is known to be safe, so doubling is where we flag.

    Learn more

    A serving a day adds 1–1.4% to what an average adult already takes in. There is no limit to take a share of.

    One serving carries 0.4 µg

    How we got this

    The dataset’s rating: Nothing to watch: doesn’t double average intake

    No cap: no safe level of lead is set, so there is no grams figure; the rating rests on what a serving adds to average intake. An 85 g serving of boiled beets adds 0.40 µg, about 1.0–1.4% of an average adult's 28–41 µg/day (EFSA 2012). The Health Canada Total Diet Study mean of 4.715 µg/kg (16 composites, no non-detects) is a lower bound.

    Health Canada, Canadian Total Diet Study – Trace Elements (2005–2018 composites) · grade A

    Every food with lead

Worth knowing

No limit applies, so none is rated.

  • Sugar

    6.8 g of sugar in a 85 g serving, natural and added together.

    Learn more

    Shown, not rated. The food tables we read give total sugar, and few give added sugar, so the site can’t yet tell sugar added in making a food from the sugar in fruit or milk.

Also measured in it

Figures from the dataset. None has a limit to be rated against, so none is a verdict.

  • Oxalate: 37–76 mg per 100 g in the sources we hold. · Salgado 2023 · grade B

    We haven’t rated this food for oxalate. We count only a figure that comes from a grade A or B source and says it was measured per 100 g of the food as eaten, and none of the figures here does both.

Also checked (nothing to act on) · 3

Noted for context, or not measured in this food yet.

  • Shown as context, not rated: EFSA's 2017 acceptable daily intake for nitrate is 3.7 mg/kg body weight/day, 259 mg/day for 70 kg. No boiled-beet figure exists; on raw beetroot (EFSA 2008, 1,013 samples) the mean is 1,379 mg/kg, which would reach the limit at about 188 g a day (235 g at the median of 1,100, 71 g at the 95th percentile of 3,670). Boiling lowers nitrate by an amount not quantified for beetroot (EFSA found vegetables lost 16–79% in cooking water), so the as-eaten amount is left missing.

  • Shown as context, not rated: no agency sets an oxalate intake limit; this is information for people who form calcium-oxalate stones. An 85 g serving of boiled beets carries about 31 mg total oxalate (36.9 mg/100 g, from two measurements), and other boiled-beet figures give 44–65 mg, in the 'moderate' class (25–99 mg a serving) of the Oxalosis and Hyperoxaluria Foundation list.

  • Shown as context, not rated: no limit is applied to pesticide residues here. Residues were frequent on raw beets in the CFIA 2016–22 screens: 65 of 129 imported and 61 of 174 domestic; the 2022–23 screens found fewer (10 of 44 imported, 4 of 56 domestic). By analyte, violations of Canada's residue limits were cypermethrin 1, methoxyfenozide 2 and flutriafol 1 in imports. The effects of peeling and boiling were not looked up.

Better options

How we counted this

“Better” here always means better at something the row names: more of one nutrient, more nutrients per serving, or the goal you pick. It never means better in every way.

Every amount below is for the same weight, 85 g, the size of one serving of this food, so a swap compares like with like. A serving of another food can be bigger or smaller.

Compared with the other vegetables we’ve checked.

A food is listed only if it gives clearly more: at least a fifth more than this food, and at least 10% of the daily amount more.

More of what it’s good for

More folate

Amounts as listed, not adjusted for how much gets in.

More nutrients per serving, counted together

The other vegetables we’ve checked with more nutrients per serving than this one, counting at most 100 kcal. One score ranks them all, so the same few often lead.

  • Turnip greens, cooked
    • More vitamin K1 (312 µg vs 0.17 µg)
    • More vitamin A (324 µg vs 1.7 µg)
    • More vitamin C (23.3 mg vs 3.06 mg)
  • Kale, cooked
    • More vitamin K1 (355 µg vs 0.17 µg)
    • More omega-3: ALA (286 mg vs 4.25 mg)
    • More vitamin A (124 µg vs 1.7 µg)
  • Brussels sprouts, cooked
    • More vitamin K1 (119 µg vs 0.17 µg)
    • More vitamin C (52.7 mg vs 3.06 mg)

Where the calcium card measured that less calcium gets in than from milk, calcium counts for less; everything else is as listed.

