Someone told me recently that I should try juicing beet… greens. She advocated beets, and especially the greens, as being great for cleansing the body as well as for satisfying cravings. I’ve been enjoying the beets and the greens in several ways.
The Green Smoothie Blog says, “Beet greens are delicious and are rich in vitamins and minerals as well as beta-carotene and lutein. They have almost twice the potassium of the beet root and contain high levels of folic acid...” Read more here.
In my Whole Foods the beets are sold alone – no greens. On Saturday I went to the farmers’ market to track down some with the greens still attached, so that I could make these…
I made juices with the beet greens.
- juice #1 (gave some to Bobby): beet greens, a cucumber, celery, 1/2 lime, fuji apple, part of a granny smith apple, knob of ginger, mint
- juice #2 (just me): beet greens, 3 mini cucumbers, bottoms of some Asian greens, part of a granny smith apple, 1/2 lime, knob of ginger
They look crazy when they come out.
Did you know that beets have the highest sugar content of all vegetables, but are still very low in calories? (The World’s Healthiest Foods; Sept. 7, 2009.)
Did you know that people used to just eat the greens of beets? We only started eating the roots about 2000 years ago but the greens were prepared long before that.
Betacyanin, the pigment that makes beets red, can increase the oxygen-carrying ability of the blood by up to 400%. Beets are used to treat leukemia. They can prevent varicose veins (I’m so in!). They stimulate the liver and help our bodies cleanse. Beet juice is highly alkaline (most people are overly acidic).
Beets are pretty powerful, so don’t go overdosing too quickly. Like all good things, beets are best in moderation.
Do YOU like beets?
Oh, yes – Happy Labor Day! Here’s a little blurb about the words.
JUST started liking beets about a month ago 😀
Thanks I am gonna try some in my salad. I am laughing at your pun on beet! Very clever…ahhahah now I have “Beat it “stuck in my head!
Love it! I wish I would have known that about beet greens before I juiced the ones I had from the garden–I just threw them away! What a shame. Next time, I guess. Thanks for the info.
I adore beets–thanks for all that info! When my mom had my sister (loooong time ago), she lost a lot of blood because my sister was so big (9lbs). The doctor told her to eat tons of beets for it. Now I know why 🙂
Look at you and all your RAW creations! Good Eats? NO?
I gotta make me some gold exixer…..gotta gotta
off to get me some love of words!
love the purple green color of the juice! so pretty! 😀
great info about the beets, I hope I can find beets green somewhere! 🙂
I do NOT like beets. I think that is the first veggie I have found that I will NOT eat!!:) I think they smell and taste like dirt–not that I’ve eaten dirt, but it sure taste like I ‘think’ dirt would taste like. Maybe I can get brave enough to try juicing some but I don’t know. The juice is pretty anyway:)
Happy Labor Day!
I LOVE beets. I used to eat lots and lots of them when I was pregnant with “you know who” to get enough iron since I was a vegetarian then. My mother used to make pickled beets every Easter and she would throw in some hard boiled eggs and they would turn purple…..a comfort food for me.
Wow, that juice looks super crazy and cool! I just tried beets for the first time a month ago, and I like em 🙂 I mostly eat them on salads. I am afraid of it getting on my clothes and staining them, though!
beets and apples can add sweetness to a green juice for someone who’s not used to the grassiness of this concoction. But like you said, it’s all best in moderation due to the sugar content. I had an all-green juice today at a juice bar. Woh! Powerful stuff! I couldn’t even finish the 10 oz. Felt bad paying so much for it yet not finishing it.
You know, I’m not sure if I like beets or not. Racking my brains and can’t think if I’ve ever tried them before. Will have to look for them at the grocery store!
I love love love beets and ate the greens for the first time last year!
i discovered this summer that i love beets too! i like ’em boiled and plain on a salad. i did make pickled beets last week but they have to set for awhile before i try them. check out my post today for a roasted beet recipe! yum. haven’t tried the greens yet but am intrigued…
I loooove beets! I love them in my green/pink/yuckycolored smoothies, roasted, pickled…yummy.
I think I’m roast some today!