Juicy fruits and fruit juices are not the same thing

A recent article on the Fit Day website posed the question about fruit and vegetable juice drinks and whether they were healthy and nutritious. The marketing claims aside, these products are touted as counting towards your 5-9 daily requirement of fruits and vegetables with added benefits of green tea and antioxidants, but does this mean you can drink your veggies and be done with it? Not really.

According to the article, "The juice you're drinking may be just a glassful of sugar, cleverly disguised as something healthy. Some juices contain added vitamins, including vitamins C, E, B2, B3, B6, B12, and beta-carotene (which don't have to be added to whole fruits and vegetables because many are naturally rich in these nutrients). Other juices add caffeine or even oil to their products."

Clever marketing makes consumers think they are getting a lot of value drinking these juices, but nothing compares to actually eating the fruits and vegetables. Reading juice labels is very important to make sure there is no high fructose corn syrup.  I follow the guideline of not drinking my calories.

While there is still debate as to whether or not some caffeine in drinks is hepful or not, there is nothing more refreshing than a bite of fresh fruit or fresh steamed vegetables from the local farmer's market.

Don't forget to visit Dr. Tav's website for more information on keeping your teeth healthy.