Studies show drinking V8® 100% vegetable juice may be a simple way for people to increase their vegetable intake and may help them manage their weight - two areas of concern outlined in the newly released 2010 U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans.1
A study conducted by researchers at the University of California-Davis found that adults who drank one, 8-ounce glass of vegetable juice each day, as part of a calorie-appropriate Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, got nearly twice as many vegetable servings a day than those who did not drink any vegetable juice. Additionally, nine out of 10 participants who drank V8 100% vegetable juice said they felt they were doing something good for themselves.2
Researchers attribute the results to the ease, convenience and enjoyment of vegetable juice as a way to get more vegetables.
"This study suggests that it's not enough to just educate people on the importance of vegetables, you need to show them ways to easily incorporate them into their daily routine," said study co-author Carl Keen, PhD, Professor of Nutrition and Internal Medicine at the University of California-Davis. "What we found was that something as simple as drinking your vegetables can be an effective tool in achieving behavior change."
The new U.S. Dietary Guidelines report also reinforces the need for Americans to achieve and sustain a healthy weight. Current data shows that 64 percent of women and 72 percent of men are overweight or obese.3 Eating more vegetables can be a helpful strategy to manage weight because they are "low-energy-dense," meaning they have more nutrition for fewer calories.
Again, vegetable juice can play a key role. A study from Baylor College of Medicine shows that overweight individuals with metabolic syndrome who drank one to two servings of V8 100% vegetable juice as part of a calorie-appropriate DASH diet lost more weight compared to non-juice drinkers. Over the 12-week study period, the juice drinkers lost an average of four pounds compared to the non-juice drinkers who lost one pound.4 In addition to weight loss, the vegetable juice drinkers had significant increases of vegetable intake, vitamin C and potassium over the course of the study compared to the non-juice drinkers.
"Making vegetable consumption easy is critical because it has so many benefits, from disease prevention to weight management," said John Foreyt, PhD, Director of the Behavioral Medicine Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine. "We have a lot more work to do in finding ways for people to improve their health, but providing them with something simple like vegetable juice is a step in the right direction."
About the Studies
Both studies were randomized controlled trials, each lasting 12 weeks. The University of California-Davis study involved 90 healthy adults, ages 40-65 years. The Baylor College of Medicine study enrolled 81 adults (83.5% of whom were minority) aged 35-65 with metabolic syndrome risk factors. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of risk factors for heart disease and diabetes that includes excess body fat in the midsection, high blood pressure, high blood sugar and elevated blood cholesterol.
The studies were supported in part by Campbell Soup Company and by resources provided from University of California-Davis and Baylor College of Medicine.
1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), USDA. 2010. Dietary Guidelines for Americans. 7th edition, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. January 31, 2011.
2. Shenoy A, Kazaks A, Holt R, et al. Easy accessibility to a vegetable beverage can result in marked increase in vegetable intake: an approach to improving vascular health. Poster presented at Experimental Biology, New Orleans, LA, 2009.
3. Flegal KM, Carroll MD, Ogden CL, Curtin LR. Prevalence and trends in obesity among U.S. adults, 1999-2008. JAMA. 2010;303:235-241.
4. Shenoy S, Poston W, Reeves R, et al. Weight loss in individuals with metabolic syndrome given DASH diet counseling when provided a low sodium vegetable juice: a randomized controlled study. Nutr J. 2010;9:8.
Source:
Emily Jane Meyer
Weber Shandwick Worldwide
Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.
All opinions are moderated before being added.
Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.
If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.
Contact Our News Editors
For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.
Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:
