Turnip Juice: The Overlooked Spring Detoxifier

Turnip, nobody thinks of it for juicing. And yet. At the Belleville market, when new turnips arrive in March, purple and white with their green tops, it’s a spectacle. I pass them whole through the extractor, tops included. The juice is sweet, slightly peppery, with surprising roundness. A patient with rheumatoid arthritis reported to me that this juice, drunk three times a week for a month, had significantly reduced his pain. Turnip is a grounding vegetable, a true naturopath’s vegetable: it drains, remineralizes and soothes inflammation.

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Bioactive Molecules

Turnip is a powerful natural expectorant thanks to its sulfurous glucosinolates which thin bronchial mucus¹. Our grandmothers made turnip syrup against cough: they hollowed out a turnip, filled it with honey, and recovered the juice the next day². Turnip tops are extraordinarily rich in calcium (190 mg/100 g) and in vitamin C, making them a first-rate bone remineralizer³. In raw juice, turnip is much milder than one would think, especially the new March turnips.

Turnip (Brassica rapa) belongs to the Brassicaceae family, like cabbage and broccoli. It contains glucosinolates, particularly gluconapine, which transforms into isothiocyanates under the action of myrosinase during grinding. These isothiocyanates activate the Nrf2 cellular detoxification pathway and induce phase II hepatic enzymes (glutathione-S-transferase, UDP-glucuronosyltransferase). Turnip tops are remarkably rich in vitamin C (60 mg/100 g), calcium (190 mg/100 g, more than milk) and in vitamin K1 (250 µg/100 g). The bulb provides potassium (191 mg/100 g), soluble fibers and folic acid (15 µg/100 g). The combination of bulb and tops in juice offers a complete nutritional profile. Turnip’s sulfurous compounds exert an anti-inflammatory action by inhibiting the NF-κB factor, a central regulator of the inflammatory response.

Complete turnip juice, bulb and tops, is a powerful remineralizer and an underappreciated hepatic drainer. Brassicaceae are the most studied vegetables in nutritional oncology. Turnip deserves its place in your spring juice rotation, especially if you’re looking to support your joints and liver.

Table of Key Micronutrients

Micronutrient	Main Role
Glucosinolates	Hepatic detoxification, phase II enzymes
Vitamin C (tops)	Immunity, collagen synthesis
Calcium (tops)	Bone health, muscle contraction
Vitamin K1 (tops)	Coagulation, bone metabolism
Potassium (bulb)	Acid-base balance, blood pressure
Isothiocyanates	Anti-inflammatory, Nrf2 pathway activation

Preparation with Extractor

Ingredients:

• 4 to 5 medium turnips with their tops (approximately 500 g)
• 3 organic carrots
• 1 peeled lemon

Choose turnips with bright green, fresh tops: that’s where calcium and vitamin C are concentrated. Cut the bulb into quarters and pass it through alternately with the tops. The taste is milder with spring new turnips than with winter turnips.

My Recommended Extractor

For this recipe, I use the Hurom H80-ST. Cold pressing preserves all the enzymes, vitamins and phytonutrients that the heat of a centrifuge would destroy.

Promo code: francoisbenavente20 for -20% off the entire Hurom site.

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To Go Further

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