Beetroot juice is disgusting.. here’s why you should drink a glass every morning
Beetroot juice is absolutely disgusting. It tastes exactly as you would imagine — earthy, salty, disgusting. It really is my least favourite thing to eat or drink. I also recommend you drink a small glass every single day. Here’s why:
It will be the worse thing you do each day
Brian Tracy wrote a book called Eat That Frog which is built around a metaphor of eating a live frog, to encourage readers to tackle their most challenging task of the day before anything else. I like this approach to task management because it removed any room to procrastinate with difficult tasks, but for me, there’s still room to add something to your pre-work routine to kick-start your day in the right way.
Lots of self-help guru’s, most famously Tony Robbins, look toward cold showers as the solution to this. Advocates rave about the benefits of cold showers on two main fronts: they have actual health benefits such as encouraging your body to release endorphins, and they help you overcome “the flinch” — that moment when every part of your body is telling you to stop.
Whether you practice overcoming the flinch by eating a live frog or jumping in a cold shower, the idea is that you get better at tackling the hard things that will have a positive impact on your life, rather than procrastinating over them because you think they’ll be unpleasant. By doing this first thing in the morning, it will also be the hardest thing you have to do all day. This will give you the confidence to go on and tackle all of the less challenging tasks you have to do to achieve your dreams.
Sounds great, but the problem for me is that I have no easy access to live frogs, and I absolutely hate cold showers. I know that defeats the point of doing them, but I tried them for a bit and realised I was depriving myself of one of the things I enjoy most — a nice warm shower in the morning. I’m sure Tony Robbins would agree that it’s important to appreciate the small pleasures in life.
I’m happy with that decision, but I still believe in the powers of regularly overcoming “the flinch”, so I’ve been on the lookout for another daily practise that would give me the same results. That’s when I discovered the benefits of beetroot juice and the second reason you should drink it every day.
It’s really good for your health
When researching natural ways to improve liver function, I was recommended eating and drinking beetroot for the following reasons:
- Lowers blood pressure
- Improves stamina
- Low in calories
- Prevents cancer and slows the progression of dementia
- Good source of potassium, iron, and magnesium (among others)
- Supports your liver function
Like I said, I was led to beetroot juice for the liver benefits it has, which I think is incredibly important when your diet includes alcohol. But even if you don’t drink, it has loads of other health benefits that I think will benefit all types of diets.
If you are overweight and trying to lose some of it — beetroot juice helps lower blood pressure and improves stamina (and muscle power) to make exercising a little easier. It is also a welcome addition to a morning smoothie that will give a boost in energy without added fats.
There’s also a lot of research to suggest it prevents cancer and slows the progression of dementia. Probably because of all the minerals I mentioned in the above list. It really is what we would consider a superfood.
The only problem, as I’ve already discussed, is that I think it is disgusting. It also cost enough that I didn’t want to pour it down the drain, so I powered through the carton by drinking a glass every morning.
An amazing thing happened after about a week — I started to feel a small rush of endorphins after I necked my morning glass. It may just be in my imagination, it may be a real reaction, but I don’t really care if it makes me feel good. I started heading to work knowing the worst thing I have to do all day is complete.
Find your frog
For some people it’s cold showers, for me it’s beetroot juice. You may love both of those things which means doing them won’t help you overcome the flinch. In that case, find your own frog. It might be eating or drinking something that’s healthy but disgusting, it might be smashing a 5k run that you hate every minute of. Whatever it is, tackle it head-on and prove to yourself that you’re strong enough to fight through the flinch. The rest of your day will seem significantly easier because of it.
