Research suggests V8 100% vegetable juice can help people meet key dietary guidelines

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."

Source: Weber Shandwick Worldwide