Your goal

Your goal changes only this list, not what the food gives you or what to watch.

Losing weight: fewer calories, and more nutrients, protein and fibre for each calorie.

  • Asparagus, cooked
    • 19 kcal in 85 g (this food: 37)
    • More vitamin K1 (43 µg vs 0.17 µg)
    • More folate (127 µg vs 68 µg)
    • More thiamin (0.14 mg vs 0.02 mg)
  • Turnip greens, cooked
    • 17 kcal in 85 g (this food: 37)
    • More vitamin K1 (312 µg vs 0.17 µg)
    • More vitamin A (324 µg vs 1.7 µg)
    • More vitamin C (23.3 mg vs 3.06 mg)
  • Broccoli, cooked
    • 24 kcal in 85 g (this food: 37)
    • More vitamin K1 (74.9 µg vs 0.17 µg)
    • More vitamin C (34.1 mg vs 3.06 mg)
Why some foods aren’t suggested

Left out: Edamame, cooked (not tested for contaminants yet).

Left out: Spinach, cooked (Cadmium: go easy · lots of oxalate, more than its own calcium can bind).

Bring a tracker export or describe your usual week. The same rules check all of it.

The numbers

Open every value

Name in the database: Beets, cooked, boiled, drained

How the serving was set: 85 g (Health Canada TRA V.1, vegetables without sauce, fresh or frozen; copied from the sibling rows kale and lettuce, the TRA page not re-opened this session)

Listed nutrients, per 100 g

For each nutrient, the value this page uses is marked “used”. A row marked “second database” is another database’s figure for a matching food, kept so you can see how far databases disagree (they can differ in the samples analysed, lab methods and rounding). Its own cells are worked out from it, but none of the page’s words or scores are.

