I adore beets. They taste sweet, are beautiful to look at, and they boost your ability to exercise! Those of you who know me know how much I looooove to exercise so I have made it my mission to include beets into my diet regularly. Beets are also great for fighting inflammation (goodbye post workout soreness) and are fantastic for helping your body detoxify.
They are also a great way to check your transit time! What’s that, you ask? Your transit time is the amount of time it takes for food to travel through your digestive system. In other words, how long does it take for the food you have eaten to be eliminated from your body?
The beet test gives you an idea of how efficiently your digestive system is working. Basically you just keep track of when you last ate a beet, then you watch for the red pigment in your stools to appear (some people can see it in their urine as well). The time difference is your transit time. Ideally you want your transit time to be between 12-24 hours.
If your transit time is much slower, it may mean that you are not eating enough fibre or not drinking enough water, or that you are simply not active enough. Slow transit times can indicate constipation and issues with stomach acid production.
Now if your transit time is less than 12 hours it could mean that you are not properly breaking down your food or absorbing your nutrients properly. A fast transit time can simply be due to the fact that you are eating too fast (who doesn’t nowadays) or that you are not chewing your food properly.
If you want to understand more about this or learn how to improve your own digestive health, I highly recommend Josh Gitalis’ course on Digestion and GI Health.
But enough toilet talk! Let’s get down to business (ok, I couldn’t resist one more). These Rosemary Beet Chips are a great substitute for the standby side of potatoes or rice and they make your plate so much more vibrant! Plus, if you get tired of beets, you can easily sub out the beets for sweet potatoes, which work great in this recipe as well.
Rosemary Beet Chips
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Ingredients
- 3 beets, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Lay beet slices onto a cookie sheet, trying not to overlap beet slices so they cook evenly.
- Drizzle with avocado oil and season with sea salt. Scatter fresh rosemary sprigs over the beets.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked to your liking.
Notes
GF, DF, GRF, SF, VEGAN, VEG, PALEO, PRIMAL
