If you’ve ever bought beets in the market, you would have noticed their little green leafy tops. These are called beet greens. What can you do with beet greens? If you’ve been treating them as waste, think again. Beet greens are a nutritional powerhouse and lend wonderfully to salads, soups, and juice. They are much more nutritionally dense than their beet counterparts.
How can you get the most out of them? Go ahead and juice them. Read ahead to know more about the nutritious beet greens and just how you can make the best of them by juicing.
What Should I Know About Beet Greens?
The benefits of using beet greens are many. Here’s what you should know about them.
Dark Green Leafy Vegetable
Yes, your beets qualify as a dark green leafy vegetable. They are storehouses of calcium and magnesium. Each serving of beet greens will give you 25% of the daily requirement of magnesium. This is much more than the amount in other greens like turnip and mustard greens.
Rank Higher than Beetroots
As far as their nutritional content is concerned, beet greens tend to rank slightly higher than beets. In the WHFoods Ranking, beet greens are ranked at a 20 and beetroots at 10. This means that beet greens have a more holistic nutritional profile than beets do. That being said, both are important for your overall health as they add up differently. How can you make the best of this knowledge?
Instead of separating your beets and beet greens, use both in your salads and juices. This makes for a holistic meal.
Contain Carotenoid Lutein
Leafy greens like spinach and collard greens are full of lutein, and this is one of the key reasons as to why they are consumed. Joining this elite club are beet greens. They are an excellent source of carotenoid lutein. In addition to this, they also contain beta-carotene. These nutrients will protect your eye health.
Storehouse of Iron
With a single cup serving of beet greens, your body will be treated to 15% of the daily recommended iron content. How does this compare with other vegetables? This simply means that beet greens are one of the highest-ranking vegetables that increase your iron content. If you are a vegetarian or vegan, adding beet greens to your diet is a great way of boosting iron content.
Now that you know about beet greens and why they should be added to your diet, you can proceed to juice them. Read ahead to know everything about juicing beet greens.
How to Pick the Best Beet Greens and Store Them?
If you are juicing beet greens, you will largely be doing this to gain the myriad health benefits. Beet Greens that are selected well will give you the most nutritional value. Here’s what to look out for when you pick your greens.
Pick Organic Beets
When you choose your beets, pick the organic variety. These beets are usually free from any chemicals, pesticides, and heavy metal residues. When you juice them, the beet greens from organic beets will be free of such toxins. This can give you the ultimate juicing experience.
Where can you buy these? Look no further than the local farmers market and enquire about their farming practices. If you are buying from a supermarket, look for beets and beet greens that are certified organic.
Beet Greens Quality
When you buy beet greens, also take a look at the quality of the beets themselves. This will give you an idea of just what to buy. Here are some quick tips.
- Buy smaller beets. These will have softer beet greens that are easier to juice.
- Avoid withered beet greens. Their nutritional profile will be lacking.
- Try to avoid elongated, scaly beets. Both the beets and their beet greens will be tough and strongly flavored in this case.
- Look for beet greens with sharp green color. These retain most nutrients while juicing.
Storing Your Beet Greens Before Juicing
This is one of the most important steps before juicing your beet greens. This keeps them fresh and nutritionally dense.
Once you have your beets, you want to separate the greens from the beets. To do this, cut the greens as close as possible to the beets to retain most of their body. Wash them and juice them immediately for maximum benefits.
If you plan on storing them for future use, it is highly recommended that you refrigerate them. You can store them unwashed in a plastic bag and refrigerate them. This will prevent oxidization due to exposure to light and heat. They will remain fresh for about 4 days. Following this, you can go ahead and juice them.
How to Juice Beet Greens?
You can use an intermediate juicer to juice your beet greens. As a general rule, masticating juicers are a good option for juicing greens. For your beet greens, these slow juicers crush the greens and extract the juices well. You can invest in a good quality masticating juicer for your beet greens and beets.
How can you juice your beet greens, right? If you dislike the bitter taste of greens, very tiny beets with tender leaves. They tend to have a lighter and pleasant taste. You can also steam them lightly for easier juicing.
Using a slow juicer will also preserve the fiber in your greens, adding to your overall health.
What can I Combine My Beet Greens with?
You can juice beet greens in a variety of ways. The most common way is to do it with the beets. This makes for a lovely red juice that can help with your health and skin woes. What else can you do?
Different combinations can offer different health benefits. If you’re looking for an immunity-boosting juice, combine your beet greens with some fresh cucumbers, apples, beets, and lemon. This sweet concoction is sure to keep you healthy. Add a little turmeric root for extra benefits.
To burn fats, a combination of celery, ginger, grapefruit, and beet greens is just what the nutritionist called for. For the best skin glow, here’s the right combination. Juicing beet greens with ginger, apples, celery, and carrots is a convenient option.
Benefits of Juicing Beet Greens
Now that you know how to juice your beet greens, here are a few benefits of juicing them. Juicing beet greens and consuming them consistently gives you a host of physical benefits. Read ahead to find out.
Increase Blood Flow
Beet greens make your blood flow more efficient and contribute to a healthy circulatory system. This also means that you will have an increased libido. How do beet greens achieve this? They are rich in nitrates, which promote this incredible function.
Beneficial for Eyes and Skin
Beet greens promote cell regeneration in your skin and eyes. This means great vision and healthy, glowing skin. The nutrient responsible for this is Vitamin A. Combine your beet greens with carrots for maximum benefits.
Beneficial for Anemia
We already know that beet greens are an excellent source of iron. Many anemias are associated with iron deficiency. Beet greens have enough iron content per serving to help anemics in managing their iron consumption. Even if you do not have anemia, this iron-rich source is a great option for your juices.
Mood-Boosting Properties
If stress has been weighing you down, look no further than beet greens. Juice them consistently for their mood-boosting properties. What makes them enhance your mood? They contain stores of phytonutrients like betaine and tryptophan. These signals your brain to release hormones like endorphin, oxytocin, and serotonin that improve your mood significantly.
If you are consistent with juicing beet greens and consuming them, these phytonutrients have bigger and better benefits. In the long run, these dark green leafy vegetables reduce your risk of stroke and coronary diseases.
Can Ease Your Hangover
This is a big plus if you’re looking for an instant boost of energy following a hangover. Juice your beets into concentrated shots and drink them up in a go. And there’s a remedy for even the trickiest hangover. Alcohol tends to deplete electrolytes, and beet greens replenish just that. Abundant levels of betacyanin help them do just that.
What’s better is that they contain a good amount of chlorophyll. This helps cleanse your blood of any toxins. Juice beet greens and soothe your hangovers.
Summing It Up
If you’ve been taking juicing seriously, you will want to consider beet greens. These valuable greens that grow atop beetroots are just what your nutritionist prescribed. They are a nutritional powerhouse with phytonutrients, antioxidants, and vitamins to add to your holistic health.
If you want your skin to glow and your eyes to shine bright, juicing beets is your answer. Choose a slow masticating juicer to preserve all of the nutrients and drink it immediately. You can also combine it with other veggies and fruits for just the perfect nutritional profile. Whether you’re looking to boost your health or cure a hangover, juicing beet greens can be your go-to solution.
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