Question of the Week: "Comparing the nutrition of Fruit & Vegetable Juices"

The following question was submitted for discussion on this week's blog post: "I have heard I should avoid fruit juice since I have diabetes.  What about vegetable juices?  Can I have tomato juice and other vegetable juices?"

If you were to compare fruit and vegetable juices, vegetable juices tend to have less carbohydrate than fruit juices.  In a 4 oz glass, vegetable juice has 5 grams of carbohydrates (vs. 15 grams in a fruit juice).  However, vegetables juices tend to be high in sodium (if store-bought) and don't have any fiber.  

Vegetable juices can be included in your diet but should not take the place of whole vegetables due to their lack of fiber.  Read the labels (keep an eye on their sodium content) and watch your portion size (stick to 4 oz).

Additional Nutrition Information:

Low Sodium V8 lists 140mg of Sodium in an 8 oz serving.  Be aware that 8 oz is actually 2 servings of carbohydrate (10 grams).    Regular V8 has 480 mg of Sodium in an 8 oz serving!!!

Campbell's Tomato Juice has 680 mg of Sodium in an 8oz portion.   Their low sodium variety has 140 mg of Sodium.  Campbell's makes a Healthy Request variety that still contains 480 mg of Sodium in an 8 oz. portion.