NutrientPer servingPer 100 caloriesHowSourceGrade
Omega-3: ALA0.005 g0 g0.01 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Calcium16 mg13.6 mg36.36 mglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
16 mg13.6 mg36.36 mgcopy of USDA · not usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #2501C
Carbohydrate9.96 g8.47 g22.64 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Choline6.3 mg5.36 mg14.32 mglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Energy44 kcal37.4 kcal–FDC Energy (kcal) usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy)–
Omega-3: EPA + DHA0 g0 g0 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Fat0.18 g0.15 g0.41 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Cholesterol0 mg0 mg0 mglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Fatty acids, total saturated0.028 g0.02 g0.06 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Fibre2 g1.7 g4.55 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Folate80 µg68 µg181.82 µglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Iron0.79 mg0.67 mg1.8 mglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Magnesium23 mg19.55 mg52.27 mglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Niacin (B3, niacin equivalents)0.664 mg0.56 mg1.51 mglisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #2501C
Phosphorus38 mg32.3 mg86.36 mglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Potassium305 mg259.25 mg693.18 mglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Protein1.68 g1.43 g3.82 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Riboflavin (B2)0.04 mg0.03 mg0.09 mglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Selenium0.7 µg0.6 µg1.59 µglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Sodium77 mg65.45 mg175 mglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Sugars7.96 g6.77 g18.09 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Thiamin (B1)0.027 mg0.02 mg0.06 mglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Vitamin A2 µg1.7 µg4.55 µglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Vitamin B120 µg0 µg0 µglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Vitamin B60.067 mg0.06 mg0.15 mglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Vitamin C3.6 mg3.06 mg8.18 mglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Vitamin D0 µg0 µg0 µglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Vitamin E0.04 mg0.03 mg0.09 mglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Vitamin K10.2 µg0.17 µg0.45 µglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Water87.06 g74 g197.86 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Zinc0.35 mg0.3 mg0.8 mglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
NutrientPer 100 gPer servingPer 100 caloriesHowSourceGrade
Beta-carotene21 µg17.85 µg47.73 µglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Copper0.074 mg0.06 mg0.17 mglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Ash1.12 g0.95 g2.55 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Alcohol, ethyl0 g0 g0 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Caffeine0 mg0 mg0 mglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Theobromine0 mg0 mg0 mglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Energy184 kj156.4 kj418.18 kjlisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Vitamin A, IU35 iu29.75 iu79.55 iulisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Carotene, alpha0 µg0 µg0 µglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Vitamin D (D2 + D3), International Units0 iu0 iu0 iulisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Cryptoxanthin, beta0 µg0 µg0 µglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Lycopene0 µg0 µg0 µglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Folic acid0 µg0 µg0 µglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Folate, food80 µg68 µg181.82 µglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Folate, DFE80 µg68 µg181.82 µglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Tryptophan0.02 g0.02 g0.05 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Threonine0.049 g0.04 g0.11 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Isoleucine0.05 g0.04 g0.11 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Leucine0.071 g0.06 g0.16 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Lysine0.06 g0.05 g0.14 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Methionine0.019 g0.02 g0.04 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Cystine0.02 g0.02 g0.05 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Phenylalanine0.048 g0.04 g0.11 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Tyrosine0.04 g0.03 g0.09 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Valine0.059 g0.05 g0.13 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Arginine0.044 g0.04 g0.1 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Histidine0.022 g0.02 g0.05 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Alanine0.063 g0.05 g0.14 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Aspartic acid0.121 g0.1 g0.27 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Glutamic acid0.446 g0.38 g1.01 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Glycine0.033 g0.03 g0.08 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Proline0.043 g0.04 g0.1 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Serine0.062 g0.05 g0.14 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Vitamin E, added0 mg0 mg0 mglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Vitamin B-12, added0 µg0 µg0 µglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Fatty acids, total trans0 g0 g0 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
SFA 4:00 g0 g0 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
SFA 6:00 g0 g0 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
SFA 8:00 g0 g0 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
SFA 10:00 g0 g0 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
SFA 12:00 g0 g0 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
SFA 14:00 g0 g0 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
SFA 16:00.027 g0.02 g0.06 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
SFA 18:00.001 g0 g0 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
MUFA 18:10.035 g0.03 g0.08 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
PUFA 18:20.058 g0.05 g0.13 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
PUFA 18:30.005 g0 g0.01 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
PUFA 20:40 g0 g0 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
PUFA 22:6 n-3 (DHA)0 g0 g0 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
MUFA 16:10 g0 g0 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
PUFA 18:40 g0 g0 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
MUFA 20:10 g0 g0 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
PUFA 20:5 n-3 (EPA)0 g0 g0 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
MUFA 22:10 g0 g0 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
PUFA 22:5 n-3 (DPA)0 g0 g0 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Fatty acids, total monounsaturated0.035 g0.03 g0.08 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated0.064 g0.05 g0.15 glisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Lutein + zeaxanthin0 µg0 µg0 µglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Manganese0.326 mg0.28 mg0.74 mglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Niacin (B3, preformed)0.331 mg0.28 mg0.75 mglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Pantothenic acid (B5)0.145 mg0.12 mg0.33 mglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C
Retinol0 µg0 µg0 µglisted usedUS food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169146C

Change the amount to rescale the first column. Nutrients a database doesn't list are missing, not zero.

