Juicing: Beet Greens and Turmeric Root

 

Want to know another way to get dark, leafy greens into your diet?

Beet greens.

Buying bunch beets where the greens are still attached to the beets is a good way to help yourself consume more greens. I usually juice the greens, but you can also use them in salads. If I’m going to have them in a salad, I like to mix them in with other greens like romaine, spinach or spring mixes.

You’ve probably heard of turmeric; it’s what gives mustard its yellow color and is a spice that originated in India. I never thought it was anything more than that until I came across this article one time called, ’10 Ways To Get More Turmeric’.

I then became interested in turmeric and began to read about it more. I found a chapter dedicated to ‘The Golden Spice’ in the book Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects. It turns out turmeric has a long history of being used as a traditional medicine and may provide many health benefits including relieving arthritis because of its anti-inflammatory properties, improving digestion, helping with menstruation, aiding in dispelling worms and other intestinal discomfort, and supporting the liver. In a nutshell, “modern in vitro studies reveal that turmeric is a potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimutagenic, antimicrobial, and anticancer agent.”

So with the help of the aforementioned article and others like it, I started trying to incorporate more turmeric in my diet (because why not?!). One easy way to do this is by juicing the root! I find it by the ginger root in the produce section at a local grocery store, Meijer, and you could also look for it at ethnic (Indian or Asian) grocery stores or Whole Foods.