Determining whether certain foods are healthy can be tricky. Most foods can be part of a healthy diet if eaten in moderation, even sweets! Natural products generally offer more nutrients than soft drinks, but is that enough? Let’s explore if Naked Juice is healthy.
To understand better, we need to look at the types of drinks they offer. The Half-Naked line features blended drinks with “50% less sugar than leading brands.” Compared to other Naked varieties, these have significantly less sugar. For instance, the Half-Naked Lively Green smoothie has 26 grams of sugar (1.7 grams per ounce), while the Naked Green Machine has 53 grams (3.5 grams per ounce), and the Protein Greens smoothie contains 50 grams (3.3 grams per ounce).
Naked’s Machine range includes fruit juice smoothies enhanced with healthy ingredients like ginger, kale, spirulina, flax seeds, and wheatgrass for extra nutrients. These smoothies range from 230 to 320 calories per bottle. The Fruit & Veggie line offers basic smoothies like Strawberry Banana, made with bananas, strawberries, and oranges, ranging from 170 to 290 calories per bottle.
Naked’s Protein blends, with flavors like Blueberry Banana, Peach Mango, and Tropical, offer 18-30 grams of protein and 330-390 calories per bottle. Depending on your goals, these can be a great post-workout snack. The Cold Pressed drinks have less sugar, with 23.5 grams (1.9 grams per ounce) in the Bright Greens variety, made using hydraulic presses.
Naked is transparent about the nutritional content of their drinks, providing information on their website and packaging. They clearly state that they don’t offer low-calorie drinks. The high sugar and calorie content is due to the large amount of fruits and vegetables packed into each bottle. For example, the Orange Mango smoothie contains juice from 1.5 oranges, 1.5 apples, half a mango, and a hint of banana. The Blue Machine juice includes juice from 3.5 apples, 1 banana, 27 blueberries, and 3 blackberries.
While consuming a variety of fruits and vegetables daily is important, the best source is whole fruits and vegetables. It’s recommended that only one of your daily servings comes from juice. Naked drinks have no added sugar; the high sugar content comes from natural fruit sugars. Although they don’t contain refined sugar, 53 grams in one drink is still a lot.
Some people might find the “no added sugars” label misleading, thinking it means the drinks aren’t sugary. It simply means all the sugar is naturally from fruits. Natural sugars like glucose and fructose aren’t harmful, but excess sugar not used for energy is stored as fat. High fructose levels can increase the risk of metabolic syndrome, high cholesterol, diabetes, and fatty liver.
Juices can also affect blood sugar levels more than whole fruits. The Glycemic Index (GI) measures how much a food raises blood sugar. Apples have a GI of 38, while apple cider is 41. To avoid hunger and consuming more calories and sugar, choose drinks with protein and fiber.
Comparing Naked to competitors, Suja Juice offers cold-pressed juices, wellness shots, and kombucha, while Naked’s cold-pressed juices are just a small part of their range. Suja’s Green Supreme has 180 calories and 36 grams (2.25 grams per ounce) of sugar, similar to Naked’s cold-pressed green juice. