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Broccoli Beet Juice and Juicing FAQ

This broccoli beet juice recipe will nourish you, and our juicing FAQ answers all of the questions we get about juicing and juice cleanse. 

FAQ originally published August 10, 2011

 

Two glasses of deep red fresh juice on a white background. A large tree of broccoli, a half lemon, and a garlic bulb sit next to the juice, indicating some of the vegetables that were juiced.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS - Jump to any section:

    1. Why you'll love this juice
    2. Benefits of juicing
    3. FAQ: We answer reader questions
    4. Jump to recipe: Broccoli Beet Juice

 

A brushed stainless steel juicer pours bright orange juice out into a glass pitcher with a handle.

 

Simple and tasty juice recipe

I am not a medical professional dispensing advice; anyone contemplating a dietary change should first consult their doctor. I am simply sharing my own experiences and what worked for me. Every person is different, with a variety of dietary needs, and what works for one may not be best for another.

This broccoli beet juice is one of many nourishing recipes we created during our juice cleanse. Deep earthy flavors of beet pair with bright lemon and vitamin rich broccoli. We love these flavors as is, and will add an apple or carrots if we want our juice a little sweeter.

In the summer of 2011, we completed a juice fast and enjoyed a raw food diet. We have been juicing ever since - several times a week. We include raw foods in our meal plans, which has been beneficial. 

Our version of a juice fast is actually a feast. In addition to fresh juice, we eat nuts for protein and energy, and whole fruits and vegetables for fiber and satisfying our need to crunch and eat.

 

Two glasses of deep red fresh juice on a white background. A large tree of broccoli, a half lemon, and a garlic bulb sit next to the juice, indicating some of the vegetables that were juiced.

 

Benefits of a juice fast

In addition to the benefit of extra energy, detoxing and improved sleep, raw food recipes found us both headache free, with no allergy or congestion symptoms, and for me, less joint / muscle pain. I am more aware of how my body acts and reacts, and I feel clear, both internally and in my mind.

In addition to nutrient packed juice (still mostly vegetable, generally only one fruit for every 3-4 vegetables), I begin the day with lemon water and probiotics. Daily dry brushing before showering is another self care item I look forward to.

Juice fasting gives your digestive system a break. The body spends little to no energy on digestion, and can expend that in the cleansing and detoxing process. Drinking the juice immediately after juicing gives you the benefits of the enzymes, which improve digestion and increase nutrient absorption.

This process was made easier for me because I have not been drinking coffee or alcohol for quite some time, don't regularly eat sugar or many processed foods. When we have eaten, in most cases I have made very clean choices.

 

One glass of bright orange juice sits on a bright white surface. Two lemon halves, a large broccoli tree, and a garlic bulb sit next to the juice.

 

Frequently Asked Questions:

Are you getting enough protein?

I have heard doctors, nutritionists, other qualified professionals say there is too much focus on protein. In the past, I have been one of these people, always making sure there is a good amount of protein included in each meal and snack. What I have realized is that for short periods of time, I get an adequate amount of protein and other nutrients with a juice fast – broccoli and spinach are both great sources.

Additionally, fresh juice is a highly digestible food that is packed with nutrients, raw enzymes, vitamins and antioxidants. In our method of "feasting" fast, I get healthy fats from avocado, nuts, and omegas (flax, chia). Fats are important for so many reasons, and without adequate amounts, our bodies are in starvation mode and store fat.

What is grocery shopping like?

When we started juicing regularly, I learned very quickly which markets have reasonably priced organics. Even more importantly, I learned which markets have the highest quality produce and which ones do not.

Normally the majority of my grocery shopping is from the produce section. Bulk items and staples like beans, grains and pasta make up the rest. My shopping now is even more efficient – I have a master list of all the vegetables and fruit we like, and I check what is needed before I leave the house.

Portland’s farmers markets have been a great source of many of our veggies, and we know they are fresh and local.

Do you use organic, and why?

I buy as much organic as possible, if it looks good. If the non organic looks fresher or what I want isn’t available, I’ll buy non organic. I then make sure to scrub clean (I do this with everything) and in some cases I will take the time to peel the skin.

Why do I use organic? Little to no chemicals, wax residue or preservatives is a good thing, and the absence of those things also means fresher produce with more nutrients. Also, organic pulp can be used things like dog treats – no waste!

Organic produce or not, juicing is highly beneficial.

How can I start juicing?

Prepare ahead of time. A week or so prior, cut back and stop coffee, alcohol, processed foods - eating as clean as possible.

