This is my go to smoothie if I’m not feeling well. It’s a good way to get your winter vegetables in and boost immunity! It’s delicious and such a beautiful color. This smoothie uses the entire beet including the leaves. Combined with carrot tops, these are the greens in the smoothie. Carrots, apple, and orange add sweetness, while ginger adds some zing!
I would urge anyone who thinks they don’t like beets to try this smoothie. The citrus and ginger pair really well with beets and take away any earthy flavor. Beets are naturally sweet and they’re soooooo good for you! They’re full of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds that help protect the liver from damage. One of the main jobs the liver has is to detoxify your blood. So give your liver a boost and detox with this smoothie!
A Weird Conversation
This is a little awkward…but after you eat or drink beets does your urine turn red? A few years ago, before I started drinking green smoothies, I would have raised my hand. It’s called beeturia and it’s a real thing. For the most part it’s harmless, but real. It doesn’t happen to everyone. It can be caused by low iron levels or low stomach acid. Mine was the latter. After drinking green smoothies I noticed this went away. Here is some background on why green smoothies helped this situation.
Stomach acid is a good thing and essential to life. Without it our bodies can’t digest and absorb nutrients from food. The first way food is broken down so nutrients can be absorbed is in your mouth by chewing. The more food is broken down by chewing, or in this case blended into a smoothie, the more surface area it has and the easier the nutrient absorption is for your body. Also, the fiber in a green smoothie keeps things moving which results in your digestive system having to work less. Annnnnd last but not least, eating more raw fruits and veggies can help increase stomach acid!!
If you want to learn more about my experience with green smoothies and why they’re so awesome, then check out my Why Green Smoothies? page.
Notes About Ingredients
Beets – They’re grown in the ground so make sure to wash and scrub thoroughly! No one wants a dirt smoothie! Use a vegetable peeler to peel the beets before you use them. Beet greens contain calcium, vitamin A, K, C, and iron. As said earlier, the entire plant promotes healthy liver function.
Carrot Tops – Great to use in a smoothie so they don’t go to waste. I will also use carrot tops in place of parsley. If I’m making a soup or stew that has carrots in it, I will finely chop the tops and use that instead of buying parsley.
Ginger – Ginger is powerful! It acts as an antioxidant, has anti-inflammatory properties and can help with nausea. A little goes a long way for flavor!
Chia Seeds – Chia seeds have a lot of great health benefits. I add them to this recipe because they actually help keep the juice and fiber from separating after you’re done blending! It’s a lot easier to drink this way!
My Normal Spiel
The point of green smoothies is to get more leafy greens into your diet without adding a lot of extra sugar or calories, and still have it taste good so you’ll want to drink it! This isn’t a meal replacement or protein smoothie. The amount of fruit you use may vary depending on the season and what the fruit tastes like.
