Get Your Day Started With a Glass of 100% Juice
Cynthia Sass offers nutritious tips to follow when you're buying juice.
Dec. 07, 2010 — -- These days so many terms grace the labels on juice containers, choosing the right one can make your head spin. I tell my clients to keep it simple.
When facing a wall of choices there is only one thing you need to look for: the words 100% juice. This ensures that no sugar has been added. Without these two words you may end up buying a product that contains a splash of juice, along with water and refined sugar.
I recommend buying organic whenever possible but that word alone doesn't ensure that what's in the container is all juice. Fortunately 100% means 100% - the only ingredients in the container will be real juice.
Now that you know your juice is genuine pay attention to your portion size. Because juice lacks the fiber found in whole fruit and doesn't require chewing it can be easy to overdo it calorie-wise. Stick with a 4-6 oz. portion (1/2 to 3/4 cup). This amount is the nutritional equivalent of one cup of fresh fruit.
And mix it up. A wider variety gives your body a broader spectrum of nutrients. Cheers!
Cynthia Sass, MPH, MA, RD, CSSD is an ABC News contributor and Good Morning America Health's Food Coach. Through her New York City-based private practice Cynthia specializes in weight management and sports nutrition. She is the nutritionist for the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays, and worked with the Philadelphia Phillies from 2007-2009. She's also the Weight Loss Coach columnist for Shape magazine and a New York Times best-selling author. Her newest book Cinch! Conquer Cravings, Drop Pounds and Lose Inches will be released by Harper Collins December 28, 2010.
