Beet juice is mixed with apple and other juices to improve its flavor. It is very important to include the right amount of juice in your diet. "Too many people fail to realize that the difference between poison and medicine is always in the dose," sayd "Juicing Book" author Jesse Dallas. Beet and apple juice provide a number of essential vitamins and minerals and are especially healthy when made from raw sources.
Lower Blood Pressure
Eating apples as whole fruit, juice or applesauce is associated with a 30 percent decreased chance of high diastolic blood pressure and a 36 percent decreased chance of high systolic blood pressure, according to findings presented by researcher Victor Fulgoni at the "Experimental Biology 2008" meeting in San Diego, California. Fulgoni and his colleagues analyzed food consumption data from the 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, correlating specific foods with associated risk factors.
The high nitrate content in beets makes it very effective in lowering blood pressure, according lead researcher Vikas Kapil and study author Amrita Ahluwalia in their study of beet juice and nitrate supplement effectiveness published in June 2010. The study determined that just 250 ml of beet juice, which is a little more than a pint, resulted in effective blood pressure reduction.
Prevent Metabolic Syndrome
Fulgoni and his colleagues found that participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted between 1999 and 2004 who consumed juice, applesauce or whole apples regularly were 21 percent less likely to have large waists. Fewer apple-eating participants developed metabolic syndrome, a precursor to adult-onset diabetes.
But because beet sugar converts easily to lactic, uric and oxalic acid, beet juice consumption can increase risk factors for metabolic syndrome, according to Richard Johnson and colleagues in a 2007 study of sugar's role in metabolic syndrome published in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition."
Lower Free Radical Damage
Because beets are high in anthocyanins and other antioxidants, they are associated with lower risks of cancers caused by free radical damage. The triterpenoids in apple peel were effective against breast, liver and colon cancer cells in a Cornell University study conducted by Dr. Rui Hai Liu, published in May 2007.
References
- Juicing Book: Responsible Juicing
- U. S. Apple Association: Adults Who Eat Apples, Drink Apple Juice Have Lower Risk for Metabolic Syndrome
- "Hypertension"; Inorganic Nitrate Supplementation Lowers Blood Pressure in Humans; Kapil et al.; June 2010
- "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition"; Role of Sugar in Epidemic of Hypertension, Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome; Richard Johnson et al.; October 2007
- "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry"; Triterpenoids Isolated from Apple Peels Have Potent Antiproliferative Activity and May Be Partially Responsible for Apple's Anticancer Activity; Rui Hai Liu; May 2007
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