Making vegetable juice a daily habit could bridge the gap in the diet of many, between the desired levels and the actual intake of vegetables.
With seven out of 10 adults falling short of the daily recommended vegetable intake as put forth by the U.S. Dietary Guidelines, researchers the University of California-Davis studied whether drinking vegetable juice could help boost the intake of this critical food group. And it was.
The study looked at three groups of healthy men and women. All three groups received dietary counseling on ways to get more vegetables, but only two of the groups were instructed to consume at least one serving of vegetable juice, in the form of 100% vegetable juice each day. Of those two groups, one drank one 8-ounce glass of vegetable juice every day and the other drank two 8-ounce glasses of vegetable juice every day as part of a balanced eating plan.
The study found that those who received dietary counseling and consumed vegetable juice were far more likely to meet the daily vegetable recommendations, about two and a half cups (five servings), than those who received counseling alone. Specifically, more than half of the participants who drank one serving of V8 100% vegetable juice met the recommendations, as did all of those who drank two 8-ounce glasses of V8 100% vegetable juice each day. Of those who did not drink any vegetable juice, less than a quarter got enough vegetables, the American Dietetic Association annual conference was told.