What is Juice Plus+? And How Will it Help You?

An Easy and Convenient Way to Help You Upgrade the QUALITY of Your Diet

In my previous "Why You Should Kick Calorie Counting to the Curb" post, I shared the results of a new research study that offers strong support that we should move away from counting calories and limiting portion sizes and move toward focusing on adopting a high quality diet. 

And experts across the field agree, regardless of their preferred dietary protocol, that the foundation of ANY high quality diet is an abundance of plant food with an emphasis on plenty of colorful, raw fruits and vegetables. In fact, there are over 4,000 studies that point to making this one simple change - eating more fruits and vegetables - as being the one thing that will have the most profound impact on your health.

The foundation of ANY high quality diet is an abundance of fruits and vegetables.

And the reason for this is because of the phtyonutrients found in plants. I’m sure you’ve heard this word or maybe its sister word – phytochemicals – somewhere along the line.

Phytonutrients/phytochemicals are tiny compounds found in plants that protect them from germs, fungi, bugs, and other threats. It turns out that these tiny compounds protect us too. They protect us from a whole slew of things including cancer, inflammation, infection, heart disease, autoimmune disease, and other chronic illnesses (Hyman, 2018). They also happen to be necessary for vibrant health.

Phtyonutrients are what give fruits and vegetables their beautiful colors. And these colors indicate which beneficial substances they contain. For instance, the blue-purple color is caused by anthocyanins which prevent blood clots, delay cell aging, and may slow the onset of Alzheimer’s disease (Hyman, 2018). And red indicates the carotenoid lycopene which protects against heart disease and genetic damage that may cause cancer (Hyman, 2018).

In general, the more colors you eat when it comes to plants, the more healing compounds you will get. And this is why it is so important to "eat the rainbow".

How Many Servings of Fruits and Veggies Do You Get Each Day?

The USDA recommends 7-10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day as part of a healthy diet. The Institute of Functional Medicine recommends 9-13 servings of whole plant foods a day - with 5-7 of them as vegetables - to reap all the health benefits of plants and prevent chronic disease. Regardless of which recommendation you choose to embrace, it can be really, really hard to hit even the lowest number.

Let’s just say you get 2 servings at breakfast, 2 servings at lunch, and 2 servings at dinner. Even with 2 servings at every single meal, you are still falling below the minimum recommendation for a healthy diet and are not putting yourself in a position to prevent chronic disease. 

And this is precisely why I am so excited to partner with the Juice Plus+ company and introduce the Juice Plus+ products to you. Juice Plus+ makes doing what we know we should do with our diet (eating an abundance of colorful plant food) actually doable.

So What is Juice Plus+?

Let me answer that question by first telling you what Juice Plus+ is NOT.

Juice Plus+ is not a vitamin or a supplement. It is not a medicine or a treatment or cure for any disease. It is not a 'quick fix' and it is not an energy pill, weight loss product, or a performance enhancer (although these are all effects some people notice). 

Juice Plus+ IS food. It is simply fruits and vegetables. No more. No less. It is a whole food concentrate which carries a food label not a supplement label. And it is a super convenient way to ADD more HIGH QUALITY nutrition to your diet.

Here's how it works:

Juice Plus+ takes nature's nutrients from 30 different fruits, vegetables, grains, and berries and packs them into a capsule. But wait, you say, how is that even possible?

Fruits and vegetables are 90% water. When you extract the water, you are left with a whole food concentrate. And that's what gets put into the capsule.

Juice Plus+ is whole, real food in a capsule. No more. No Less.

And the super cool thing is that this whole food concentrate contains all of the naturally occurring vitamins, minerals, food enzymes, phytochemicals, antioxidants, chlorophyll, and disease fighting food actives that are in whole food. Plus the nutrients in whole food concentrates are bio-available which means the body is able to absorb the nutrients and the liver doesn’t need to decipher what the body needs. They can also easily be eliminated if it turns out to be more than what the body can use.

What Do I Love About Juice Plus+?

Lots of things but my favorite thing is that it makes healthy living easy and more convenient. You can get 30 servings of fruits and vegetables every day by simply taking the fruit, berry, and vegetable capsules. Think about how easy it makes hitting that recommended target above!

I waited a long time to tell you about Juice Plus+. Why? Because, my sweet friend, I’ve seen a lot of stuff out there. I’ve followed the trends. I’ve seen the gimmicks. And the last thing I want to do is jump on the next health craze bandwagon - especially when it comes to making recommendations for my clients, my friends, and my family. Plus, I need to believe in something whole-heartedly before I put my name behind it.

But Juice Plus+ is unlike anything I've ever seen. I use it. My family uses it. And I feel really confident recommending it as a tool to support a healthy lifestyle.

What Effects Have I Noticed?

I've been using Juice Plus+ for over 3 years and both of my girls (ages 9 and 7) have been using it consistently for the last year and a half. Here's what I've noticed:

1) I eat more plant-based food than I ever have.

I, for the most part, eat an exclusively whole-foods diet. But I didn't always. I had a little (who are we kidding - it was HUGE!) issue with refined carbohydrates and a white substance called sugar. But trying to quit eating these foods cold-turkey triggered all kinds of issues for me. As it often will for anyone who struggles with their relationship with food. But Juice Plus+ has helped me consistently add in high quality nutrition which has allowed me to crowd out the foods that triggered binge eating and over-consumption.

