Vegetable Juice Helps Dieters Lose More Weight

I am not knocking V8 Juice. I like the stuff. Though I mix my vodka and tabaso with clamato juice.

Like I said I am not knocking V8 but I think the Communication guys dropped the ball - wow a 4 whole pounds over 12 weeks! Hardly impressive. Normal dieters can see right through this PR crap.

Vegetable juice isn't bad. If you're feeling low-blood sugary and need a lil something to skip you through til you can get some real food, I'd rather have some pure fruit or vegetable juice than pop or candy or a donut or something.

That said...I much prefer eating my calories.

I know that Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet calls for a small serving of V8 each morning. I never even tried! It's a textural thing for me.

Don't know why you'd say four pounds extra in 12 weeks is "pathetic" -- or even 1. If you assume this is a lifestyle change and it continues, that's 16 pounds a year. Generally, grandiose notions of how much weight a person should lose are self-defeating; slow and steady over a long period is best.

I think you're critiquing the numbers from the wrong angle. The study showed that people lost 1 pound in 12 weeks on the Dash diet. And those on the same diet who consumed one glass of vegitable juice per day were four times more successful than those who didn't. It's not about how little they lost overall. If that were the case, then the fault lies with the Dash diet. The take-away is that people who were told to make one very specific and easily achievable change were more successful than those who were given only more general instruction.

The study didn't prove that specifically drinking juice was the cause of the added success. There were too many variables left open for the researchers to come to that conclusion. To show that, they would need a second study in which they compare results where a third group is asked to make similar specific changes, (like asking them to eat one cup of carrots daily or drink one extra glass of water).

I am not one to take too seriously a study done by the company of the product. Conflict of interest to me! Saying that, I guess something is better than nothing but like another said, I prefer to eat my food/veggies & the fiber & other nutrients from whole food is important. Something about drinking it turns my stomach. But, if a person refuses to eat veggies, I guess better than nothing but why not try to find some good veggies that you like & start there.

More than anything, I just don't like that Campbell Soup was behind this.

Like Gerry, I also don't really get the point of vegetable juice. It doesn't fill you up and it generally tastes a lot nastier than whole veggies do. So dieters that added vegetable juice to their diets lost 4 additional pounds over 12 weeks? I suppose that's good for them, but I bet they'd lose a LOT more weight if they ate their veggies instead of drinking that V8 swill. But yeah, since the study was funded by Campbell's, I don't put a lot of stock in it. Chances are, their diets before the V8 were completely devoid of fiber and adding the V8 probably just cleaned them out really well. I'm just waiting for a study done by Sunsweet saying that prune juice makes you lose weight...because lemme tell ya, it DOES, especially if you're bunged up.

Vegetable juice tastes disgusting! I would much prefer to eat vegetables for taste and fiber. The fact that the study was funded by Campbells makes it irrelevant in my mind.

While I'm all for getting any additional vegetables into people (aside from things like battered dill pickles and green tomatoes deep-fried in partially hydrogenated shortening), I wonder how many people use V8 as a way to shore up generally goof vegetable consumption on an occasional basis as opposed to using vegetable juice as a way to feel better about diets that include very few vegetables overall.

But agreed, given the funding behind this study, I'd be suspicious of any conclusions that appear to follow from it.

Wow. Such hatred being spewed for such a silly small thing.

I actually like V8, especially the spicy variety, although it is rather high in sodium. But aside from that, I do drink a can of V8 every afternoon as an afternoon snack. It's good, it's reasonably nutritious, and it makes a nice pre-workout snack for me w/out being too heavy.

Can I say for sure exactly how much it's contributed to my weight loss or maintenance? Of course not. But I do know that I lost 80+ lbs last year and have kept it off. And I know that I enjoy V8 and it's a valid part of my diet.

So you know .. hate on it all you want. I'm not saying that anyone should count on it as a veggie replacement - I eat plenty of veggies, too. But it's not evil personified. It's just another personal choice that people can make. And as far as choices go, it could be a FAR worse choice.

Screw juice, if you want a real vegetable drink, buy the stuff from Progressive called Veggie Greens. Mix that with what ever juice you want and you have a REAL veggie drink with your daily intake of fruits and vegetables.

But even that stuff should be taken with a grain of salt. NOTHING replaces eating vegetables by themselves. The only thing that comes close is if you juice your own mix. Assuming your juicer isn't crap that is.

I'm also not interested in any study that is funded by a company with a vested interest, and I know that the way V8 is produced means that 99% of the goodness is cooked right out of it.

BUT

"Unless it's mixed with vodka and Tabasco sauce, I'm not interested in vegetable juice. I don't see the point."

- is a ludicrous way for someone to start a post on a health blog! Seriously, are you advising your readers that you think that vegetable juice is not worth drinking?

That is mental!

Indeed, you lose the fibre. But in one vegetable juice you get all of the other nutrients of, for example, 1 whole cucumber, a handful of spinach, 2 tomatoes, lettuce leaves, 2 celery sticks and a carrot.

Plus, because the juice does NOT contain the fibre, it is easier for the body to assimilate and digest the nutrients in the vegetables.

That juice is just one juice, one serving and you're getting the goodness of all of that. It is like a gigantic salad in a glass. Why wouldn't you recommend that?!

Ross

so i this mean .. it's actually workin ?

I don't mind a glass of V8 every once in awhile, but I wouldn't use it to replace eating veggies, I'd have it in addition to them. Having said that, most people don't eat OR drink their veggies so I guess it's better than nothing.

I figure as long as you're drinking it to replace soft drinks, you can't lose!