Hazard rows as the dataset rates them

  • Cadmium · Nothing to watch: under the limit · A daily serving adds 7.9% to an average adult's cadmium intake (EFSA 2012 adult median, 1.77 µg/kg body weight/week; Canadian adults in 2007: 1.2-1.75), far from doubling it, so no cap. · Health Canada Total Diet Study, trace elements · A
  • Lead · Nothing to watch: doesn’t double average intake · No cap: no safe level of lead is set, so there is no grams figure; the rating rests on what a serving adds to average intake. An 85 g serving of boiled beets adds 0.40 µg, about 1.0–1.4% of an average adult's 28–41 µg/day (EFSA 2012). The Health Canada Total Diet Study mean of 4.715 µg/kg (16 composites, no non-detects) is a lower bound. · Health Canada Total Diet Study, trace elements · A
  • Nitrate · Context · Shown as context, not rated: EFSA's 2017 acceptable daily intake for nitrate is 3.7 mg/kg body weight/day, 259 mg/day for 70 kg. No boiled-beet figure exists; on raw beetroot (EFSA 2008, 1,013 samples) the mean is 1,379 mg/kg, which would reach the limit at about 188 g a day (235 g at the median of 1,100, 71 g at the 95th percentile of 3,670). Boiling lowers nitrate by an amount not quantified for beetroot (EFSA found vegetables lost 16–79% in cooking water), so the as-eaten amount is left missing. · EFSA 2008 · A
  • Oxalate for kidney-stone formers · Context · Shown as context, not rated: no agency sets an oxalate intake limit; this is information for people who form calcium-oxalate stones. An 85 g serving of boiled beets carries about 31 mg total oxalate (36.9 mg/100 g, from two measurements), and other boiled-beet figures give 44–65 mg, in the 'moderate' class (25–99 mg a serving) of the Oxalosis and Hyperoxaluria Foundation list. · Salgado 2023 · B
  • Pesticide residues · Context · Shown as context, not rated: no limit is applied to pesticide residues here. Residues were frequent on raw beets in the CFIA 2016–22 screens: 65 of 129 imported and 61 of 174 domestic; the 2022–23 screens found fewer (10 of 44 imported, 4 of 56 domestic). By analyte, violations of Canada's residue limits were cypermethrin 1, methoxyfenozide 2 and flutriafol 1 in imports. The effects of peeling and boiling were not looked up. · CFIA chemical residue monitoring (2022–2023) · A

Oxalate, phytate and gut-tolerance measurements

  • oxalate soluble: boiled beetroot, soluble oxalate: 16.3 mg/100 g (n 2, ref [1]) to 72.3 (ref [32]); 38 in the ref [36] row mg/100 g · fresh weight · boiled · grade B · Salgado 2023
  • oxalate total: boiled beetroot, total oxalate: 36.9 mg/100 g (Hönow & Hesse, soluble 16.3 + insoluble 20.6, n 2) up to 76.0 (a third study in the same review row, soluble 72.3); a fourth row in the review gives 52 boiled (soluble 38). At the 85 g serving that is 31 to 65 mg per serving. The Oxalosis and Hyperoxaluria Foundation list gives 57 mg/100 g for 'beets, boiled, steamed or pickled' (compiled list, grade C) mg/100 g · fresh weight, mg per 100 g of boiled beetroot · boiled (the review row says 'Boiled'; the boiling time, peeling and cooking-water handling are not given in the relay) · grade B · Salgado 2023

Sources

Body map 2026-10-25.1: each nutrient’s job comes from an agency fact sheet, linked beside it under Good for.

The plain words: “a lot” means one serving (100 g when the food has no serving size) gives at least 20% of the daily amount (the reference intake), “some” at least 10%, “a little” at least 2% (the cut-offs are ours, one set for every page: 20% and 10% are borrowed from the US labelling terms “high” and “good source” and applied to Health Canada’s daily amount, whereas Health Canada’s own shopper rule says 15%; provisional: they may change in a later method version). The daily amount is Health Canada’s Dietary Reference Intake for adults 19–30; where men and women need different amounts we use the higher one (protein: 56 g for men, 46 g for women). The percentage printed under each nutrient is the printed amount as a share of that daily amount, rounded to the nearest whole number, and the word is read from that percentage, so the amount, the percentage and the word always agree. Calcium with a measured absorption is scaled by how well it gets in compared with milk.

The scale: “Nothing to watch” means a serving a day stays under the limit at ordinary amounts; “Go easy” means a serving a day can push past the limit for adults who already take in the most, or fewer than 2 servings reach it; “Limit it” means once a week or less. The dataset’s own rating is under “How we got this”. Provisional: the scale may change in a later method version.

Measured absorption under Good for: grade-A studies in adults that tested this preparation of this food, as a share of the listed amount (the share digested, for protein), quoted once each source has passed our evidence check; animal studies and other variants stay in the table above. Provisional: this screen may change in a later method version.