About The Buzz: 100% Vegetable Juice Is a Great Way to Boost Your Veggie Intake!

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

100% vegetable juice is a tasty, convenient, and nutritious way to help you get the recommended amount of daily veggie servings.

WHAT WE KNOW

Eating vegetables provides many health benefits. Not only do vegetables contain essential vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, but they are relatively low in calories and may reduce the risk of certain chronic diseases. Unfortunately, only 7 out of 10 Americans are getting enough.¹

A quick, convenient way to boost veggie intake is by drinking vegetable juice, which provides a good source of many under consumed nutrients that are found in whole vegetables. One 8-ounce glass of 100% vegetable juice provides 1 cup of vegetables, 2g of dietary fiber, and is a good source of vitamin A, vitamin C, and potassium.²

Many people think that only whole vegetables are healthy, but incorporating low sodium vegetable juice in the daily diet actually boasts many health benefits. It can be an effective way to reduce blood pressure, and at only 50 calories per serving, is a great way to reduce calorie intake for those trying to manage their weight. Having the option to drink vegetable juice instead of eating whole vegetables also reduces many of the barriers that make it difficult for many people to get more veggies: lack of convenience, prep time, taste, and price.

HOW DO WE KNOW THIS?

Two recent studies published in the Nutrition Journal found that incorporation of vegetable juice into the daily diet is a simple and effective way to increase daily vegetable servings. In one of these studies, participants with prehypertension who consumed 8 or 16 fluid ounces of vegetable juice daily for 12 weeks had significantly lower blood pressure compared to those who did not drink vegetable juice. Additionally, participants reported that they enjoyed the taste and were satisfied with the ease of getting vegetables in their diet.³

The other study focused on overweight individuals with metabolic syndrome, which is a cluster of risk factors for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In a 12-week study, participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups, in which they drank 0, 8, or 16 fluid ounces of low sodium vegetable juice daily. All groups were educated on the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet and were instructed to limit their calorie intake to 1,800 and 1,600 for men and women, respectively. After the intervention, participants who consumed vegetable juice lost significantly more weight than those who did not drink vegetable juice.⁴

OUR ADVICE

The 2010 Dietary Guidelines recommends that Americans consume 2 ½ cups of vegetables per day for a 2,000 calorie diet,⁵ a goal that few Americans meet. Drinking vegetable juice is a simple, tasty way to help narrow the gap between the amount of vegetables recommended and the amount actually consumed.

While shopping for vegetable juice, keep in mind that some vegetable-based drinks are not 100% juice. Look for “100% juice” on the label to make sure you’re getting the most “bang for your buck.” Also, opt for varieties that are low in sodium (i.e., 140 mg or less per serving), as this is an over consumed nutrient for many Americans.