V8 vs Veggies

V8 has lots of sodium so be careful. You can get the low sodium kind but it's not good.

I've never heard anyone be especially critical of it except for the INSANE amount of sodium in it. The low sodium V8 is still pretty edible so if you keep them on hand for the occasional veggie fix that might be a good middle ground.

I've been trying to add more carrot juice into my life to sort of mix up all the fruit juice I drink (got hooked on Naked Juices a while back). It's actually pretty tasty and doesn't need a pound of salt to help it go down.

yeah I know they have the low-sodium version, but it's obviously a bit bland. I'd still rather have that occasionally than eat certain veggies I don't like. But I try to work the ones I do like (spinach, etc.) in everywhere I can.

I use it in things I put tomato sauce in. Chili, spaghetti sauce, sloppy joe's, that sort of thing. I use it half and half with tomato sauce. My family hasn't seemed to notice and I feel like at least they are getting some vegetables. Some.

I love me some V8 Low Sodium! I drink one can a day. I probably don't need to because of my shake in the morning. But I like the taste

I'd like to know what's in V8. If I knew, I'd try to make my own in my Vitamix.

Not enough fiber compared to fresh veggies... plus the sodium. You're better off eating the veggies.

Recently, there's been more information coming out about the differences between eating whole fruits and vegetables versus just the juice. It seems our bodies don't process the juices as well.

Although V8 calls an 8 oz. bottle one serving, it is really closer to what we call two servings of a raw vegetable like green beans.

So, let's say we declare 8 oz. High Fiber V8 equivalent to two 110gr (1/2 cup) servings of green beans,

V8 60 cal; beans 68 cal.
V8 5 gr fiber; beans 10 gr fiber
V8 480 mg sodium; beans 14 mg
V8 7 gr sugars; beans 4 gr
V8 2 gr protein; beans 4 gr

V8 scores higher on vitamins A and C than the beans but we don't know if V8 uses vitamin supplements to reach these numbers. Some research has linked use of vitamin supplements to increased health risks but the jury is still out on this. (And yes, I'm still taking my daily multi-).

You have to make your own decisions but V8 is not, nutritionally, an exact replacement for whole vegetables. If you want to drink your veggies, run them in the blender (not a juicer) and drink them, pulp and all.

Is V8 an acceptable substitute, in your opinion?

This is asked out of general curiosity.

I love low sodium V-8, but not as a replacement for lots of whole fruits and vegetables. In general, I would say that occasionally using it in place of a vegetable serving is fine, but it shouldn't be a regular replacement. I drink one every couple of days because it makes me happy, not as one of my veggies. As others have said, fiber and sodium mean it's not like eating a tomato or a stalk of celery.