Celery
Beetroot and Celery Juice: What the Pairing Actually Does
Beetroot brings colour, sweetness and the most-studied compound in vegetable juice. Celery brings water, savoury salt and almost no sugar. Put them in one glass and you get something more drinkable than either on its own, which is exactly why we built our bestselling juice around the pairing. Here is what each one contributes, what the research has actually looked at and how to get the ratio right.
Do Beetroot and Celery Work Together?
Yes and mostly for practical reasons rather than magical ones. Beetroot juice is dense, sweet and earthy and a full glass of it is a lot for most people. Celery is roughly 95 per cent water and tastes savoury and slightly salty, so it thins the beetroot out, cuts the sweetness and makes the whole thing easier to drink. Nutritionally you get two different vegetables in one glass instead of one. That is the honest case for the pairing and it is a good enough one. New to celery juice? Start with what is celery juice.
The Two Halves of the Glass
| Beetroot | Celery |
|---|---|
| Naturally sweet, earthy, deeply coloured by betalain pigments | Savoury and light, roughly 95 per cent water |
| Higher in natural sugar than most vegetables | Low in sugar |
| The richest common dietary source of nitrates | Contains nitrates too, at lower levels |
| Folate, manganese, potassium | Vitamin K, potassium, folate, vitamin C, natural sodium |
| Betalain pigments are what researchers study | Flavonoids apigenin and luteolin are what researchers study |
They are genuinely complementary. Beetroot carries flavour and colour, celery carries volume and water and neither is trying to do the other's job.
Nitrates, Honestly Stated
Beetroot is where most of the serious vegetable-juice research sits and it centres on dietary nitrate. The body converts some dietary nitrate into nitrite and then into nitric oxide, a molecule involved in how blood vessels widen and relax. Trials have looked at concentrated beetroot juice in relation to blood flow and exercise performance and it is a real and active field. More on it in beetroot juice, nitrates and nitric oxide.
Read the study design, though. Those trials typically used concentrated shots delivering a measured nitrate dose, taken to a schedule, in controlled conditions. That is research on nitrate at a study dose, not a promise about a homemade glass with celery in it and diluting beetroot with celery lowers the beetroot content per serving by definition. Celery's own contribution is different again: apigenin and luteolin have been studied in laboratory and animal work, where luteolin has been examined for anti-inflammatory activity, using isolated compounds at concentrations you would never drink. Interesting science on both sides. Neither one makes your morning juice a treatment. Do your own reading and form your own view.
The Ratio
The mistake people make is leading with beetroot. It dominates fast. Celery should be the base and beetroot the accent:
| Ratio | What you get |
|---|---|
| Four celery stalks to half a small beetroot | A good starting point. Mostly celery, gently sweetened and lightly coloured |
| Four celery stalks to one small beetroot | The balanced everyday version. Sweet, earthy, still light |
| Two celery stalks to one beetroot | Beetroot-forward and noticeably sweeter. Best in a smaller glass |
Half a lemon lifts the whole thing and stops the earthiness sitting heavy. A thumb of ginger works too if you like some heat. Apple sweetens it further, though it also adds sugar, so treat that as a choice rather than a default. Method is the same as any celery juice, juicer or blender-and-strain, covered in how to make celery juice.
The Pink Surprise
Worth knowing before it happens: beetroot can turn your urine and sometimes your stools pink or red for a day or so. It is called beeturia, it affects a sizeable minority of people and it is the betalain pigment passing through rather than anything being wrong. It is harmless. It is also alarming if nobody warned you, which is why the pairing posts that skip it are doing you no favours.
The other honest note is timing. Fresh juice oxidises quickly and beetroot and celery both taste noticeably better within the first day, so make what you will drink rather than a week's worth.
Who Should Be Careful
Two vegetables means two sets of considerations and they are worth stating plainly rather than burying:
| Consideration | What it means |
|---|---|
| Sensitive guts | Celery is high in mannitol and beetroot is moderate for FODMAPs, so this pairing is not a gentle one for IBS. See celery juice and bloating |
| Oxalates | Beetroot is high in oxalates, which matters if you have a history of kidney stones |
| Blood-thinning medication | Celery contributes vitamin K, which interacts with warfarin. A GP conversation, not a guess |
| Blood pressure medication | Nitrate-rich juice is worth mentioning to your GP if you already take something that affects blood pressure |
None of that makes the drink risky for most people. It does mean checking with your GP if you manage a health condition or take regular medication and treating anything persistent as a medical question rather than a juice one. The full picture is in celery juice side effects.
