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Vegetable juice is a drink made primarily of blended vegetables. Vegetable juice is often mixed with fruits such as tomatoes or grapes to improve flavor. It is often touted as a low-sugar alternative to fruit juice, although most commercial brands of vegetable juices contain large amounts of sodium.
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Home-Made Juice
Making vegetable juice at home is an alternative to buying commercial juices, and may be beneficial for supplementing diets low in vegetables and fruits. Special vegetable juicers are recommended for blending vegetables, as they employ either a slow-geared grinding mechanism or a unit powered by centrifugal force. Compared to a higher speed blender or fruit juicer, the slower speed protects the vegetables from oxidation and heat (from friction), which reduces nutrient breakdown.
Varieties
Commercial vegetable juices are commonly made from varying combinations of carrots, beets, pumpkin, and tomatoes. The latter two, although not technically vegetables, are commonly used to increase palatability. Other popular items in vegetable juices are parsley, dandelion greens, kale, celery, fennel, and cucumbers. Lemon, garlic and ginger may be added by some for medicinal purposes.
Other common juices include carrot juice, tomato juice, turnip juice, and V8 Juice.
In Asian, primarily Chinese, cultures, Dioscorea opposita (Chinese: shān yào, Japanese: nagaimo) is also used for vegetable juices. They are used quite sparingly, however, for many Chinese consider it to be a medicine rather than a vegetable.
Kale juice marketed as Aojiru in Japan has become well known for its purported health benefits and bitter taste.
Japan also markets several kinds of vegetable juices which, unlike Western juices such as V8, usually depend on carrots and fruits instead of large amounts of tomato juice for their flavor. The Yasai Seikatsu brand by Kagome is a popular variety, and is even an option in McDonald's Happy Meals.
Nutrition
In general, vegetable juices are recommended as supplements to whole vegetables, rather than as a replacement. However, the actual nutritional value of juices versus whole vegetables is still contested.
USDA guidelines for Americans states that 3/4 cup of 100% vegetable juice is equivalent to one serving of vegetables1. This is upheld by a recent study, which found that juices provide the same health benefits as whole vegetables in terms of reducing risks of cardiovascular disease and cancer.2 Another study has found that drinking vegetable juice reduces risks of Alzheimer's Disease by 76%. 3
However, the British Nutrition Foundation holds that although vegetable juice counts as a serving, it can only count as one serving, regardless as the amount of juice drunk.4 It is unclear whether this is referring to commercial juices only, or includes home-made juices. Additionally, A 2007 Japanese study showed that although Japanese commercial juices had nutritional benefits, they were insufficient as a primary mode of vegetable consumption.5
Many popular vegetable juices, particularly ones with high tomato content, are high in sodium, and therefore consumption of them for health must be carefully considered. Some vegetables such as beets also contain large amounts of sugar, so care must be taken when adding these to juices.
Although the actual nutritional benefits of vegetable juice are contested, a recent UC Davis study found that drinking vegetable juice daily significantly increased drinkers' chances of meeting the daily recommended number of vegetable servings. 6 Having an easy source of vegetables encouraged drinkers to incorporate more vegetables into their diets.
See also
References
- ^ 5 A Day Fruit and Vegetable Quick Tips
- ^ 100 percent juices found as beneficial to health as fruits and vegetables
- ^ Qi Dai MD, PhD, Amy R. Borenstein PhD, Yougui Wu PhD, James C. Jackson PsyD, and Eric B. Larson MD, MPH (September 2006). "Fruit and Vegetable Juices and Alzheimer’s Disease: The Kame Project". The American Journal of Medicine 119(9), 751-759.
- ^ Healthy Eating: A Whole Diet Approach
DOC - ^ Consumer Test: Vegetable Drinks (消費生活関連テスト 野菜系飲料)PDF
- ^ S. Shenoy, A. Kazaks, R. Holta and C. Keena (September 2008). "Vegetable Juice Is an Effective and Acceptable Way to Meet Dash Vegetable Recommendations". Journal of the American Dietetic Association 108(9), A104.
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