"are we talking red beets here"
-I have heard that red beets are the healthiest, as all red pigmented vegetables. But they probably all do good.
I realized reading this that the craving I have for it may be due to the copper / iron contents.
Beets are also an excellent source of hearth-healthy folate and a very good source of the antioxidants manganese and vitamin C as well as heart-healthy potassium. Beets are a good source of digestive-supportive dietary fiber, free radical scavenging copper, bone-healthy magnesium, and energy-producing iron and phosphorus. http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=49