A Pound of Fruit in Every Bottle? And This Is Supposed to Be A Good Thing?

Yes, you read that correctly.  Naked brand juice has an ad campaign at the moment that touts this, as though it were a good idea.

First of all, the amount of sugar one would consume if they ate a pound of fruit is bad enough, let alone the even higher glycemic load one would get if they took away all the fiber on top of it.

Don’t think that simply because you choose a flavor that’s green in color, like their Green Machine, that it’s a good choice either.  One bottle has two servings, totaling a whopping 50 grams of sugar!

In addition, there is quite a bit of controversy over this claim, as to whether this brand is even really using nothing but fresh fruit to make its products; apparently, it’s not really all that naked.

Last year, there was a lawsuit agains its parent company, Pepsico (ugh; seeing this connection didn’t exactly end in a sigh of relief for me), over its misuse of phrases like “100% Natural” and “100 % Juice”, when, in fact, some of the flavors contain not only GMO produce, but GMO soy.

At an average of $4 per bottle, the cost is yet another reason to skip it.

Here’s the bottom line:

• Yes, a juice can be a part of a True Paleo regime, but the key takeaway is ‘a part’.  If, for example, you juiced up some kale, celery, cucumber and ginger and had it on the go along with some leftover sliced turkey and a handful of raw walnuts, that would be a nicely balanced, easy to eat snack.   
• Even better, throw the whole vegetables into your vitamix, or equally powerful blender and keep all the goodness of the fiber.
• Don’t fool yourself into thinking any juice, even if it did come from 100% natural, fresh fruit, is a good substitute for a meal, all on its own.  It’s way too high in sugar (even natural sugar isn’t a good idea in excess), it’s costly and frankly, you’re better off simply grabbing a nice, fresh apple.