Beetroot

It contains (a little) non-heme iron. Raw beetroot has roughly ~0.8–1.0 mg iron per 100 g—useful, but modest. Non-heme iron (from plants) is less readily absorbed than heme iron from animal foods. My Food Data

It’s rich in vitamin C and antioxidants. Vitamin C can enhance absorption of non-heme iron from foods eaten at the same meal, which is the main plausible mechanism by which beetroot could help—in combination with other iron sources. (Vitamin C improves non-heme iron absorption; evidence for routinely adding vitamin C to supplements is mixed—see “Studies” below.) Office of Dietary Supplements

It’s high in dietary nitrate (blood-pressure effects). Beetroot is well studied for nitrate-driven blood-pressure reductions—not for correcting iron deficiency. Helpful for cardiovascular health, but this is a different mechanism than building iron stores. NMCD Journal

There’s no clinical guideline that prescribes beetroot to treat IDA. If you enjoy beets and want to use them alongside the treatment your clinician recommends:

Portion & forms that make sense

• Food portions: e.g., 100–200 g cooked beetroot in a meal, or ~½–1 cup chopped roasted/beet salad. Expect ~0.8–2 mg iron at most from that serving. My Food Data
• Juice: if you like it, ~125–250 mL can be used for taste/variety, but juice adds sugars and doesn’t supply much more iron than the whole veg. (Beet studies largely target blood pressure, not iron.) NMCD Journal

Maximise non-heme iron absorption in that meal

• Pair with vitamin-C–rich foods (citrus, capsicum/peppers, tomatoes) to enhance plant-iron uptake. Office of Dietary Supplements
• Avoid tea/coffee with the same meal (or separate by ≥1 hour) because polyphenols can inhibit non-heme iron absorption. Cambridge University Press & Assessment
• If you consume calcium supplements, separate them from iron-focused meals/supplements. Office of Dietary Supplements

Remember the mainstay of therapy

• For diagnosed IDA, evidence-based care is: identify and treat the cause (e.g., bleeding) and use oral iron (often tolerated better with lower or alternate-day dosing) or IV iron when indicated. Dietary tweaks (including beets) are supportive only. NICE

On beetroot specifically and haemoglobin/iron status

• The literature consists mostly of small, short, or quasi-experimental studies in adolescents, sometimes without rigorous controls. Several report modest rises in haemoglobin after beetroot juice, but quality is limited and results are not definitive for IDA treatment. Examples:
• Small analytical/pilot study (n=9) suggesting Hb increase—authors explicitly call for more research. BBRC
• Quasi-experimental/college-based adolescent studies reporting Hb gains after days to weeks of beetroot juice; methodology limits certainty. eJournal
• A narrative/descriptive review collating mostly small trials and comparative studies; conclusions are tentative and not guideline-forming. IJRTI
• Bottom line: these studies do not establish beetroot as an effective treatment for iron-deficiency anaemia in adults. High-quality RCTs in IDA populations are lacking.

On enhancing iron absorption generally

• Vitamin C reliably enhances meal (non-heme) iron absorption (systematic review/meta-analysis). Cambridge University Press & Assessment
• For iron tablets, recent RCTs/analyses suggest adding vitamin C offers little or no extra benefit versus iron alone for correcting IDA, though practice varies. ScienceDirect