Has anyone used beets in their juicer? I have heard it's really good for you, but then ran across a few articles that scared me a little. I'd love to hear an actual experience and not just the theoretical articles.

What are they saying about beets in juicers?

I get beets as a veggie in my CSA box and I've juiced them along with other vegetables that came in the box...

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but what's a CSA box?

To be careful because too much beet juice can be hard on your kidneys and liver and cause nausea. Basically that it releases so many toxins and cleans you out so well, that your "filter organs" can sometimes get overloaded if you have too much.

http://vegetarian.lovetoknow.com/Bee...e_Side_Effects

http://www.everynutrient.com/beet-ju...e-effects.html

I don't have a juicer now but when I did I juiced beets regularly and will again when I get a new juicer.

I no longer juice my vegetables, preferring these days to just eat them whole to avoid the concentrations of sugars and the resulting unnecessary blood sugar spikes, and this way I get the fiber as well... Personally I don't think drinking calories is a good strategy when it comes to weight loss, but as far as drinking fresh beet juice for purely health reasons... I just don't see it offering that much benefit...

But if it's something that you enjoy and the calories fit into your plan, then I would think that in moderation it would be something that I wouldn't worry too much about...

CSA - Community Sponsored Agriculture

You essentially go in with a farm or group of farms to support them (usually organic) in their season (you pay them in advance) and then when there is a harvest, you get the results of the crop. If there is a good year, you get tons of veggies, if it's a bad year, you get less, obviously.

It's a way of supporting your local farmers (if you have them) and getting healthy, ripe veggies, without having to deal with a supermarket vegetables, which may have been shipped in from Chile or California or South Africa or Spain.

Oooh! I want to research that! Thanks!!

Update on the beets - I ended up having some symptoms for about an hour or two and then they went away. I'm wondering if it's something I will "get used to" or if that means I have a mild beet allergy and should stay away from them? My throat was v-e-r-y relaxed and felt a little tingly. It never went numb, but it was noticeable. And, I felt the drop in blood pressure. I have very low blood pressure anyway (usually about 90/60) and so even a small difference is noticeable for me. Maybe I should just drop the ratio of beets to the rest of the juice?

When I first started juicing, I was very skeptical and thought the same thing - don't drink your calories and wouldn't it be better to just eat the fruit/veggies? I'm not sure that I would have bought the juicer if it were just me, but DB bought it and starting making the juice for me and I admit - I'm hooked and I love it. I have one a day in the morning. And I'm not going to eat an apple, an orange, a cucumber, carrots and kale (my usual juice ingredients) before I leave for work normally. So, if I can cut it up and pop it in the juicer, I can drink it in 5 minutes and I'm good. I really miss it on the mornings I don't have it. And, it's truly just the juice from the fruit/veggies - it's not like the processed juices you get from the grocery store with added sugars. If I tried to consume it later during the day, I might be disappointed when I was still hungry a short period of time later, but for me, in the mornings I am not really hungry anyway so I am not looking for something to fill me up.

If you are interested in a CSA, I'd look now because many of the popular ones sell out in January around here even if the veggies don't come until May. I've done it a few times with pretty good results but the places I found tended to be fruit heavy while I like a more veggie heavy load. I order veggies once in a while from a CSA-like delivery where they get fruits/veggies from various farms in the area and offerings change from week to week.

Thanks for the info about the CSA. I think my town's CSA also has a stand at the local farmer's market, where food can be purchased 'a la carte', so to speak. So perhaps that's another place to visit, as I know our CSA is currently sold out for the spring-summer months but will have extra produce at the farmer's market.

I'm sure this will sound like a silly question, but.. when juicing beets, do you juice them raw?

Yup, juice them raw.

Thanks, that was what I wanted to ask.
As for the point of it being better to eat the whole fruit or veggies rather than juicing them, the juicing book I have has recipes to make soup from the pulp left when you juice.