If you can fast for at least 10 days you will see benefits. The first couple days of a juice fast, your body is processing the food remaining in your digestive system. The next couple of days, your body focuses on the reserves stored in your liver. After 3-5 days, your juice fast really begins!

Start with your favorite fruit and vegetables, so it will be something you want to consume. Gradually move to most if not all vegetables, with one fruit here and there. Plan to shop every few days if possible, or invest in green bags that prolong the life of produce.

Finally, know where you can find fresh juice away from home – juice bars, gyms, even Jamba Juice has fresh juice!

Did you have unpleasant reactions?

Since I juice regularly anyway, and eat fairly clean much of the time, I did not experience many of the common side effects of a juice fast. Some of the possible temporary effects resulting from detoxing include headaches, dizziness, breakouts, feeling tired or lethargic, weight loss.

The first couple of days I was a little tired, and in five weeks I have had ONE headache (a happy and positive side effect!). I lost 10 pounds in the first couple weeks, and another 5 since. I am not in the habit of a scale, and I think the weight loss has plateaued.

The positives include increased energy and we feel incredibly healthy!

How do you know what tastes good; do you have a favorite recipe?

I don’t always know what will taste good – trust me, not all of my juices turn out well!

I have had to go back and add some pineapple or apple to mask some interesting flavors. I happen to be one of those people who loves the taste of greens, so most things still taste good to me.

I am juicing for Jason, too, and while he likes a lot of flavor combinations too, I do try to make things taste good and have a vast collection of recipes for all of your juicing needs!

How long will you do this?

I am currently on a 2 week fast, the end of which is timed with an upcoming event. (We have had weddings, house guests, birthdays and other events where we happily broke fast).

We are loving this, and are talking about keeping it up long term in some form. I have some great new raw food recipe ideas that I cannot WAIT to incorporate, and will juice regularly, at least once a day.

Are you still exercising?

I am exercising regularly while juice fasting. For the first week, it was very little – walking only. Now I am running (or at least faced paced walking!), weight lifting, and all of my regular activities at regular intensity depending on the day.

Do you juice once a day to drink all day, or several times a day?

The enzymes and nutrients in fresh juice begin to break down immediately, so I drink it immediately and make fresh juice each time to get the most out of my juicing. Yes, I know for many, the biggest complaint is having to clean the juicer.

Do you clean your juicer each time?

Yes, I do clean my juicer each time I juice.

I make myself clean it before I drink my juice, and it really only takes a few more minutes, at most. I have it down to a pretty quick routine now:

  1. Turn on the hot water as soon as I am done juicing
  2. Grab my scrub brush and just clean each piece as I take it apart
  3. Stack all juicer components on drying mat

After much use and sitting on the drying rack by my kitchen window sometimes in the sun, the pieces have become slightly cloudy over time. This does not affect the juice or juicer at all.

Additionally, once or twice a week I’ll run the dishwasher safe pieces through the dishwasher (EXCEPT the plunger – that will melt / lose shape and not fit right after).

Yes, it can be a pain with what, six pieces plus wiping down the base, but when I think of cleaning dishes and cooking equipment, I think it more than balances out. If you think of how much time you are probably saving, the extra clean up each time might be more manageable?

What kind of juicer do you have?

When we started juicing, we used thisjuice fountain, which is the same juicer Joe Cross uses in the documentary Fat Sick and Nearly Dead. Jason and I saw this movie about a week after we began our fast, and it completely validated what we were doing, and gave us even more motivation. 

When we realized juicing was going to be a standard practice, we upgraded to a cold press, twin gear juice extractor. This juicer is extremely efficient, producing a large amount of juice and minimal pulp, which is very dry.

It juices leafy greens very well also - I never juiced greens in my centrifugal, instead I would juice and then blend the greens in after. I still do this for more protein (spinach), but if I want only juice, we now have the benefit of greens.

Another benefit of the Super Angel - the twin gear mechanism grinds the produce in such a way that the enzymes do not immediately begin to break down - I still drink most of the juice right away, but if we want to take juice with us to work during the day, it will still be nutrient rich hours later.

 

Two glasses of deep red fresh juice on a white background. A large tree of broccoli, a half lemon, and a garlic bulb sit next to the juice, indicating some of the vegetables that were juiced.

 

Did you make this broccoli beet juice? 

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Yield: 2 servings

Broccoli Beet Juice

Two glasses of deep red fresh juice on a white background. A large tree of broccoli, a half lemon, and a garlic bulb sit next to the juice, indicating some of the vegetables that were juiced.

