Beet Juice Gives You Glowing Skin. Here's Why.

The other day, an image flashed across my Instagram stories that I immediately screen grabbed.  It featured Kayla Nicole, the fiance of NFL superstar, Travis Kelce.  One thing about this woman is that she has amazing skin.  In most of her stories, she's either sporting no makeup or ultra-natural makeup looks.

Thankfully, I happened to be on Instagram the day that she revealed her number one skin secret.
Instead of displaying her everyday products, she featured her ultimate skin enhancing beverage.  Kayla proclaimed that beet juice is her #1 skin care favorite.  After capturing the image, I began my research.  I needed to know exactly why beet juice was so beneficial to the skin.

The first and most obvious quality about beet juice is its deep reddish-violet color.  We know that fruits and veggies with rich color are loaded with antioxidants.  Beets are no exception.  They contain ascorbic acid (vitamin C), carotenoids + flavonoids (both are phytonutrients), and betalains (antioxidants).  The betalains are not only antioxidant-rich, they also have superb anti-inflammatory properties.

Anything anti-inflammatory is amazing for the skin.  Why? Because it helps combat acne flare-ups which are the manifestation of inflammation on the skin's surface. When you research the benefits of beets for the skin, the first thing that pops up is how great it works to combat and prevent acne breakouts.  I found several instances where folks claimed that beet juice helped clear their acne.

I also stumbled on a study that determined that beet juice had greater antioxidant power than other well-known vegetable juices like tomato, carrot, orange or pineapple.  It ranked higher than 22 other fruits/veggies.  The only fruit studied that surpassed beets in their antioxidant power were pomegranates.  Pomegranates are great but can be a bit pricey when they aren't in season.  Good thing beets are fairly affordable and available year round.

Best of all, beets yield a high amount of juice so it's easy to enjoy shots of beet juice at home.  Or I might grab these premade organic beet juices available on Amazon.

By the way, the study I referred to earlier showed that beet juice as an array of beneficial properties beyond that of beautiful skin like heart protection and cognitive (brain function) enhancement, just to name a few. So even if your skin is fine, beet juice can protect our skin cells from free radicals while keeping our bodies younger longer.

 I didn't even touch on the blood flow benefits of drinking beets.  When we talk about anti-aging and promoting a youthful glow, enhanced blood flow HAS to be a part of the conversations.

I'm running out and buying a bunch of organic beets today.  I'm not a huge fan of beets but knowing what I know now, I'll make sure to get them in my diet on a regular basis.   If you decide to start juicing beets, don't throw out the leaves & stems because those are chock full of nutrition as well.

Let's all thank Kayla for reminding us of this amazing, skin enhancing, superfood.

Inflammation