Many of us don’t get the recommended daily servings of vegetables in our diets. Two new studies, presented at the International Symposium on Human Health Effects of Fruits and Vegetables, show that the convenience and enjoyment of vegetable juice are crucial to their success in helping people get their daily recommended servings of vegetables.

A 12-week study by the University of California-Davis revealed that the people in the study who drank at least two cups of vegetable juice met daily vegetable recommendations. However, only 7% of the non-juice drinkers met vegetable recommendations. The participants with borderline high blood pressure who drank up to two servings of V8 juice significantly lowered their blood pressure. The study analyzed 90 healthy adults ages 40 to 65.

Another 12-week study conducted at the Baylor College of Medicine showed that drinking vegetable juice helped overweight people with metabolic syndrome lose more weight than non-juice drinkers. Those who suffer from metabolic syndrome have a cluster of risk factors for heart disease and diabetes: excess body fat in the midsection, high blood pressure, high blood sugar and elevated blood cholesterol.

In the Baylor study, participants who drank one to two servings of Low Sodium V8 100% vegetable juice a day with a balanced diet increased their vegetable intake and lost an average of four pounds during the study. Study participants who didn’t drink the juice lost one pound. The study participants included 81 adults with metabolic syndrome risk factors.

Both studies were supported in part by Campbell Soup Company and by the University of California-Davis and Baylor College of Medicine.

(Image via WikiMedia Commons)

Post from: Blisstree

Drink Your Vegetable Juice

I was over at the V8 website because I wanted to check which vegetables the “8″ stands for (tomatoes, carrots, celery, beets, parsley, lettuce, watercress and spinach , if you must know), and noticed that they’ve renamed the A-C-E Vitamin Rich V8 to Essential Antioxidants V8 Vegetable Juice.

A-C-E is out. Antioxidants is in. Even if they are one and the same.

Plus points to their marketing staff. (rolls eyes)

Image Source: V8 Juice website

Post from: Blisstree

Essential Antioxidants V8 Juice

Don’t like to eat veggies, either? Well, perhaps you can drink it instead. Researchers say it’s a great way to get those healthy goodies into your diet without breaking too much sweat.

“What we found in this study is that drinking vegetable juice seemed to address some of the key barriers to vegetable consumption such as convenience, portability and taste, so individuals were more likely to meet their daily recommendations,” said Carl Keen, PhD, study author and distinguished Professor of Nutrition & Internal Medicine at University of California, Davis. “Furthermore, vegetable juice drinkers reported that they actually enjoyed drinking their vegetables, which is critical to adopting dietary practices for the long-term.”

In fact, after six weeks of the study, vegetable drinkers reported they felt “more satisfied” with the ease of getting vegetables into their diet, and that V8 100% vegetable juice provided an important additional source of vitamins and minerals.

Well, on second thoughts, maybe I do get consume more veggies that I realize. I just forgot to count the carrot-orange juice! That’s a veggies that goes down quite well with me, and I don’t even realize it!

Obviously, the important thing is to get those veggies into your body. Solid, cooked, fresh, salads, mashed, juiced– it doesn’t matter, just get those 7-9 servings in!

Post from: Blisstree

Drink Your Vegetables

Did you know the secret to vibrant health is in your blender? It’s true. Juicing vegetables provides concentrated nutrition–vitamins, minerals, enzymes, phytochemicals, and antioxidants–that is found in virtually no other source.

Juicing, Fasting, and Detoxing for Life offers a healthy, alternative approach to juicing, eating well, and cleansing the body and soul with recipes, smoothies, and flavorful soups made from our favorite vegetables.

Want to get a free copy? All you have to do is leave me a comment below and let me know your favorite juice, smoothie or soup made from vegetables . Or you can blog about it, perhaps share a recipe, and if you link back to this post, you get two entries to the draw (make sure you leave a comment so I know!). I’ll draw lots next Friday, July 18!

Note: Book can only be sent to a US or Canada address.

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Book Giveaway: Juicing, Fasting, and Detoxing for Life