V8 Fruit/vegetable Juice... Is It Nutritionally Worth It?

Updated on August 13, 2011
N.F. asks from North Richland Hills, TX
10 answers

I will admit I'm not the best when it comes to reading labels. Sure I read them, but fully understanding them and putting it into nutritional daily value is not my forte. So as I'm looking through grocery ads today I noticed V8 drinks (especially the V8 Fusion) are on special. It got me thinking... Is it really worth buying nutritionally? I have a picky 2yo and he has a love/hate relationship with vegetables. Let me explain haha It's like he wants to eat them, he says "mmmm broccoli" and puts it in his mouth, but after he chews for a while, he spits it out. There is hope in the future for veggies, but I'm not pushing him too much to eat them... they are there for him to try at least :) So, if V8 helps me sneak in a serving of veggies and fruit and it will benefit him I would really like to try them out on him. The sugars are what I'm REALLY concerned about... he does not need any extra sugar lol Any insight is greatly appreciated also any alternatives too :)

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So What Happened?

Thank You for the responses... And, WOW GrammaRocks!!! Thank you for that information :) By all means I'm not trying to replace vegetables and fruits with a drink. My son will always be offered fruits and vegetables... Fruit is not the problem haha So, I will be letting my son try it :D He gets a mutli-vitamin twice a day and eats pretty darn healthy for the most part. I actually compared a caprisun to the V8 Fusion and V8 wins big time! I'm not seeing the harm in giving him this drink.

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C.K.

answers from Minneapolis on

I buy an organic carrot juice from Trader Joe's and mix it with soups, regular juice, etc. The only ingredient in it is carrots, so it's quite concentrated. I don't have the bottle with me right now, but the nutritional value is phenomenal in terms of Vitamin A (which is good for vision among other things). My older son even drank a glass of it the other day mixed with nothing (yuck)!

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B..

answers from Dallas on

No. Drinking juice, is not eating vegetables and fruit. Whole fruits and vegetables, are only vegetables and fruit. He is drinking pure sugar. There is little nutrition value in juice. The juicing process kills the nutrition. You should not consider juice a serving of fruit and veggies. Juice IS NOT FOOD. It's a sugary drink treat. That's it, nothing more.

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R.R.

answers from Los Angeles on

This is what is in the various flavors:
Strawberry Banana contains the juice of 10 vegetables and fruits: sweet potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, beets, white grapes, oranges, apples, strawberries, bananas, banana puree.

Peach Mango contains the juice of 8 vegetables and fruits: sweet potatoes, yellow tomatoes, yellow carrots, carrots, white grapes, oranges, peaches, mango puree.

Pomegranate Blueberry contains the juice of 8 vegetables and fruits: sweet potatoes, purple carrots, tomatoes, carrots, apples, white grapes, pomegranates, blueberries.

Açai Mixed Berry contains the juice of 8 vegetables and fruits: sweet potatoes, purple carrots, carrots, apples, white grapes, açai, blueberries, limes.

Cranberry Blackberry contains the juice of 7 vegetables and fruits: sweet potatoes, purple carrots, carrots, apples, white grapes, cranberries, blackberries.

Goji Raspberry contains the juice of 11 vegetables and fruits: sweet potatoes, carrots, purple carrots, apples, white grapes, oranges, goji, cherries, strawberries, red raspberries, blackberries.

Concord Grape Raspberry contains the juice of 7 vegetables and fruits: sweet potatoes, purple carrots, carrots, white grapes, apples, Concord grapes, red raspberries.

They're all naturally low in sodium and have no added sugar or high fructose corn syrup, and contain 100% Vitamin C in one serving. They do contain natural sugars present in the fruits and veggies on their own. My little guy is like yours, will chew his veggies to get the flavors out, then spit them out ~ it's a texture thing, he was the same way with meat until a few months ago. So while I definitely prefer he eat vegetables, and I'm sure he will as he gets a little older, I'll continue to offer them, but these drinks offer a way for him to get full servings of them without a fuss, a good variety, and he loves them.

5 moms found this helpful

S.M.

answers from Kansas City on

Sugar is sugar. There's a lot of propaganda out there against the processed sugars and against corn syrup in particular. I've gone on the guru diets cutting out fat and sugar and salt and gluten and concentrating on fish and vegetables, steaming everything and only whole fruits and no juices. You wanna know what? I didn't feel better. I didn't lose weight. I didn't get over my aches or pains. I did it for a long time too, many months, 6-8 months working very hard and almost never cheating.

I like that the v-8 juices have some sweet potato in them. I would not expect it to be a salvation but it won't hurt him either. You are doing a good job to put a variety of foods in front of him and let him keep trying them.

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K.M.

answers from Denver on

My son hates veggies but loves fruit. We have taken to using this drink to get the veggies in. We figure the good outweighs the bad especially if it is that or no veggies.

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J.G.

answers from Fargo on

I give it to my kids, it's actually the only juice I really let them drink. I think its a good choice. Of course, nothing will take the nutritional place for raw vegetables, but I don't think that's what you are asking. It's kinda like the same as taking vitamins rather than the real thing and the debate can go on and on.

Some more options for veggies is blending them up and hiding them in food. Deceptively Delicious was a favorite cook book of mine. Some moms are against that though as they think it's sneaky. You can always add cheese, my kids love them that way. Try flavoring them. Dipping is a HUGE hit. Especially at that age, kids love to dip in ranch or whatever. Also, there is vegetables you can drink. I can't remember the name off hand but they are in the baby aisle (I picked mine up at Target). It's exactly like the applesauce with a built in straw.

Also, if you choose you want to go the vitamin route, my kids really like the Melaleuca children's vitamins. I like them because of how much nutrients they get, how much the body will actually absorb. BUT yes, raw is better, but if you just can't, then do whatever you can to get those nutrients in!!

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L.G.

answers from Detroit on

I just bought this too because of the coupon this weekend. I don't know that I would rely on it for vegetable nutrition, however, as far as juice goes, it meets all my requirements: no added sugar, 100% juice, no hfcs, and 100% vitamin C. i try to really limit juice, but when i do give it to my daughter, i make sure it has all of these things.

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M.H.

answers from Seattle on

I dunno, most people say to really limit juice. But our kid is so horrible at eating that we've snuck calories and nutrients into her via yogurt shakes, and now fusion, for most of her life. It does have sugar, but almost all the rest of our foods are whole foods, so i figure some sugar isn't the most horrible thing in the world. (It is no high-fructose added sugar in this case, but natural fruit sugars, which i think is ok.)
The juice has less fiber than whole fruits do, so it maybe less good from that standpoint again. However, we consider it as part of a whole diet, and i don't know that this is so horrible.
We do still limit the intake in a day - juice can be had with a meal, but drinks between meals are water. Moderation is the key to everything.

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V.C.

answers from Dallas on

I don't think they are particularly bad, but what about making your own? Any blender will work.
I'm drinking a smoothie right now with some protein powder, organic baby spinach, frozen raspberries and frozen wild blueberries. Yum--tastes just like a blueberry muffin.

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B.

answers from Augusta on

I think they are , and you can buy a light version of them that has less sugar and you can also buy a store brand of them at walmart , I am not sure about other stores because I haven't looked for them.

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