This recipe should really be called, “Liver and blood support salad.” Here’s why…
Beets have been known throughout the culinary medicine world as a classic blood builder.
If we simply look at the doctrine of signatures, that makes perfect sense. Slicing into a fresh beet can quickly resemble a scene from a slasher movie! Your hands will get coated in deep red beet juice and your cutting board, too.
Beets are rich in naturally occurring nitrates that are converted into nitric oxide, that help to relax and dilate blood vessels, and improve blood circulation. Nice!
Beets contain a wide range of nutritional content including: carotenoids, lutein/zeaxanthin, glycine, betaine, fiber, vitamin C, copper, iron, magnesium, and phosphorous.
The betaine in beets, stimulates the detoxification phases of the liver.
Beets also have the highest sugar content of all vegetables. This is both good and not-so-good news. For example if you need an energy boost, the sugar content in beets is great and can give you the support needed to get moving and grooving!
But, if you have blood sugar instability (like diabetes) and don’t exercise much, beets may not be the best choice for you. But, with that being said, beets are still a much better choice than eating a candy bar. Pick your sugars wisely!
I like to pair beets with green apples and parsley in this salad. The apples adds extra fiber and malic acid that helps to soften stones (both gallbladder and liver) and improve digestive health, and the parsley is great for the kidneys.
Do your liver and blood a favor and eat some beets!
- 1 large beet or 2 medium sized beets
- 2-3 cups baby greens or lettuce
- 1 apple, cored and diced
- ¼ cup parsley, chopped
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tbsp. lemon juice
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- Put beets into a pot of boiling water and cook until you can pierce it (25-30 minutes)
- Let the beets cool.
- Peel the beets and dice into ½ inch cubes
- Put greens, beets, apple and and parsley into a large mixing bowl.
- Whisk oil, lemon, salt and pepper.
- Pour over salad and toss.
Andrea Beaman is an internationally renowned Holistic Health Coach, Natural Foods Chef, Speaker, Herbalist and best-selling author. Named one of the top 100 Most Influential Health and Fitness Experts, she is also a recipient of the Natural Gourmet Institute’s Award for Excellence in Health-Supportive Education and a Health Leadership award from The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Since 1999, Andrea has been teaching people how to harness the body’s own preventative and healing powers using food, herbal remedies and alternative medicine.
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