Another beautiful health jewel from the Doctrine of Signatures

The Jewel in the Crown of the Vegetable Kingdom

Beetroot or Beta Vulgaris cicla is a beautiful shade of deep ruby red when you cut her heart open. Betaine is the carotenoid responsible for the beet’s ruby red heart, but the outside of the beet is only the beginning of understanding the vast benefits of this exciting and somewhat submerged secret of the vegetable world. Underneath this beautiful pigment lies a sprawling web and cascade of beneficial phytochemical presence and activity (herbal help). Fresh beet juice has a long history of being used to treat anemia as well as multiple disorders of the bladder and kidneys.

Benefits of Beat-root

• Defeats Kidney Stones
• Manages Blood Pressue
• Protects the Heart
• Strengthens Bones
• Works to Prevent Cancer

Beet-root is sweet. Here is a Fun Fact. Did you know Beet-root is so sweet that 40% of global production of refined sugar is made from Beet-root and not sugar cane! Hot tip if you are trying to kick a sugar habit. Reach for beet-root first, then if craving is persisting have your prefered sugar source and hit. Eating the Beet-root will meet your sugar craving and also give you a whole lot more in terms of nutrition and phyto-chemical help. Beet-root is jam packed with potassium, magnesium, beta-carotene and folate (B12). Both the leaves and the root full of the goodies.

Defeats Kidney Stones

Reducing your risk of getting kidney stones requires that you increase your intake of potassium-rich foods like beet-root and beet-root leaves. Knowing this is the easy part, doing this requires some behaviour change. Understanding the benefits assists in providing a baseline of motivation but introducing a new behaviour or developing a new habit is a process. Try and begin with a small achievable goal to build confidence. Increase the scope of your new habit, when you have mastered the homeopathic version, just a touch of the medicine.

Manages Blood Pressue

Eating a few beet-roots and other foods, also high in potassium, will help control your blood pressure. This is because if you are working to keep your potassium levels up, your blood pressure will stay down. Other foods that are high in potassium are dried apricots and avocado. Although celery is not super loaded in terms of percentage, on potassium, eating or juicing celery will also increase your potassium levels. Celery also has an added bonus of assisting the body to release excess fluid and water retention.

Protects the Heart

Beet-roots derails heart disease. Folate is a heart friendly nutrient because it facilitates the reduction of homocysteine levels in the blood. Homocysteine is a by product of animal protein metabolism which can both damage and narrow the arteries. This in turn increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Eat beet-root to help the heart stay healthy and happy.

Strengthens Bones

Beet-root also helps strengthen bones. Eating beet-root also protects the body from osteoporosis. The ruby red of the beet-root is rich in three nutrients – potassium, magnesium and beta-carotene. All three of these little gems help bones get strong and stay there.

Last but not least ~ Beeturia

Yes – we are talking about number ones here – red wee! Beeturia is the technical term for pink or red wee following the consumption of beet-roots. Yes it is a recognised and documented condition. If this happens to you, as you increase your consumption of beet-roots – you are not mad and nothing is bleeding. The red beet-root pigment has coloured your urine because the pigment passed intact along the gastrointestinal tract – this can happen, in some people. How exciting! Some of the pigment is absorbed and excreted in the urine, while the rest passes out in the stool. This means – number twos may also look a bit different.

I have found the Holy Grail for Chocolate Lovers. I have been looking long time. Yes the almost sugar-free, gluten free, brownie that uses Beet-root as the source of sweet. I warn you – it is, as yet, untested … I hope to get on to this prontos because Clangers went to some Sugar Industry thing, in recent times, for work and brought back a mysterious package of one of the key ingredients … cocount palm sugar. Mysterious. This item is required.

Here’s the link to the original source Chocolate Beet Brownies but I have repeated the recipe here in case the link is lost for reasons best known to the Overlords of Cyberspace.

Dark Chocolate Beet Brownies

For the Brownie Batter

2 cups beets puree (2 medium beets, peeled & quartered)

1 ½ cup hot water
2 cups almond flour
3/4 cup golden flax meal
1 cup raw cacao powder
3/4 cup coconut palm sugar
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder (aluminum-free)
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp mesquite powder
½ tsp sea salt
1 tbsp vanilla extract
½ cacao butter, melted
½ cup cacao paste, melted

For the Chocolate Icing

4 dates, pitted and soaked
1 avocado
1 tbsp virgin coconut oil
¼ cup raw honey
½ cup raw cacao powder

To Make the Brownie, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Peel and quarter the beets, then place in a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes to soften. Remove from heat and water, allowing beets to cool. Transfer to a food processor or high-speed blender and puree with ½ cup water until a smooth liquid. Set aside.

While the beets are cooking, use your dehydrator or double boiler to begin slowly melting the cacao butter and paste on low heat until it is a liquid using a dehydrator or double boiler. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Stir in the beet mixture and the vanilla extract until well combined. Fold in the cacao butter and paste, careful not to over mix. Grease a small baking sheet with coconut oil, then pour in the brownie mixture. Even out the mixture using a spatula. Place in the oven to bake for 30 minutes – or until you can stick a toothpick and remove clean. Allow mixture to cool completely before spreading the frosting on.

To Make The Frosting, first add the dates to your high-speed blender or food processor, pulsing until it becomes a paste. Add in the avocado, coconut oil and raw honey next, process until creamy. Last, add the cacao powder and blend until smooth. Can be stored in an airtight container up to 5 days in your fridge.

To Assemble, once the brownies have cooled, spread the frosting evenly using a spatula. Cover and place in your fridge for 2-3 hours to allow the frosting and brownie to set. Cut in 2-inch squares and enjoy! Store in your fridge for up to 5 days…but I dare you to make it last that long!

Yields 16-20 small brownies

Good Times!