And the interesting thing is that I am not trying to diet or even avoid certain foods. I just want and crave the healthy stuff. It doesn't even phase me to pick up pretzels (a former favorite) for a snack. I choose an apple. Not because I am trying to avoid pretzels or am worried about losing control. It's because that's what I want. There is no negotiation. I just eat the apple and feel completely satisfied. 

And speaking of sugar, if you are sensitive to the substance like I am, you might wonder about the naturally occurring sugars in fruits and berries. Most of this sugar is extracted with the water during the proprietary juicing-to-powder process, so you don't need to worry about Juice Plus+ spiking your blood sugar levels.

2) I hardly ever get sick. And my kids are pretty darn healthy too.

I rarely get viruses or colds. Which is pretty helpful from a mom standpoint. And get this, this past year, has been my girls' healthiest year too. My oldest daughter, who is now in 3rd grade, had a really rough 2nd grade year. It seemed like she was hit with one illness after another. She actually missed so much school that we received one of those truancy notices.

But this year? We are one week away from the end of the school year and she has not missed one day of school for illness. Not one. And the only thing we changed is that she started eating the Juice Plus+ gummies consistently.

Coincidence? No, I don't think so.

3) My daughter's warts completely disappeared.

My oldest daughter (the same one who got sick a lot) had a pretty sizeable wart on the inside of her thumb and another one was starting to pop up on her arm. She was quite distraught over the whole thing so I called and made an appointment with a dermatologist to have it removed. You have to schedule those appointments pretty far in advance so I made the appointment and didn't think too much more about it.

One day, out of the blue, my daughter says "Mom, I think my wart is going away."  And sure enough, I took a peek and it appeared as if it was drying up. I was a little awestruck and immediately began researching if an improvement in diet could make a wart go away. And sure enough, the answer is yes. Warts, like any other virus, can be destroyed by a healthy immune system.

And what does Juice Plus+ do? Strengthen the immune system. I am now pleased to report that both of her warts are completely gone with no help of liquid nitrogen.

4) My mom guilt is gone.

I feel really good knowing that my kids get a wide variety of clean, raw, vine-ripened fruits and vegetables every single morning with their breakfast - simply by eating their Juice Plus+ gummies.

I love that my girls get a wide variety of fruits and veggies each and every morning when they eat their Juice Plus+ gummies.

As a nutrition coach, I naturally want my kids to eat a healthy diet and steer away from processed junk. But the reality is that they are kids and are often going to be put in situations where they are surrounded by unhealthy food options. Knowing that they get an ample quantity of high quality fruits and veggies every day helps eliminate any mama guilt over anything else that they might consume.

And kids can get Juice Plus+ for free through the Family Health Study. Yep, you read that right - for FREE!

Backed by Loads of Research

Juice Plus+ is also the most heavily researched nutritional product on the market. Some of the top researching bodies in the world have studied Juice Plus+ and its effects. At this point there are over 30 gold-standard, independent, placebo-based studies on the products. Nothing else even comes close.

If you are like me, you might be a little skeptical about all this. I know I was at first. The first thing you will probably do is begin your own research on Juice Plus+. Which, btw, makes you pretty awesome.

When doing your research you may notice that you find some threads that talk about Juice Plus+ funding their own research. Which, if I am totally honest, raised a red flag for me. After all, it can't be legit research if the company funds it, right?!  

Here's what I've come to learn. The company is actually very transparent about the fact that they fund a lot of their research. All research has to be funded somehow and the reality is much of today's scientific research is corporately funded.

They work with very reputable institutions and researchers. And no reputable university, hospital, or research institute would tolerate having their reputation diminished by faulty research practices. I also love that the research is peer reviewed by academic and scientific experts.

The research is there. And it showcases the benefits of adding Juice Plus+ to your diet. And then there are the product stories - the improvements people experience. My customers alone have reported things like a reduction in inflammation, a desire for more nutritious food, more energy, fewer instances of being sick, and more regular bowels. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

A Tool and a Catalyst for Change

I would venture to say that you already know the importance of incorporating a wide variety of raw fruits and vegetables into your diet and would agree that the right fuel makes your body run better. The problem is not the knowing. The problem is often the doing.

It can be really, really hard to consistently eat a high quality diet. After all, you go-go-go from sun up to sun down. You try so hard to fit it all in. To balance healthy eating with everything else on your plate (pun-intended, ha!). But there are only so many hours in a day and something has to give. And that something is often a healthy diet.

And that's what gets me so excited about Juice Plus+. Because it truly is a tool that can help you do what you know you should do to get where you want to be. It can help you make the lifestyle and diet changes you seek without dieting, restricting, or feeling deprived.  

Juice Plus+ can be a catalyst for change. That first step toward healthier living. I truly believe in the power of plants and what flooding your body with all those phytonutrients on a regular basis does for your body. Giving my body awesome nutrition day in and day out has made such a big difference on so many different levels. 

And while there are many pieces to the puzzle, nutrition is a pretty big piece. And it is so hard to get the quality and quantity of produce on a regular basis that actually makes a difference.

Juice Plus+ is one simple change that can make a really big difference.

Are You Ready to Make One Simple Change?

Let's talk about how the power of produce could support you and help you take healthy back. Fill out the form below to get the conversation started!

Sources: 

Hyman, Mark. Food: What the Heck Should I Eat? New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2018.