V8 Your Way to 5-A-Day

V8 Your Way to 5-A-Day

By Jennifer Gruenemay, ACE-Certified, Special to LifeScript
Published May 24, 2009
If eating 3-5 servings of veggies every day has you feeling like you couldn’t possibly shove another broccoli spear down your throat, don’t throw in the towel just yet. I have a secret weapon: A tall glass of V8 juice. V8 100% Vegetable Juice has only 50 calories per 8-ounce serving, and takes care of two full servings of your daily recommended intake of vegetables. Which vegetables, you ask? V8 is made from a mixture of tomatoes, beets, celery, carrots, lettuce, parsley, watercress, and spinach. In other words, V8 juice is a super-rich source of vitamins (such as A, C and E), minerals (such as calcium, potassium and magnesium) and antioxidants (especially lycopene). Drinking 8-ounces of V8 juice before your biggest meal could also help to curb your appetite. Much like eating a salad before dinner, drinking a 50-calorie glass of V8 juice may help you eat 100 fewer calories from your main meal. That makes this nutritiously tasty drink a big winner in my book.