Is Juice Plus All That?

Recently, a reader wrote in to ask what I thought about a product I’ve heard about many a time…Juice Plus.

She wanted my opinion on what she referred too as ‘a new fad in her area, which she thinks is ridiculous but can’t seems to get thru to my pushy friends who think this is great… ‘

For those of you unfamiliar with this product, here’s the description from their site:

“The Next Best Thing to Fruits and Vegetables, Juice Plus+ is whole food based nutrition, including juice powder concentrates from 25 different fruits, vegetables and grains… We simply don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables. And that hurts our health and wellness. Juice Plus+ helps bridge the gap between what you should eat and what you do eat every day.Not a multivitamin, medicine, treatment or cure for any disease, Juice Plus+ is all-natural and made from quality ingredients carefully monitored from farm to capsule so you can enjoy improved nutrition and wellness.“

OK, first question.   If it’s the next best thing to fruits and vegetables, wouldn’t I just eat fruit and vegetables?   Maybe it’s me, but that kinda seems like common sense, no?

Next up- a powder made fro fruits, vegetables…and grains?  Um, why grains?  I get the idea of trying to encapsulate the first two and sell it as a health promoting supplement but grains?  Don’t get it.

Next point, true; we do not, as a society, eat enough fruit and vegetables.  So…shouldn’t we start doing so rather than taking pills?

Here’s the thing.   Yes, one might take a pill like a multi vitamin as what I’d refer to as an ‘insurance policy’ but that’s all it is; a supplement to round out what we should be getting in our fresh food.

Take away on Juice Plus?  Skip it and spend your money buying better quality food.