Can Juice Really Make You Healthier?
You may have dismissed it as just another food fad, but experts are putting a whole new spin on the beverage. Read on, then start sipping.
by Marge Perry
On most days, you
do everything you
can to work more fruits
and vegetables into your
diet: You add berries to
your oatmeal, pile spinach on
your pizza, and swap out your
fries for a side salad. While you
should be congratulated for your
efforts, chances are you, like more
than 70 percent of adults, aren't
hitting the USDA target of nine
servings of produce (that's four halfcup
servings of fruit and five half–cup
servings of vegetables) daily.
That's where juice comes in. "It
can be overwhelming for busy women
to try to get the fruits and vegetables they need," says Kathy McManus, R.D., director of the department of nutrition at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "Drinking 12 ounces a day can be a convenient way to get two servings closer to your produce goal."
Juice also can boost your health, as the
nutrients normally found in these beverages
have been credited with everything
from warding off cancer to
preventing age–related ailments. A
recent study published in The American
Journal of Medicine concluded that people
who drank three–plus servings per
week of juices high in polyphenols–
antioxidants found in purple grape,
grapefruit, cranberry, and apple juice–
had a 76 percent lower risk of developing
Alzheimer's disease. Plus, some
store–bought juices are actually higher
in certain nutrients than the fruits and
vegetables they came from (see the
boxes in this story for specifics).
The key, according to McManus, is
to make juice a supplement to rather
than a substitute for all of the fruits and
vegetables in your daily diet. Though
these beverages are generally higher in
sugar and calories and lower in fiber
than their whole counterparts, research
shows that a combination of the two
may be the most beneficial to your overall health. The Harvard–based Nurses' Health Study found that adults who had the
highest intake of produce in both solid and liquid form– about eight servings per day– were 30 percent less likely to have a heart attack or stroke than those who got 1.5 or fewer servings daily.
Plus, their overall risk for any type of chronic disease was 12 percent lower than
the fruit and veggie
skimpers'. To squeeze
more nutrients out of
every single sip, follow
this expert advice.
