For Self Help Daily, Out of Bounds, and Get Cooking, I do A LOT of research about healthy living, healthy eating, disease prevention, and nutrition. I’m amazed – again and again and again – at the number of times I read the words EAT MORE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. Whether an individual wants to prevent cancer, lose weight, look and feel their best, age well, improve their heart’s health, improve their memory… or a countless other positive pursuit… the experts, without fail, point to the importance of a healthy diet – one in which many fruits and vegetables are consumed regularly.
It’s pretty easy for those of us who love fruits and vegetables. We delight in our fruit and vegetables at supper and try to squeeze them into lunch and breakfast as often as possible. Trouble is, it’s not always as easy to do as it is to say. And if we think we have our hands full, just think how tough it is for those people who aren’t that crazy about fruit or vegetables – or those who, like a few members of my family, just want the same vegetables and fruits over and over again?!
Ocean Spray has served up a couple of delicious solutions. I was fortunate enough to receive a few of their new outstanding juices. I’ve tried the 100% Juice Fruit & Veggie Cranberry Strawberry Banana Flavored Blend of 8 Juices and the 100% Juice Fruit & Veggie Tropical Citrus flavored blend of 7 juices.
About the Ocean Spray Juices
When you think of Ocean Spray, you probably think of Cranberry Juice. With the hilarious commercials (I love those guys!) and the popularity of the Cranberry juice, itself, their brand identity is as strong as any. However, what a lot of people don’t realize is that Ocean Spray is cock of the walk when it comes to other juices and products as well. You can taste the quality and the goodness in each drink. If you’re like most of us, you’re looking for healthier drinks for your family to enjoy and would love to steer them away from soft drinks as much as possible.
The problem was that most juices just don’t motivate kids (or anyone for that matter) to put down the Coke and pick up the juice. Ocean Spray is exactly what parents need – delicious motivation! Their juices are also available in “On the Go” sizes that are perfect for grabbing on the way out the door whether you’re going for a walk, to the beach, to the park, to a ballgame or just to sit in the front yard and watch the commotion around your bird feeder.
I’ve noticed something with my family – if I have juice in individual serving containers, they’re a lot more apt to grab them instead of something else. Same holds true with water. Most young people just don’t want to slow down long enough to get a glass, fill it with ice, get the container, and pour the juice in the glass. After all… Heaven forbid… they’d then have to clean up after themselves.
Horrors!
From Ocean Spray.com:
When most people think of Ocean Spray, they think that we’re the Cranberry Juice folks. And if you’re reading this, then it’s likely you’re already a fan. The question is, which juice is your favorite? Check out all our varieties of cranberry juice, grapefruit juice and our juice blends.
- Blueberry Juice and Juice Drinks
- Cranberry Juice Cocktails
- Cranberry Juice Drink Blends
- Cranergy® Energy Juice Drinks
- Fruit & Veggie Juice and Juice Drinks
- White Cranberry Juice Drinks
- Grapefruit Juice And Juice Drinks
- Light Juice Drinks
- Diet Juice Drinks
- 100% Juice Blends
- Sugar Free Drink Mixes
- On the Go Juice and Juice Drinks
My new favorites are the Fruit and Vegetable blends. I think it’s partly because of all the research I do about nutrition and healthy living. I KNOW the importance of getting more fruits and vegetables in every possible way. Now, having said that, if these juices weren’t exceptional, I probably wouldn’t bother! Fortunately, they are outstandingly delicious and I’d just as soon grab one of them for lunch or breakfast (or for a walk) as anything else.
To know that I’m drinking something that’s so good for me while serving up my taste buds a little party makes it all the better.
The next time you’re at the store, you’ll definitely want to try these juices for yourself. They’ll flat blow you away.
For more information, recipes, and a super cool website experience, visit Ocean Spray’s website.
Bonus points were given to those products with more protein and fiber, and less added sugar and sodium. They also took calories per serving into consideration, but didn’t penalize for fat—since it adds flavor, helps keep hunger at bay, and is part of a healthy diet if it doesn’t lead to excessive calorie intake. Once the editors pared their choices down, they matched them in a head-to-head taste test to determine the victor. As for draws, the nod went to the product with the fewest ingredients.
I just checked out the 125 Healthiest Foods – yes indeed-y, all of them – and I was thrilled to see that I’m already buying a majority of the healthiest. Yay, me and my shopping skills!
Sometimes we’re more like children than we are adults, aren’t we? We know, full well, what foods we should be eating more of and what ones we should be eating less of – yet, off we go on our merry way to the nearest hamburger in a hurry joint. What’s worse, when we get there we almost always make our sinister selection as large as possilbe and, yes, of course, we would very much like fries with that.
Not long ago, my doctor told me that my blood pressure was a little higher than normal. The result, I’m certain, of tons of allergy pills necessitated by May and June. She said it wasn’t any cause for alarm (after all, mine is normally low, so “normal” would be high for me). She did say, however, that I’d be wise to cut back on salt.
After discovering that Frito Lay was onto something, I tried the Fritos Pinch of Salt Corn Chips. Even better! I’ve been a fanatical Fritos eater since I carried lunch boxes (The Hair Bear Bunch…remember them?) – my mommy put Fritos in there along with my Peanut Butter and jelly sandwiches, Dr. Pepper, and Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. Awwww.