Easily increase your daily veggie intake with this bright and earthy juice. We answer all of our reader questions about juicing!

Prep Time 7 minutes
Total Time 7 minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Juice the garlic clove first, so the other veggies can push the garlic residue through the juicer.
  2. Continue juicing the lemons, beets, and broccoli.
  3. Pour juice into glasses and enjoy immediately.

Notes

Benefits of this juice blend

First, I am not a doctor, and I am not qualified to give medical advice. Juicing does not replace any medical plan or medications. Juicing can be part of a healthy diet and a way to ensure you are getting nutrients through recommended servings of fruits and vegetables.

If you do not have a juicer but you do have a powerful high speed blender, you can chop all of these veggies small enough to blend at high speed, making a delicious smoothie with all the fiber benefits.

You can also simply eat these veggies! Make a big salad brimming with the beneficial fiber in addition to the other benefits these vegetables bring.

I chose the first 5 ingredients of this recipe for their vitamins, minerals, and antioxidant properties, which is feel good energy for me! The other fruit ingredients were chosen for natural sweetness.

For potential benefits of these specific vegetables, let's go down the ingredient list:

How we recover from travel, exercise, and more

We travel pretty often, for both business and vacation.

Travel can be exhausting in many ways. Long travel days, recycled airplane air, late nights, dinners out, celebratory cocktails and fun, fun, fun. All of this can wear you down.

When I return home from travel, I crave fresh food like avocado shiitake spring rolls, juicy grapefruit kale salad, and flavorful and satisfying Mediterranean lentil salad.

I also use my juicer to make deliciously beneficial juice like this one, that I call my healthy defense juice.

We have been juicing regularly for at least a couple decades, and we love it so much! We used a few juicers until we got serious and invested in a cold press, horizontal twin gear slow juicer. 

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

2

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 188Total Fat: 1gSodium: 71mgCarbohydrates: 14gFiber: 4gSugar: 5gProtein: 4g

nutrition calculations results vary by calculator, are for informational purposes only, and are not intended to replace medical advice or treatment.

© Kristina Sloggett
Cuisine: Gluten Free / Category: daily juice

about Kristina:

Kristina is spabettie! She found cooking at an early age, and created spabettie in 2010 to share vegan recipes. Kristina turned her culinary training into sharing vibrant vegan food!  Read more...

Kristina sits on a deck chair in the back yard with her dog, Dutch.

spabettie / Kristina Sloggett is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. anne says

    Forgive me if this has been asked/answered already. You say that after your juice fast you had events coming up. Do you morph into eating normally again? It seems to me that if you fast for a while it would be hard on the digestive system to go right into eating again, especially at special events.

    Reply

    • Kristina Sloggett says

      yes, I definitely reintroduced whole foods slowly - and started with raw, salads, and other mild foods for a few days. the first event we had after our juice fast - "feast" was a wedding, and I started eating raw foods for dinners, while still juicing all day, two days prior.

      Reply

  2. Joy says

    I followed a friends advice and got the same Breville juicer a couple months ago and I love it! I juice every morning for my son and I but time constraints we have not done a juice fast. I have noticed an improvement in my skin and hair and don't feel the need for caffeine like I used to, and sweets really turn me off these days... Can't remember the last time I wanted chocolate.
    You mentioned the cleaning part, and I don't think that it's that bad. I get up every morning and juice before my son leaves for work, I juice and clean in like 20 min then sit and enjoy my creation before I get ready for work. Best hint, put a bag in the waste receptical (or as we refer to it, the compost container) and it makes things so much easier! Great blog! Thanks for some really interesting info!

    Reply

    • Kristina Sloggett says

      hi Joy! glad to hear you are enjoying your juicing! you definitely do not need to fast to enjoy the many MANY benefits! fresh juice does replace the need for caffeine, and I know the feeling of craving CLEAN foods rather than sugar or heavier foods - just doesn't sound good.

      once you get into your routine, it is not a big deal to clean the juicer, and I always clean it before I enjoy my juice 🙂

      Cheers!

      Reply

  3. lupe says

    Can you snack while juicing if you can what do you recommend?

    Reply

    • Kristina Sloggett says

      you absolutely can, I do not follow any strict rules. I would say make it your own thing, I will not give any actual dietary advice. I can tell you that when I am juicing, I enjoy snacks like raw cashews and almonds (great protein source), raw veggies and fruit.

