Is Your Green Juice a Healthier Choice?
The ultimate health move is to include green juice into your daily routine. When I”m being really good, I will start my day with a celery juice, and maybe have a different green blend in the afternoon. I love feeling like I’m flooding my body with these healing plant nutrients, and I know my body is thanking me for treating it so well.
But, for the beginner, there are a few things to know when making your juice choices because there are some that may not be serving you well in terms of health benefits. Just because the bottle says “juice” or even “green juice,” does not mean it’s automatically a healthy choice.
Questions to Ask About Your Juice
The first question to ask is “Does this juice contain fruits, vegetables or a combination?” Generally, if you’re going to drink juice, it should be predominantly green. This is because when you put fresh fruit through the juicer, the fiber is stripped away leaving only sugar. The presence of fiber is what slows down how fast a carbohydrate hits your bloodstream, True, fruit contains natural sugar, but it will still have the effect of causing a spike in blood sugar. Green vegetables, on the other hand, are low carbohydrate foods, so their breakdown does not have that effect on your blood sugar.
Second thing to ask is “Does this juice list fruit juice as one of the first ingredients on the label?” In other words, if you reach for a juice at the grocery store and it seems to be a great choice because it’s green, be sure to read the label. It is likely that apple juice or maybe pineapple juice are at the top of the list, serving as the foundation of the”green juice,” and sending the sugar content soaring. One perfect example is (and I’m sorry to call them out here) Naked Juice Green Machine.
Sounds really healthy, right?
Well, a check of the label shows that one bottle contains 53 grams of sugar!!!! That’s as much as a Starbuck’s Mocha Frappuccino or a 16 ounce Coke! Yes, it has some greens added like parsley, spinach and kale toward the end of the ingredient list, but the majority of this drink is a combo of apple and pineapple juices along with other fruit purees.
In a world where most people already consume three times the 6 teaspoons (24 grams) of added sugar recommended daily, getting more than double that amount from one bottle of juice is not the best choice!
Finally, when choosing a juice, ask, “How many servings are in this bottle?” Especially with a juice you are grabbing at the grocery store (as opposed from a freshly-pressed juice shop), check the servings per container on the label. Some individual sized bottled drinks actually contain 2 or more “servings per container.” This means that for the rest of the label you’re reading, you must double the nutrition facts. So, for example, a bottled drink that has 15 grams of sugar may actually contain 30 grams if the “servings per container” are more than one.
Here’s the bottom line on bottled juices:
Avoid juices that contain apple juice or other juices as the main ingredients
In general, aim to limit your added sugar consumption to no more than 24 grams daily. Look for juices with no more than 12 grams of sugar per 8 ounces
Be sure to check the “serving size” on the label to be sure you understand how much sugar is in the whole bottle.
A few of my favorites:
Pressed Juicery offers cold-pressed juices high in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants and low in sugars. The cold-pressing is done without heat as in pasteurized juices, so nutrients are preserved
Evolution Fresh Organic Greens comes in at 6 grams of sugar and is available in many grocery stores
Soja Uber Greens contains some grapefruit, but still has only 6 grams of sugar
Be Well!
