What Are the Health Benefits of Pickled Beets?
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5 Health Benefits That Make Pickled Beets a Perfect Snack for Any Time

Pickled beets are a convenient snack with a variety of health benefits, including blood sugar control, heart health, and weight management.

5 Health Benefits That Make Pickled Beets a Perfect Snack for Any Time
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Updated on August 6, 2025
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Pickling beets preserves all the health benefits of beets in a convenient form. They provide a low-fat source of energy with valuable nutrients and fiber. The health benefits of beets include important vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Adding pickled beets to your diet may help with weight loss, blood sugar management, and cardiovascular health.

1. Blood Sugar Management

Pickled beets are a good source of complex carbohydrates, with about 14 grams (g) per ½ cup.

Unlike the carbohydrates in table sugar and refined grains, complex carbohydrates raise your blood sugar more slowly.

 They give you more sustained energy and help reduce your risk of insulin resistance.

Additionally, the vinegar in pickled beets may help with blood sugar control. A meta-analysis published in 2022 looked at the effects of vinegar consumption on risk factors for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. It found that consumption of vinegar was associated with a significant reduction in fasting blood glucose.

2. Weight Loss Aid

Pickled beets are low in total calories and high in fiber.

In addition to improving gut health, fiber helps you feel fuller for longer because it moves slowly through your digestive system.

Adding fiber to your diet can prevent overeating and may help you lose or maintain your weight.

 According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020–2025, adults should aim for getting 22 to 34 g of fiber each day.

3. Blood Pressure Control

Beets are a good source of potassium, with about 98 milligrams (mg) per ½ cup.

Potassium is important for muscle function and helps relax the walls of your blood vessels. This can lower your blood pressure and prevent your muscles from cramping.

The nitrates in pickled beets can also help lower blood pressure if you have hypertension.

 Research has shown that nitrates from beet juice can help lower both systolic and diastolic blood pressure.

Additionally, beets are high in phytonutrients called “betalains,” which have been shown to reduce inflammation.

 Chronic inflammation is linked to high blood pressure.

4. High In Antioxidants

Beets are a rich source of antioxidants, which help ‌protect your body from cell damage‌ due to oxidative stress.

The main antioxidant in beets is called betanin. Evidence shows that betanin might reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, liver and kidney damage, and some cancers.

5. Heart and Brain Health

Pickled beets may help prevent heart disease due to their ‌natural nitrate content.

Nitrates convert to nitric oxide in your body, which boosts blood flow and oxygen delivery to your tissues, improving cardiovascular health.

The nitrates in beets are also linked to improved cognitive function. Nitrates increase blood flow to your brain, enhancing cognitive performance.

The Takeaway

  • Pickled beets contain all the nutritional benefits of raw beets in a conveniently preserved form.
  • The fiber content and vinegar in pickled beets may help lower your risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes by helping control blood sugar.
  • Additional benefits of pickled beets include antioxidant properties, improved heart and brain health, and lowered blood pressure.
EDITORIAL SOURCES
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Resources
  1. Beets, pickled. U.S. Department of Agriculture FoodData Central. October 31, 2024.
  2. Carbohydrates. Cleveland Clinic. March 8, 2024.
  3. Hyperglycemia (High Blood Sugar). Cleveland Clinic. March 2, 2023.
  4. Hassan Sohouli M et al. Effects of vinegar consumption on cardiometabolic risk factors: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. European Journal of Integrative Medicine. August 18, 2022.
  5. Fiber: The Carb That Helps You Manage Diabetes. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. May 15, 2024.
  6. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025. U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2020.
  7. Key minerals to help control blood pressure. Harvard Health Publishing. May 3, 2019.
  8. 5 Health Benefits of Beets. Cleveland Clinic. August 19, 2022.
  9. Bonilla Ocampo DA et al. Dietary Nitrate from Beetroot Juice for Hypertension: A Systematic Review. Biomolecules. November 2, 2018.
  10. Sadowska-Bartosz I et al. Biological Properties and Applications of Betalains. Molecules. April 26, 2021.
  11. Zhang Z et al. Role of inflammation, immunity, and oxidative stress in hypertension: New insights and potential therapeutic targets. Frontiers in Immunology. Jan 10, 2023.
  12. Chen L et al. Beetroot as a functional food with huge health benefits: Antioxidant, antitumor, physical function, and chronic metabolomics activity. Food Science and Nutrition. Sep 9, 2021.
  13. Apte M et al. A review on nitrates’ health benefits and disease prevention. Nitric Oxide. January 1, 2024.
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Kayli Anderson, RDN

Medical Reviewer
Member of American College of Lifestyle Medicine

Kayli Anderson has over a decade of experience in nutrition, culinary education, and lifestyle medicine. She believes that eating well should be simple, pleasurable, and sustainable. Anderson has worked with clients from all walks of life, but she currently specializes in nutrition therapy and lifestyle medicine for women. She’s the founder of PlantBasedMavens.com, a hub for women to get evidence-based, practical, and woman-centered guidance on nutrition and cooking, hormone health, fertility, pregnancy, movement, mental well-being, nontoxic living, and more.

Anderson is board-certified in lifestyle medicine and serves as lead faculty of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine’s (ACLM) "Food as Medicine" course. She is past chair of the ACLM's registered dietitian member interest group, secretary of the women's health member interest group, and nutrition faculty for many of ACLM's other course offerings. She is the coauthor of the Plant-Based Nutrition Quick Start Guide and works with many of the leading organizations in nutrition and lifestyle medicine to develop nutrition content, recipes, and educational programs.

Anderson frequently speaks on the topics of women’s health and plant-based nutrition and has coauthored two lifestyle medicine textbooks, including the first one on women’s health, Improving Women's Health Across the Lifespan.

She received a master's degree in nutrition and physical performance and is certified as an exercise physiologist and intuitive eating counselor. She's a student of herbal medicine and women's integrative and functional medicine. She lives with her husband in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, where you’ll find her out on a trail or in her garden.

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Gord Kerr

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Gordon Kerr has worked in the health care industry for the past 15 years. He holds a diploma in Food and Nutritional Science from CSNN, Canadian School of Natural Nutrition, Vancouver. With his passion for a healthy lifestyle and the desire to help others benefit from proper nutrition and natural remedies, Gordon accepted the international position with CARICOM Regional Food and Nutrition in the Caribbean and moved to Barbados. As well as educating the under-nourished people in the region, Gordon formulated dietary plans to help manage medical conditions including chronic nutrition-related diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension. Now retired, Gord enjoys a quiet life on a small island in the Gulf Islands of B.C.

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