I have been asked many questions about beets benefits. Juicing for beetroot benefits is well worth the effort, especially if you are concerned about heart health.
Top Ten Beets Benefits (not all of these have been proven scientifically yet):
1. Boosting stamina and making exercise less tiring
2. Lowering blood pressure
3. Improving cardiovascular health
4. Improving digestion
5. Helping with iron absorption
6. Aiding liver function
7. Restoring strength during convalescence
8. Acting as a blood cleanser
9. Giving relief from constipation
10. Reducing homocysteine levels
You may want to keep the following warnings in mind, though:
- Beets juice should be used sparingly and always in combination with other juices, as it is extremely potent. You don't need more than 1/2 of a smaller beet or 1/4 of a larger beet per person. At first it may be better to juice beets only every other day or a few times a week.
- Beetroot or beets juice may turn your stool and/or urine pink or red. This is not permanent, isn't harmful and is therefore nothing to be concerned about.
- Folks with certain types of kidney stones and certain ailments should avoid beets, so check with your doctor first before juicing beetroot. This is important if you are on a low-oxalate diet to prevent oxalate-type kidney stones. It is always safer to talk to your health practitioner before you start a juicing program, if you have any kind of ailment.
- Don't take your nutrition supplements or other medication with your freshly prepared juice. Take these with water or as prescribed an hour or two before or after drinking your juice to ensure that absorption isn't affected.
Preparing Beetroot For Juicing
- Wash the beets thoroughly in water, making use of a veggie brush. Do this even if you are preparing organic beetroot juice.
- If you prefer, you can remove the tops. However, the beetroot tops are quite edible and are rich in nutrients. So, if these are fresh, you could juice them with the beetroot.
- Simply cut the beets into 4 or 6 pieces, depending on their size. Smaller beets may be a bit softer and more gentle on your machine.
Nutrients in beetroot
- Beets come packed with all kinds of goodies, such as beta-carotene, vitamin C, folic acid and small amounts of vitamins B1, B2 and B3.
- In addition, beetroot benefits your bones by providing calcium. You will also get potassium, sodium, magnesium and some phosphorus, as well as zinc, iron, manganese and copper.
- You will also get a variety of amino acids in your beetroot juice.
- All this for a measly 37 calories per 100g of beetroot - this is equal to one smallish beet.
Quick Energy Boosting Beetroot Juice Recipe
Ingredients
1 Small Beetroot
1 Apple
2 Large Carrots
1 Stalk Celery
1 inch of cucumber
Method
1. Wash all the veggies
2. Remove the tops from the carrots and beets (you may juice the beetroot tops if you prefer)
3. Peel the beetroot if necessary. If it is a young beet with a thin skin, you can skip this step
4. Cut the veggies into chunks that will fit into the feeder tube of your juicer
5. Juice in any order and serve immediately
Note: You can even prepare healthy smoothies with raw or cooked beetroot as a base! Do you want to learn more about the health benefits of smoothies and smoothie recipes? This is the place to check out: Click here
