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Bolthouse Farms Green Goodness Juice | Healthy Food of the Day

June 1, 2008 on 12:45 pm | By Matt | In Fitness Food |

This Nutrient-Packed Fruit and Vegetable Juice From Bolthouse Farms Tastes So Good, You’ll Forget It’s Good For You

Getting your five servings of fruits and vegetables each day shouldn’t be difficult. But sometimes it is.  Although fruit juices count toward your “Five A Day”, they can be high in fruit sugars (fructose) and often don’t have the nutritional benefits of the whole fruit (especially when it comes to fiber.) Also, many bottled fruit juices are made from concentrate and don’t even contain 100% fruit juice.

So I was intrigued when I ran across the Bolthouse Farms  line of fruit and vegetable juices at the grocery store. These 100% all natural juices had all kinds of cool names like Blue Goodness, C-Boost and my new favorite, Green Goodness. I’ve tried some of the Odwalla juices in the past and wasn’t terribly blown away, so I decided to give Bolthouse Farms a shot.

Green Is Good!

I was particularly interested in something called Green Goodness – a vegetable/fruit juice (actually it’s more like a smoothie) that had all kinds of interesting, healthy ingredients that frankly didn’t sound like they would taste very good blended up in a bottled juice. But being the healthy food adventurist that I am, I decided to spring for a bottle of Green Goodness just to see for myself. The worst that could happen, I figured, is that I’d be out a few bucks.

Bolthouse Farms Green Goodness is a blend of wheat grass, de-odorized garlic (curious as to how they do this), spirulina, spinach and blue-green algae. I told you it wasn’t going to sound very appetizing. But hang with me here. Bolthouse then adds in some pretty tasty fruit including apple, pineapple, mango puree, banana puree and kiwi juice. There’s also a bunch of exotic sounding ingredients like jerusalem artichoke, Nova Scotia dulce, dragon fruit juice, open-cell chlorella and even echinacea purpurea extract.

Oh, did I mention the broccoli and barley grass?

If this sounds revolting, I’m with you. The idea of all of these clearly-healthy, but kind of green veggies, grasses and algaes whipped up into a liquid beverage was a bit intimidating. But the idea of getting all of these healthy veggies and fruits in a single 8 oz glass of juice was strangely alluring.

And then I looked at the nutritional information and this sealed the deal.  This juice is LOADED with vitamins and minerals: 120% RDA of Vitamin A; 105% RDA of Vitamin C; 30% of your daily recommended folic acid; 15% of your Vitamin B6 and 30% of Vitamin B12; 150% Magnanese and 120% zinc.

But How Does Bolthouse Farms Green Goodness Taste?

Now comes the surprising part: the taste. I was expected that I would have to hold my nose to choke this drink down. But as soon as I opened it, I smelled not garlic and blue-green algae, but fruit and banana. I took a sip and was surprised at how good this actually tasted.

I’m not sure who deserves credit over at Bolthouse Farms for coming up with this wild juice, but they are part mad-scientist and part Julia Child. This stuff is really good. Who would have ever thought that broccoli, spinach, and wheat grass along with 21 other ingredients could be whipped up into a juice this tasty?

In terms of taste, the fruit is what really comes through — not the green stuff.  You should be prepared for the texture, however, which is more like a smoothie than a juice. I suppose when you blend broccoli and spinach up, it’s going to be a little thick.

Loaded With Phytonutrients and Spirulina

The drink is also rich in healthy green phytonutrients, which may have antioxident properties. It also contains spirulina, a blue-green algae with a wide-range of purported health benefits. Spirulina is loaded with Beta-Carotene, is a complete source of vegetable-based protein, and is naturally high in B Vitamins. Spirulina also contains Gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), an essential fatty acid.

Other Bolthouse Farms Juices and Smoothies

In addition to Green Goodness, Bolthouse Farms also has an extensive line of more than 15 other juice and vegetable blends, including an amazing Clementine juice (which I have in my fridge now,) lemonades, and soy protein drinks. They also just recently introduced a line of Yogurt-based salad dressings, which I still haven’t had a chance to try.

Where to Buy Green Goodness

Because the Bolthouse Farms juices and smoothies are not canned, you’ll need to look for them in the refrigerated section at your grocer, not in the juice isle. They may also be located in the produce area in the cooler. Unfortunately, you can’t buy Bolthouse Farms beverages online, but the Bolthouse website does provide a store locator.

A 1 liter, four serving bottle of Bolthouse Farms Green Goodness is under $5 dollars.

Bolthouse Farms Green Goodness Nutritional Facts

Serving Size: 8 oz (240mL)

Calories: 140
Total Fat: 0
Cholesterol: 0
Sodium: 25mg
Potassium: 470mg
Total Carbohydrates: 33g
Dietary Fiber: 1g
Sugars: 27g
Protein: 2g

Vitamin A: 120%
Calcium: 2%
Folic Acid: 30%
Vitamin B6: 15%
Manganese: 150%
Vitamin C: 105%
Iron: 15%
Riboflavin: 7%
Vitamin B12: 30%
Zinc: 120%

* Percent Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Ingredients: Apple Juice from concentrate (water, apple juice concentrate,) Pineapple Juice from concentrate (water, pineapple juice concentrate,) Mango Puree from concentrate (water, mango puree concentrate,) Banana Puree, Kiwi Juice, Natural Flavor, Spirulina, Open Cell Chlorella, Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid,)  Lime Juice, Zinc Sulfate, Broccoli, Green Tea, Spinach, Barley Grass, Wheat Grass, Blue Green Algae, Echinacea Purpurea Extract, Odorless Garlic, Tamarind Puree, Dragon Fruit Juice, Lemon Bioflavanoids, Jerusalem Artichoke and Nova Scotia Dulce.

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Tags: Antioxident, B Vitamin, Banana Puree, Barley Grass, Beta-Carotene, Blue-Green Algae, Bolthouse Farms, Bolthouse Farms Green Goodness, Bolthouse Farms Juice, Bolthouse Farms Review, Bolthouse Nutritional Information, Dragon Fruit Juice, Echinacea Purpurea, Fitness Food, Folate, Fruit Smoothie, Gamma-linolenic Acid, GLA, Green Phytonutrients, Jerusalem Artichoke, Juice, Lemon Bioflavinoids, Mango Puree, Nove Scotia Dulce, Odorless Garlic, Odwalla, Open Cell Chlorella, Spinach, Spirulina, Tamarind Puree, Vegetable Smoothie, Vitamin B, Wheat Grass

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