Beets are delicious grown in fairly dry soil at high altitudes where the temperature occasionally drops to near freezing. The low temperatures and water concentrate the sugars in this root vegetable to develop a naturally sweet gem.
I found beet juice in my local juice stand, and I’ve been back at least one morning every week, and I could do with more. Ginger beet juice is my favorite combination, and I can feel its health benefits already acting on my blood pressure, and best of all, giving me a better start to my day.
Beetroot Juice Benefits and How to Make It at Home
Beets (Beta vulgaris) are a good source manganese and folate, or folic acid, essential nutrients that our bodies need but don’t make by themselves.
Manganese is an important part of our body’s proteins and enzymes, and mainly works in the brain, kidneys, bones, and liver, where it metabolizes macronutrients, builds bone structure, and fights free radicals.
Folate is also known as folic acid if its in synthetic form, and is a B vitamin that our bodies use to create DNA and RNA, and for cells to divide.
Since these nutrients aren’t made by the body, we consume them from the foods we eat — especially those that are grown in nutrient-rich dirt: beets!
A good way to sop up these micronutrient essentials is by drinking fresh beet juice. Juicing beets is easy to do at home. Here’s my favorite beet juice recipe:
Homemade Beetroot Juice Recipe
You can follow this recipe using various vegetables and fruits. There are many healthy recipes, and in my opinion, the best beet juice combines something sweet (carrot juice) and something citrusy (orange juice or lemon juice) with the earthy beetroot flavor.
Here’s the recipe my neighbor uses in her stand. I always ask for fresh ginger too when I order:
Ingredients
- One red beet
- One carrot
- Chunk of fresh ginger root the size of your thumb, peeled
- One orange
Method
- To make a small pitcher-full of beetroot juice, lending around six small glasses, fill a blender vase 1/3 to half-way full. Roughly chop and add beet root, carrot, fresh ginger root, and an orange peeled and split into several sections
- Blend the fresh fruits and roots with water until any chunks turn to a fine pulp. Use a fine mesh strainer to filter out all the pulp if you don’t like the bits
- Let the beet juice sit for one or two hours and don’t serve immediately, because it can upset your stomach if it’s too fresh
Tips for Making Beet Juice Better
There are several variations to this beet juice recipe, and ways to turn out a more delicious beet juice.
Juicer Cuisine
When you make beet juice, the easiest is probably a juicer, but you can use a blender too. Use a high powered blender for the best results, but if your blender isn’t the strongest in town, add the soft fruit first and start with just a little water, adding more fruit or vegetables and water as what’s there blends smooth. For example, add the orange or your juiciest ingredients first, and pulse-blend several times before adding water slowly, until the blender is filled to the top. I’ve found that blending slowly while adding water a little at a time encourages the fruits to blend more thoroughly.
Reap the Health Benefits of Beet Juice
Raw beetroot juice shouldn’t be consumed immediately because raw beetroot contains toxins called oxalates that are bothersome to a few people. It’s best to let the fresh beet juice sit for an hour or two before you drink it to let these toxins disappear. If you don’t, you might experience nausea and dizziness.
How to Preserve Beet Juice
Save beet juice for up to 24 hours in the fridge, and make as much juice as you can drink in one day. Fresh juice goes bad after about 72 hours in the fridge.
How to Serve Beet Juice
Make beet juice with chilled water or add ice cubes for a refreshing drink on a balmy morning, or drink it fresh at room temperature. The beetroot juice tastes naturally sweet, especially if made with other vegetable juices like carrot juice.
Other Beet Juice Recipes
Other juice recipes include beets mixed with other fresh juices:
- Lemon
- Apple, especially green apple juice
- Spinach
- Pomegranate seeds
- Yellow beets are a good addition or replacement for red beets
- Radish for a kick, or another nutritious root vegetable
Benefits of Drinking Beet Juice First Thing in The Morning
Homemade beet juice is a nutritious drink best drunk first thing in the morning as a juice cleanse on an empty stomach and at least 30 minutes before your next meal.
Beet Juice Helps with Detoxification
Fresh beet juice, especially with fresh lemon, helps the body detox all those toxins that have built up, like from yesterday’s less-than mentionable snacks and the polluted air you breathed on your way home from work.
Beet Strengthens the Immune System
Beets combined with carrot juice and orange juice offer a shot of vitamin C that prepares your body first thing in the morning to strengthen the immune system, building defense against viruses.
Beet Juice Builds Your Energy
Beets help conserve energy, which helps your body stay alert for longer. What better way to start the day?
There are many other benefits to drinking beet juice, including improving blood flow and to by strengthening blood vessels, helps to lower blood pressure, skin health benefits,
How Much Beet Juice Is Ok to Drink?
Raw beets contain oxalates, natural toxins present in the fresh beet, that can aggravate and develop kidney stones. You should drink just one to two small glasses of beet juice per day, or avoid raw beets entirely if you have problems with kidney stones.
If you’re new to consuming raw beetroot, start with one small glass and work your way up to two after a few days so that your body can learn to accept the beet juice health benefits without any negative effects.
Cooked beetroots on the other hand, don’t have such a toxic effect. Besides drinking beet juice and even making my neighbor’s beetroot juice recipe on occasion myself, I’ve been buying more beets in the market and including them in veggie roasts, salads, and even pasta sauce.
Beetroot Juice Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 One red beet
- 1 Carrot
- 1 Fresh ginger root Chunk about the size of your thumb, peeled
- 1 One orange
Instructions
- Fill a blender vase 1/3 to half-way full
- Roughly chop and add beet root, carrot, fresh ginger root, and a peeled and quartered orange
- Blend the fresh fruits and roots with water until any chunks turn to a fine pulp
- Use a fine mesh strainer to filter out all the pulp if you don't like the bits
- Let the beet juice sit for one or two hours and don't serve immediately, because it can upset your stomach if it's too fresh
