AIM RediBeets® - beets & juicing details

Whole body health results when all body systems are in balance.

No single body system is targeted—we make choices that keep all systems toxin-free and that supply all systems with optimum nutrition. The result is total wellness: waking up every day feeling great! AIM RediBeets® is one of three all-natural, vegetable juice powder concentrates that make up the AIM Garden Trio®.

AIM RediBeets® helps provide the daily nutrition you need to develop a strong foundation for your good health.

Beets

The beet, as it is known in North America, and beetroot, as it is known elsewhere in the world, has been cultivated for many centuries. It has primarily been used as a vegetable but it has also been used for wine and ale in parts of Europe. The Russians are famous for their “borscht,” a soup that uses beets to color and flavor a rich, white stock.

The value of beets

One cup of raw beets contains phosphorus, sodium, magnesium, calcium, iron, and potassium as well as vitamin A, niacin, folic acid, and biotin. When these nutrients are captured in a juicing process, they remain in a form that is much easier to assimilate than synthetic nutrients. The iron in beet juice, in particular, is noted for being more easily assimilated than other forms of iron supplements.

Potassium, in particular, is essential for all cellular functions. Along with sodium, it regulates water balance and acidity-alkalinity balance in the blood and tissues. It is often depleted with aging, in degenerative disorders, and with a highly refined diet that is high in sugar.

Historically, beetroots have been known to have medicinal properties, specifically anti-hepatotoxic effects, that is, the ability to counter damaging effects on the liver. For the past three or four centuries, it has been thought to be beneficial for the detoxification of the liver, and it was used for the treatment of hepatitis. The exact mechanism by which beets support the liver remains unknown; however, theories suggest that they effectively limit fat deposits in the liver, probably because of their high concentration of betaine.

Betaine is often referred to as the lipotropic factor because of this ability to help the liver process fats. Betaine also plays a role in reducing homocysteine. High levels of homocysteine are associated with cardiovascular disease, so betaine is thought to support cardiovascular health.

Beets also contain biochanin A, a potential cancerfighting agent.

Dr. Norman W. Walker (1981) suggests that beet juice is helpful for menstrual problems and more specifically during menopause. And in Indian medicine, it is used for coughs and infections.

Fresh fruits and vegetables

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) recommends that we eat five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables each day. However, many of us do not achieve this.

Data collected in the Canadian Community Health Survey from September 2000 through February 2001, shows that 33.4 percent of Canadians 12 years and over consume five to ten servings of fruits and vegetables per day. Meanwhile, the American Heart Association (AHA) found that only 15 to 26 percent of the population studied consumes its recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables per day. And while current surveys published by the NCI indicate that Americans appear to have increased their intake of fruits and vegetables, the average teenager only consumes an average of 2.2 servings of fruits or vegetables per day, and this includes fruit juices! This concurs with a study performed in the United Kingdom in 2001 by Hughes and Gay that shows similar figures for the average British teenager. These figures are cause for concern. While the fast-food industry is blamed for the “meat and potato culture,” two other reasons for the low consumption of fruits and vegetables are that they are perceived to be poorly prepared and to be expensive.

The value of fresh fruits and vegetables

Fresh fruits and vegetables provide fiber and nutrients that are necessary for digestive health, including phytochemicals and enzymes. Phytochemicals are simply plant chemicals that are thought to be essential to health. They have been found by the American Dietetic Association to be beneficial in at least four of the leading causes of death—cardiac disease, diabetes, hypertension, and cancer.

Enzymes are essential for the thousands of chemical reactions that occur throughout the body—the production of energy at the cellular level, the facilitation of digestion, the absorption of digested nutrients, and the rebuilding and replenishing of all that the body requires for metabolism to occur. Although enzymes are destroyed in the cooking process, they are present in raw fruits and vegetables, and juicing is the best way to ensure that we ingest them.

Current studies have shown that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, with lean meats, and low sodium has significant cardiac benefits. Recent research identified the protective effects of fruits and vegetables against strokes. This cohort study followed a group of 832 men for 20 years and the results indicated that the amount of fruits and vegetables eaten was inversely proportional to the stroke risk factor (Gillman 1995).

Juicing

Juicing is separating the juice of a fruit or vegetable from its fiber. It is a means of receiving optimal nutritional benefit from the fruits and vegetables we eat.

Although there is value in eating raw fruits and vegetables, juicing provides a means to ensure that we are able to ingest and absorb the maximal amount of nutrients available.

Dr. Walker (1981) explains that a diet without fresh, raw vegetable juices is deficient. This is because when raw vegetables are eaten instead of juices, a large amount of them is used as energy during the digestion and absorption processes. Juices are ingested and assimilated within 15 minutes and this enables the nutrients to be used almost in their entirety for the nourishment of the cells. In 1976, Dr. Walker said, “Juices are very liquid food, mostly organic water of the finest quality with nourishing atoms and molecules in comparatively microscopic volume. It is the microscopic volume for which the cells and tissues are starved!”

References

• Gillman, M.W., L.A. Cupples, D. Gagnon, B.M. Posner, R.C. Ellison, W.P. Castelli, and P.A. Wolf. “Protective Effect of Fruits and Vegetables on Development of Stroke in Men.” JAMA 273, no. 14 (April 12, 1995): 1,113-7.
• Hughes, J.M., C. Gay. “Fruit and Vegetable Consumption by Young Persons Aged 4-18 Years: Total Daily Number of Portions.” Proc Nutr Soc (2001).
• Walker, Norman W. Fresh Vegetable and Fruit Juices: What’s Missing in Your Body? Prescott, AZ: Norwalk Press, 1981.

The complete Whole Body Nutrition line consists of AIM AIMega™, the AIM Garden Trio® — AIM BarleyLife®, AIM Just Carrots®, and AIM RediBeets®. Use these products for a solid foundation for your health.