beets and turnips

[Rexie]

I read on safe foods they can have beet greens and possibly turnip greens ( although still undecided myself) the question is can they have the actual beet and the turnip?

[Mel1959]

According to the calcium to phosphorous table that was posted in a thread on here beet greens and turnip greens have a good calcium to phosphorous ratio with beet greens being 2.9:1.0 and turnip greens being 4.5:1.0. The actual beet vegetable is unfavorable at 1.0:2:5 and the turnip acceptable at 1.1:1.0. Obviously the ratio isnt terrible considering what raw corn is (1.0:44.5) but I’m not sure if squirrels actually like them. I hope this helps.

[Rexie]

According to the calcium to phosphorous table that was posted in a thread on here beet greens and turnip greens have a good calcium to phosphorous ratio with beet greens being 2.9:1.0 and turnip greens being 4.5:1.0. The actual beet vegetable is unfavorable at 1.0:2:5 and the turnip acceptable at 1.1:1.0. Obviously the ratio isnt terrible considering what raw corn is (1.0:44.5) but I’m not sure if squirrels actually like them. I hope this helps.thank you so much for the information.. so then it must be safe to offer them to eat, even if they just shred them.

[Diggie's Friend]

True enough the Ca:P ratio of beet greens is a positive one, yet this source is one of a number of vegetables that has a higher oxalate at a range of (300 mg. to 920 mg.) with a mean of 610 mg. , and calcium at a range of (100 mg. to 120 mg.) a mean of (110 mg.) In comparing the mean of the oxalates to that of the calcium this source contains, we see it has a (6:1) (Ox:Ca) ratio. As noted in the excerpt from this study (2nd file), food stuffs that have over a (2:1) of Oxalate to Calcium not only do not add add any additional calcium to the diet, but also cause demineralization of calcium in other foods and calcium supplements they are digested with. The higher the ratio of Oxalate to Calcium a source has, the more demineralization occurs from it.

Group 1 lists beet leaves 2nd to last in the list. See the mean value for calcium and oxalates makes it easy to see that there is no calcium available from this source to support. For though in due to human physiology and most human diets not supporting this to occur, in the rat (rattus norvegicus), and tree squirrels (sciruids) of which the same study was needlessly repeated, for the tree squirrels share a common physiology with the lab rat, in which this knowledge was prior confirmed decades ago. For save that the rat has a higher metabolic rate than tree squirrels, and a diet higher in carbs from a different habitats, there isn't much difference when it comes to how they absorb calcium forms and oxalates.

[Diggie's Friend]

Sorry I didn't initially get your question exactly; as I was on my way out the door.

Sweet red Beets provide no calcium in addition to the meal, as it is equally matched with oxalates to calcium.

Turnips are another calcium demineralizer to other sources it is consumed with, and in the bloodstream also;

it has a ratio of Ox: Ca greater than (2:1 at (5:1) Ox:Ca .

[gunpackingrandma]

I may need to go back to college! Lol. Ben likes beets but not the greens, go figure...

[Diggie's Friend]

Beets are liked for they are sweet, but greens tend to be on the bitter side of taste. They are just furry kids after all that like their human counterparts tend to have sweet tooth, but also a fat tooth, and a protein tooth, going for foods that are denser in carbs, fats, and proteins.

The greens that they consume in the wild are the immature tender green shoots that first appear in spring; yet soon after they mature they change from having a utilizable form of calcium to that which their bodies cannot use to support their metabolic and bone health. When this happens they move on to the next source on their every changing revolving seasonal menu.

As for the greens, the immature leaves just like their wild counterparts, have lower oxalaets, and so more available calcium. By adding just one small drop of this organic source of organic pumpkin seed oil from Oil seed company of Oregon available on Amazon.com, to their daily leafy green, it changes the scent and flavor of greens, just as it does for humans when they add seed oils to their salads. This specific source has a long shelf life when stored in the fridge, where it stays good for a very long time compared to grain oils that tend to go rancid much sooner. To date I haven't had a bottle of this oil go bad yet even after a year of using it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pumpkin-Seed-Oil-Oregon-Company/dp/B00Z8BRCDO

I hope to soon post a master chart that will include both the oxalate and calcium values of various foods as an easy reference guide for the diet.