Brio Wellness Center

Selecting Healthful Juices

Fruit juice can be a healthful, tasty addition to any meal. New juices are always popping up promoting health benefits such as potent antioxidants and cancer-preventing content. But, too often, the juices we see at the grocery store are high in added sugars and low in nutrients. Follow these basic tips when selecting a juice:

Choose:

• A short ingredient list—the fewer ingredients listed, the more likely you are to be getting pure juice.
• “100% fruit juice” on the label.
• “No sugar added” on the label.
• Whole fruit blends such as smoothies and purées. Juices that contain the peel and membranes of the fruits in addition to the fleshy insides have an increased fiber and nutrient content.
• The name of the particular fruit you are seeking as the first juice on the ingredients list.
• If the juice has colors or preservatives, they should be natural, for example, purple carrot or beet juice for color, or vitamin C or grape seed oil as a preservative.

Avoid:

• High fructose corn syrup.
• Artificial sweeteners.
• Added sugar or sucrose.
• Sodium benzoate (or other chemical preservatives)
• Artificial colors or dyes.