Fresh Carrot Juice Is So Good for You

I love sharing some of the simplest and yummiest ways to bring the kitchen garden into the kitchen and onto the table. For the past ten years, I've been a big fan of my daily kale smoothie, but lately, my favorite garden drink has been fresh carrot juice. It's so refreshing and sweet, and it fills me up in the very best way.

If you're looking for a healthier alternative to juice or sugary soda or just want something sweet to drink, you gotta try quenching your thirst with fresh carrot juice.

Let's look at some of the benefits of drinking carrot juice.

Carrot Juice Benefits

Basically, carrot juice has almost all the benefits of garden-fresh carrots. The one thing you're not getting as much of when you drink carrots instead of chew them is fiber.

Here are just some of the health benefits of drinking carrot juice regularly:

• Carotenoids like beta carotene (the thing that gives orange carrots their color) turns into vitamin A in your body. Vitamin A and other antioxidants fight free radicals. Just one cup of carrot juice contains 250 percent of your daily value for vitamin A.
• Carrot juice gives your immune system a little boost, thanks to vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin B6.
• Carrots boost your eye health. Vitamin A protects against age-related eye disease, and carrots also have two other carotenoids that shield your eyes from light damage.
• Carrot juice may help protect you against cancer.
• Carrot juice is great for your skin since vitamin C is necessary for collagen production, which as you probably know, is important for our skin's elasticity and strength. Plus, remember how the vitamin A in carrots helps us to fight free radicals? Free radicals are what contribute to our skin looking damaged and prematurely aged.
• The potassium in carrot juice helps to regulate your blood pressure, and carrot juice may play a part in reducing risk factors for heart disease.

Heart health? Check. Immune system? Check. Eye sight? Skin? Check, check. I mean, need I go on?

I'll just add that this carrot juice recipe includes ginger, which is great for your stomach.

Ingredients for Carrot Juice with Ginger

Don't feel like you have to use orange carrots for this recipe. If you're growing white, yellow, or purple carrots, toss them in. Doing so will vary the antioxidants that you're getting by drinking this juice.

• About 4 fresh garden carrots (the sweeter the better)
• 1 lemon
• About 1/2 inch of fresh ginger
• Water
• Turmeric to taste
• Fresh ground pepper to taste

Make this carrot juice in a blender or food processor. I use my trusty Vitamix.

You'll also need a nut milk bag. If you want to try this juice out before buying a nut milk bag (which is reusable), you can try just using the thinnest cloth you have or a sieve.

Step One to Make Fresh Carrot Juice

Wash carrots and cut them into quarters. Peeling is optional if you've rinsed carrots well. The carrot peel is actually where you'll find a high concentration of vitamins.

Skin the ginger.

Slice one lemon into quarters.

Step Two to Make Fresh Carrot Juice

Fill your blender or food processor with cleaned and cut carrots to 1 to 2 cups.

Add skinned ginger pieces (you can always add more or less to taste).

Squeeze four lemon quarters into the mixer.

Cover the carrots with fresh, cool filtered water.

Add a pinch of turmeric and ground black pepper if you'd like to supersize your good stuff!

Step Three to Make Fresh Carrot Juice

Blend at low speed for 30 seconds.

Slowly increase to high speed until the mixture is completely pulverized into a liquid.

Step Four to Make Fresh Carrot Juice

Pour the liquid into a nut milk bag.

Strain into a glass.

Pour and drink up! (Oh, and you can garnish with a little piece of celery like I did if you're feeling fancy!)

Some Quick Notes on Carrot Juice

Enjoy this juice when it's fresh and tasty.

If you're interested in trying carrot juice but want to buy already-made juice and try it before you make your own, make sure to buy pasteurized carrot juice, as unpasteurized carrot juice can have harmful bacteria that's especially dangerous for pregnant people, young children, older adults, and those with compromised immune systems.

Lastly, if you happen to drink so much carrot juice that you notice your skin turning yellow-orange, just lay off the carrot juice for a bit. This is a condition called carotenemia, and it's caused by too much beta carotene. Don't worry—it's not harmful to your health.

Fill Up on the Good Stuff

I hope you enjoy this carrot juice recipe!

By the way, save those carrot tops and use them to make this delicious chimichurri with cilantro and parsley or toss them onto soup. Here at Gardenary, we love helping you think of easy ways you can bring the garden into the kitchen and enjoy more parts of the plant than you can with grocery-store produce.

Thanks for being here!