- Roxie Daggett
Easy Beet, Carrot & Green Apple Relish: A Deliciously Gentle Detox
Updated: May 7
Dish up some lovin' to your liver and gallbladder with this ultra-simple, grated detox relish! Wonderful as a refreshing salad with your favorite protein or as a side dish. Easy to digest and fun to crunch on-- your digestive tract (thus your hormones, mood and brain) will thank you for this mega boost of cleansing fiber and nutrients!
Are We Really Exposed to 10,000+ Toxins Per Day???
There are estimates that we are each exposed to hundreds, and some say tens of thousands, of toxins and chemicals daily. From cosmetics and personal care products to furniture, mattresses and carpet to food cans and containers to pesticide residues on clothing and food to cleaning supplies to water to car exhaust and industrial pollution to dental work to pharmaceutical drugs to children's toys etc. etc.-- it's easy to believe our daily exposure is very, very high!
In fact, there are more than 80,000 registered chemicals used in the United States right now and the majority do not have any safety testing.
There is no doubt we ALL encounter plenty of indoor and outdoor air pollution everyday.
That's why gentle detox is a great habit to get into. Every. Single. Day!
Why Gentle, Everyday Detox?
Detoxing doesn't have to be intense. In fact, I prefer everyday detoxing to hardcore cleansing because it doesn't overwhelm your body with a flood of toxins. When you enter a gnarly detox program you run the risk of toxins getting backlogged and recirculating into your bloodstream, making you feel MUCH worse than when you started!
And what is the point of that?!
When you do daily, gentle detoxing through yummy foods and drinks, you support your body's natural cleansing machine-- namely the liver, gall bladder, digestive tract and immune system.
If you do choose to do a more intensive detox program be sure to read my article on how to know if and when your body is ready for nutritional detox.
In the meantime, try more mild methods like this nourishing relish and this morning hydrating tonic!
4 Simple Superfoods with Major Super Powers
This recipe includes some simple, but powerful cleansing foods that support your digestive tract and especially your liver and gallbladder-- your body's major cleansing organs
Beets: shown to have protective effects on the liver and also shown to boost glutathione production, our body's most powerful antioxidant which scavenges for free radicals including various environmental toxins
Carrots: supportive of bile flow and loaded with toxin-binding fiber, that some believe binds up excess estrogen (which many of us are subject to due to the high number of xenoestrogens in many personal care products such as shampoo and lotion); also shown to provide antioxidant protection
Green Apple: high in malic acid and traditionally used for gallbladder cleansing and also shown to help bind up heavy metals such as aluminum for elimination in urine
Lemon: used in for centuries in tribal medicine for liver health and bile flow; high in vitamins and disease-fighting phytonutrients which have been shown to scavenge free radicals (toxins) throughout the body; particularly high in citric acid shown to bind to aluminum for excretion in poop
Let the cleansing begin!
Easy Beet, Carrot & Green Apple Relish
Prep: 10 minutes Dress: 2 minutes Total: 12 minutes Serves: 2-4
Ingredients:
1 whole organic beet, grated
1 large organic carrot or 2 medium organic carrots, grated
1 organic green Granny Smith apple, grated or julienned
1 organic lemon
sea salt to taste
Optional Extras For Fun!
1-2 inches of peeled fresh organic ginger, grated
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of raw honey
fresh cracked pepper
any herbs or spices you enjoy like cumin, tumeric or cayenne
Instructions:
You can use a food processor with a shredding blade or box grater to shred the veggies/fruit. Place all grated ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Squeeze lemon (and any optional ingredients) over everything and toss lightly until mixed.
Add in sea salt to taste. Enjoy as part of a salad, topping or side dish! Store in a glass jar (not plastic-- we're trying to reduce toxins here!) in the fridge for up to 3 days.
References:
Bhavsar, S. K. (n.d.). Investigation into Hepatoprotective Activity of Citrus limon. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13880200701214995
Clifford, T., Howatson, G., West, D. J., & Stevenson, E. J. (2015). The potential benefits of red beetroot supplementation in health and disease.Nutrients,7(4), 2801–2822. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu7042801
Domingo, J. L., Gómez, M., Llobet, J. M., & Corbella, J. (1988, May). Comparative effects of several chelating agents on the toxicity, distribution and excretion of aluminium. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3391623
Haenen, G. R., & Bast, A. (2014). Glutathione revisited: a better scavenger than previously thought.Frontiers in pharmacology,5, 260. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2014.00260
Miller, M. (2020, May 5). Toxic Exposure: Chemicals Are in Our Water, Food, Air and Furniture. Retrieved from https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2017/06/407416/toxic-exposure-chemicals-are-our-water-food-air-and-furniture
Raichel, D., Sass, J., Reade, A., Sass, J., Fedinick, K. P., Lam, Y., … Nrdc. (2018, September 4). Toxic Chemicals. Retrieved from https://www.nrdc.org/issues/toxic-chemicals
Robertson, Brydon, Tadesse, & Eastwood. (1979, September 1). effect of raw carrot on serum lipids and colon function. Retrieved from https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article-abstract/32/9/1889/4692446
Srivastava, S., Siddiqi, Z., Singh, T., & Bala, L. (2019). Beetroot Supplementation on Non - Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Patients.Current Research in Nutrition and Food Science Journal,7(1), 96–101. doi: 10.12944/crnfsj.7.1.10 Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332759371_Beetroot_Supplementation_on_Non_-_Alcoholic_Fatty_Liver_Disease_Patients
About the Author
Roxie Daggett is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP) with a virtual practice in Sedona, Arizona. Her passions include studying nutritional research pertaining to memory, brain health, genes and longevity. When she is not geeking out on nutrition she enjoys messing around in the kitchen with old world recipes, reading and hearing stories from elders and farmers about traditional food sourcing, and wandering around the Red Rocks with her heroic husband and Staffordshire bull terrier.
Learn more on her About page and stay in touch by grabbing your FREE BRAIN HEALTH
BREAKFAST GUIDE above or below!