December is well and truly under way and while we speed towards the 25th and a new year, this month is filled with many parties and social engagements. For our livers, this means having to do extra work.

The Beetrootini is great for a liver cleanse – it helps your liver* do its job by cleansing and detoxifying the body.

Don’t worry if you don’t own a juicer – use a blender, and a sieve to strain the juice.

For two servings:

Ingredients

1 large beetroot or 2 small ones ¦ 2 apples ¦ ½ bulb of fennel, keeping your fennel fronds for garnish ¦ 1 orange ¦ ½ cucumber

To garnish

Fennel fronds ¦ Sprig of mint, for extra flavor rub mint around the rim of your glass before pouring in the juice ¦ 1 thin slice of orange

Preparation

1. Wash ingredients well ¦ 2. Remove top and tail and quarter beetroot leaving skin on ¦ 3. Quarter and remove stem of apples leaving skin on ¦ 4. Cut fennel into smaller chunks and remove core keeping fronds for garnish ¦ 5. Peel and quarter orange leaving as much white pith on as possible ¦ 6. Cut apples into quarters ¦ 7. Remove skin from ginger ¦ 8. Remove mint leaves from stems ¦ 9. Juice all veg and fruit, alternating between different types ¦ 10. Pour into 2 glasses, garnish, and enjoy!

Top tips

The leaves and root of your beets are edible; the root is a bulb with reddish flesh. Leaves should be removed immediately since they remove moisture from the beets. They can be stored in a fridge for up to 3 weeks.

The white pith from your orange has nearly as much Vitamin C as the flesh.

Like carrots, beets come in a variety of colours from deep red to orange and white. The Chioggia beet is called a candy cane because it has red and white rings.

Happy festive juicing!

 

Why are we using these ingredients?

Beetroot health benefits

Beetroot produces a colourful juice and is extremely good for our bloodstream. Red beet contains many minerals, especially iron, and is a tremendous aid to the liver and gall bladder, where bile is stored. Bile is used in the digestive process by breaking up fats, which is handy for this time of year, as we tend to eat richer food.

Fennel health benefits

Fennel gives a lovely licorice flavor and is fantastic for helping digestion, including heartburn, gas, bloating, loss of appetite and colic in infants. It’s also used for upper respiratory tract infections, since it is believed to relax the colon and decrease respiratory tract secretions.

* The liver’s job is to cleanse and detoxify our body and this happens in two phases or pathways. Phase 1 is responsible for breaking things down and sending the raw materials to phase 2, which builds new substances from the raw material by adding molecules to them; this is called conjugation.

Recipe adapted from “7 Day Juicing Health Plan” by Helen J Simpson.

 

Bev Hetherington is a Nutrition Therapist, Yoga Teacher, Juice Juggler, Seasonal Sprouter and Fermented Food Fan, and will be here each month with a new juice recipe. You can find out more about her services here.

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