      Reply

  4. Dave says

    I started juice fast, today is my six day consist of just veggies and apples all day , should i start putting protein powder in my juice? so i wont go on starvation mode cuz my goal is to go for 2 months

    Reply

  5. marie berry says

    I have a question. I just started my juicing fast. I plan on remaining on it for at least 10-15 says. During this time can I eat raw fruits and vegetabales during the day between meal drinks? Do you have to consume only juice for fast to work? How man ounces are recommended a day for beginners?

    Thanks,
    MARIE

    Reply

    • Kristina Sloggett says

      hi Marie,

      there are so many variables, and when I complete a fast I do so with my own rules. so to say a fast will "work" you need to look at your goals for doing the fast - what are your reasons?

      my goals for my fast were to "get clean" - I know how good I feel when I eat clean, and I had been eating processed and heavy foods. on my fast, I drink mostly juice, but if I was hungry I may eat a handful of raw almonds or cashews, or even a raw salad. (this makes it more of a "raw food cleanse"). I was not super strict and I still realized my goals.

      a "true" juice fast is one where after the first 3 days or so, your body has finished processing the food remaining in your digestive system, and gets a break because all you are doing is drinking juice - very easy on the digestive system. so if that is your goal, juice is the way to go.

      I encourage people to make their own rules - if you are more satisfied you have a better chance of completing the "cleanse".

      Reply

      • froggiealicia says

        If my goal is to detox as well as losing weight should I just juice with no added raw produce or nuts? I added a piece of raw fruit and few raw nuts between meals because I was starving and had no energy.

  6. froggiealicia says

    I am overwhelmed to say the least. A friend of mine has lost 20 lbs juicing in intervals. She began with juice fast, will eat pretty healthy on weekends then resume 3-5 day juice fast in between. I'm on my second day, but after speaking with her feel like I messed up because I've been adding chia seeds to my juices and will get a piece of raw fruit with 6 almonds when my stomach is growling. I'm 20 lbs overweight and really want to lose it, but do it in a healthy manner. So...can I add flax or chia and if so how often and what about raw fruit and eating nuts? Please help.

    Reply

    • Kristina Sloggett says

      hello!

      first off, please do not feel like you've done anything wrong or that you messed up! you are doing just fine - the major thing I try to stress to people is if this is no fun you will not stick with it! I also encourage you to make your own rules - there is no one way to do this - adding chia to your juice is a GOOD thing! it will only increase the nutrients and make it even better for you, and it will add to the staying power, keeping you satisfied longer. also, eating raw fruit and almonds is GREAT as well - not at all a bad thing! I often had a handful of raw almonds or cashews when I was hungry or just wanted something to chew.

      you are doing GREAT, no reason to feel overwhelmed! this can still help you achieve your goal - you do not have that much to lose in the overall big picture, you know? if you are feeling very hungry, eating something is good, this is not about depriving yourself. when I consume juice only, I drink A LOT of juice to stay satisfied - and often ate fruit, dried fruit (dates and apricots!), vegetables and nuts.

      make up your own rules so you are happy with this!

      Reply

  7. Wayne Kennedy says

    My wife and I are on day three of a planned ten day fast. I will say to those of you contemplating this, it is harder then it seems. I find myself thinking of food all the time!! However I feel better already and plan on juicing for a long time in my future! We are using the Breville as well. I recommend everyone see the movie Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead if you need that extra push to buy a juicer! Good luck to all of you that are going for it!

    Reply

    • spabettie says

      that is a good point and reminder, Wayne - especially the first few days of a fast, you really think about food. we found it does get easier though, I hope that is the same experience you and your wife are having? that movie is a great one - we have watched it more than once! hope things are going well for you two! cheers, Kristina

      Reply

  8. Jocelyn says

    Thank you for writing about your juicing! I am intrigued and thinking about trying a juice fast. I have a Vita-mix blender, though, but I am not thinking anything would be different, just that I am consuming everything that goes in.
    PS do you add chia seeds or flax seeds into your juicer?

    Reply

    • spabettie says

      hi Jocelyn!

      using your Vita Mix will be fine, it will result in more of a smoothie, as the whole fruit/veggie will be included, so you will get the added benefit of fiber. a juicer is different, as it extracts the juice, and the idea of a "fast" is to give your digestive system a break from digesting - juice alone doesn't have much "breaking down" to go through. but YES - just as I made my "fast" my own, using your Vita will be fantastic, and you will achieve the awesome benefits, nutritionally, energetically, all of that! (I am getting excited for you, can you tell?) 🙂

      I have not added chia or flax to my juicer - but I do often add to my smoothies, so I would definitely say go ahead!

      let me know how it goes for you - cheers!

      Reply

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