Why Daily Beets Pairs Beetroot With Celery
This pairing is not a happy accident for us. Daily Beets is our bestselling juice and beetroot with celery is the spine of the recipe, chosen deliberately rather than thrown together for colour. Three things drove it.
Beetroot first, because it is the most nitrate-dense vegetable in common use and the one with the deepest research behind it. If you are building a beetroot juice for drinking every day rather than once in a while, beetroot has to lead rather than garnish.
Celery second, for two reasons that beetroot cannot supply on its own. It carries genuine natural sodium, which is unusual in a vegetable and part of why celery juice tastes savoury rather than sweet. And it is roughly 95 per cent water, so it brings volume and hydration to a juice that would otherwise be thick, sweet and hard to finish. Celery is what turns concentrated beetroot into something you actually want at eight in the morning.
Then the balance. Green apple and carrot round the earthiness off, spinach adds greens without the bitterness of harder leaves, cucumber extends the water content, red pepper contributes vitamin C and lemon lifts the whole thing and keeps it tasting fresh rather than muddy. Every one of those is doing a job. Nothing in it is there to bulk the bottle out cheaply.
The result is the same logic you would follow making this at home, just pressed at scale and frozen at the point of pressing so it is not sitting on a shelf losing quality. Beetroot for the substance, celery for the water and the salt, everything else for balance.
The Pairing, Already Pressed
Cold-pressed, flash-frozen at pressing and delivered frozen across the UK:
Frequently Asked
Can you juice beetroot and celery together?
Yes and they suit each other. Celery is mostly water and savoury, beetroot is sweet and earthy, so the celery thins the beetroot out and makes a full glass much easier to drink. Lead with celery and use beetroot as the accent.
What is the best ratio of beetroot to celery?
Four celery stalks to one small beetroot is the balanced everyday version. Halve the beetroot if you want it lighter, or go two stalks to one beetroot for something sweeter and more beetroot-forward in a smaller glass.
Why has my urine turned pink?
That is beeturia, the beetroot pigment passing through. It affects a fair number of people, can last a day or so and is harmless. Alarming if nobody mentions it, which is why it is worth knowing before you start.
Is beetroot and celery juice good for a sensitive gut?
Not especially. Celery is high in mannitol, a FODMAP that juicing concentrates and beetroot is moderate for FODMAPs too. If a sensitive gut is your reason for juicing, this is not the pairing to start with.
Does adding celery weaken the beetroot?
It dilutes it, yes. Less beetroot per glass means less of everything beetroot contains, including nitrate. If beetroot itself is what you are after, drink it straight in a small serving and treat the pairing as the everyday version.
When should I drink it?
Whenever suits you. There is no evidence that a particular time of day changes anything and the habit you keep beats the one you time perfectly. More on that in our guide to the best time to drink celery juice.
The Bottom Line
Beetroot and celery is a sensible pairing for straightforward reasons: beetroot brings the substance, celery brings the water and the natural sodium and together they make a glass you will actually finish. Four stalks to one small beetroot, a squeeze of lemon, drunk fresh. It is the same reasoning behind Daily Beets, which is why that recipe has celery in it rather than more beetroot. The nitrate research is real but it studied concentrated doses rather than a diluted homemade glass, so enjoy it as a good vegetable drink rather than a detox or a treatment. And if you take blood-thinning or blood pressure medication, or you have a history of kidney stones, run it past your GP first.
More on the wider picture in juice for gut health, or browse everything in the celery hub.
Where to Start
Start with Daily Beets, our bestselling juice and the pairing in a bottle. Or browse the beetroot juice shop and the celery juice shop, including Pure Beets, Power Beets or Daily Celery Juice.
If you would rather something smaller, cold-pressed beetroot shots are 60ml. Ginger Beets is beetroot with ginger, lemon and green apple, from £16.95 for seven.
Related reading
- How long does celery juice last
- Celery juice vs green juice
- What is celery juice
- Celery juice benefits
- How to make celery juice
- Best time to drink celery juice
- Celery juice cleanse
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