Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Dietician at St. Louis Hospital Slams Juice Plus
A St. Louis clinical dietician interviewed for an article published last week on the websites of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch[1] and Quad-City Times[2] newspapers joined the growing chorus of experts and critics who are advising consumers against taking Juice Plus fruit- and vegetable-based nutritional supplements. Renee Schwendinger, a dietitian at St. Anthony's Medical Center, warned “the average person should eat actual fruits and vegetables, not take a supplement such as Juice Plus”.
Schwendinger elaborated that Juice Plus fails to provide many of the health benefits associated with fresh fruits and vegetables and disputed the manufacturer’s claims that Juice Plus is “the next best thing to fruits and vegetables” and “provides the nutritional essence of 17 different fruits, vegetables and grains in convenient and inexpensive capsule form.”
According to Schwendinger, Juice Plus can be financially detrimental to consumers: “Taking a supplement to replace fruits and vegetables in diets could result in more money spent in finding food to make up for the lost calories, taste and feeling of fullness of a real food. Not to mention the money spent on a monthly supply of Juice Plus.”
Schwendinger also indicated that supplements like Juice Plus contain excessive amounts of some nutrients — more than the recommended daily allowance — which the body can’t completely use. “Your body ends up wasting that,” she said. “Our bodies only need a certain amount of vitamins and minerals.”
Eating the real thing is preferable to taking supplements, Schwendinger advised, although for those that can’t or won’t do that, she says a better way to get the nutrients is to supplement with a multivitamin. “A single multivitamin will give you all the nutrition you need if your diet is lacking, and it’s less expensive.”
Schewdinger’ statements echo those of many independent medical and scientific experts who have criticized the research and marketing used to promote Juice Plus to consumers.
Sources:
[1] Lori Shontz. Nutritional shortcut bypasses benefits of eating the real thing. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. January 15, 2007.
[2] Lori Shontz. Nutritional supplements can’t replace the real thing. Quad-City Times. January 19, 2007.
Schwendinger elaborated that Juice Plus fails to provide many of the health benefits associated with fresh fruits and vegetables and disputed the manufacturer’s claims that Juice Plus is “the next best thing to fruits and vegetables” and “provides the nutritional essence of 17 different fruits, vegetables and grains in convenient and inexpensive capsule form.”
According to Schwendinger, Juice Plus can be financially detrimental to consumers: “Taking a supplement to replace fruits and vegetables in diets could result in more money spent in finding food to make up for the lost calories, taste and feeling of fullness of a real food. Not to mention the money spent on a monthly supply of Juice Plus.”
Schwendinger also indicated that supplements like Juice Plus contain excessive amounts of some nutrients — more than the recommended daily allowance — which the body can’t completely use. “Your body ends up wasting that,” she said. “Our bodies only need a certain amount of vitamins and minerals.”
Eating the real thing is preferable to taking supplements, Schwendinger advised, although for those that can’t or won’t do that, she says a better way to get the nutrients is to supplement with a multivitamin. “A single multivitamin will give you all the nutrition you need if your diet is lacking, and it’s less expensive.”
Schewdinger’ statements echo those of many independent medical and scientific experts who have criticized the research and marketing used to promote Juice Plus to consumers.
Sources:
[1] Lori Shontz. Nutritional shortcut bypasses benefits of eating the real thing. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. January 15, 2007.
[2] Lori Shontz. Nutritional supplements can’t replace the real thing. Quad-City Times. January 19, 2007.
