IS NAKED JUICE HEALTHY? WHAT ARE ITS BENEFITS AND SIDE EFFECTS?
Naked Juice is a juice brand that deals in blended fruit and vegetable juice, featuring pomegranate blueberry, Green Machine, and other ingredients. Although they may help a person replenish his sugar levels and antioxidant banks, the juices by this brand are heavily laden with calories and sugar.
Naked Juice is an international juicing brand specializing in blended fruit and vegetable juices. This smoothie brand has crazily become popular because juicing has also become trendy, especially in fruits and vegetables. Besides, the brand claims to produce the best juices because it does not add artificial flavors and colors, and preservatives to its smoothies. Nonetheless, lots of controversies have been built around these smoothies, primarily because they are high in calories and sugar content. As such, they may not be effective and instead contribute to more harm than good, including weight gain. Peer into this article to know everything about Naked Juice and its smoothies.
Understanding Naked Juice
First things first, let’s understand what Naked Juice is. As mentioned previously, it’s a juicing brand that deals in whole smoothies. Unlike other brands that add preservatives and artificial flavors and colors to their juices, Naked Juice smoothies are whole and lack such additives. As such, the brand claims to be producing the best smoothies, consequently earning a lot of popularity.
Inside a Naked Juice smoothie bottle
Let’s now explore what’s inside a typical Naked Juice smoothie bottle. Most of the brand’s smoothies are made using pomegranate, raspberry, and Green Machine, which includes several fruits, including apple, kiwi, and other healthy foods. Besides, some flavors are fortified with vitamins and minerals. Nonetheless, the brand does not add sugar or artificial flavors to the smoothies.
Naked Juice: the typical nutritional profile
In gauging how important or beneficial a particular food is to human health, nutritionists explore their nutritional profile. We follow the same procedure to deem how helpful Naked Juice smoothies are to the body and their implications to health. Below is a breakdown of 450 ml Green Machine smoothie;
- Calories- 270
- Carbs- 63 g
- Sugar- 53 g
- Fats- 0
- Protein- 4 g
- Fiber- 1.3 g
- Vitamins A, B2, and B6- 25% of DV
- Vitamin C- 50% DV
From the above, it is clear that Naked Juice smoothies are high in calories, sugars, and carbs (270, 53 g, and 63 g, respectively). What’s more, other flavors, including Red and Blue Machine, contain as much as 76 g carbs and 320 calories per 450 ml bottle. This makes them less friendly for weight management.
Naked Juice smoothies are heavily packed with sugar and carbs but are low on fiber.
The nutritional profile above showed that a typical bottle of Naked Juice contains a lot of sugar and carbs but is low in fiber (1.3 g per 40 ml). Remember, the American Heart Association suggests 9 teaspoons (37.5 g) and 6 teaspoons (25 g) of sugar for men and women, respectively. However, the Green Machine smoothie adds a whopping 13 teaspoons (53 g) to the body when you take the 450 ml bottle. Isn’t this too much?
Furthermore, the fiber content in the smoothies is extremely low. As they are heavily processed, they lose the pulp and fiber content. Yet, the body needs fibers for many functions, including digestion, weight gain control, good gut health, and overall well-being. Following the lower fiber content, you are more likely to feel hungry after taking this juice, driving you to overindulge. This also contributes to weight gain.
What are the potential health benefits of taking Naked Juice drinks?
Admittedly, there are some health benefits related to taking Naked Juice drinks. These juices are whole and help the body gain antioxidants. These are health-promoting compounds that help the body fight free radicals, spontaneous molecules that result in oxidative stress when left unattended. Oxidative stress is lethal and is linked to many chronic health conditions, including cancer, diabetes type 2, and heart disease. Studies have shown that drinking 100% fruit and vegetable juices helps the body take in more antioxidants.
In one study, people were given fruit or vegetable juices or a controlled substance for 14 weeks. At the end of the studies, those taking juices showed a significant increase in their antioxidant levels. For instance, their folate, lycopene, and better carotene increase by 174%, 80%, and 528%, respectively. Contrastingly, the control group did not experience such a phenomenal change. Nonetheless, it is still critical to take fresh fruits and vegetables in their whole form to benefit from their fiber and pulp content which has more antioxidants and health-promoting compounds.
Potential downsides in taking Naked Juice smoothies
We have seen the potential benefits of taking smoothies, like those sold by Naked Juice. Still, these do not come without their side effects. For instance;
- They are crazily high in sugar content
Naked Juice smoothies are heavily loaded with sugar and carbs. For instance, the Green Machine’s smoothies (450 ml) have 53 g of sugar, far exceeding the 37.5 g and the 25 g the American Heart Association recommends for men and women, respectively. Besides, they are also high in calories and carbs, all of which play a role in weight gain.
- They lack fibers
Soluble and insoluble fibers are critical for good health because they can help promote digestion, boost insulin secretion and sensitivity, keep the gut microbiota healthy, and increase fullness, among other health benefits. Yet, the 450 ml of Green Machine Naked Juice smoothie has only 1.3 g of fiber. As if that’s not enough, the high sugar content with limited fibers easily creates sugar spikes.
- They may contribute to unnecessary weight gain
Avoiding whole fruits and vegetables and focusing on fruit and vegetable juices like Naked Juice drinks may lead to unnecessary weight gain. Low fiber content with high calories, sugar, and carbs definitely adds more weight to the body. As such, you need to limit your smoothie intake and concentrate more on whole fruits and vegetables to benefit wholly from them.
Conclusion
Naked Juice is a juicing brand that deals in 100% fruit and vegetable juices. It claims to be producing the best smoothies with no sugar, preservatives, or artificial flavors and colors. Still, these smoothies are not healthy because they contain high sugar, calorie, and carb contents. It’s better to focus on whole fruits and vegetables to reap the health benefits associated with Naked Juice drinks.
Ksenia Sobchak enjoys blogging on fashion, style, lifestyle, love and CBD areas. Prior to becoming a blogger, Ksenia worked for a renowned fashion brand. Ksenia is a contributing author to leading fashion, lifestyle and CBD magazines and blogs. You can bump into Ksenia at her favourite cafe in South Kensington where she has written most blogs. Ksenia is a staunch advocate of CBD and its benefits to people. Ksenia is also on the panel of CBD reviewers at CBD Life Mag and Chill Hempire. Her favourite form of CBD are CBD gummies and CBD tinctures. Ksenia is a regular contributor at leading fashion, lifestyle as well as CBD magazines and blogs.
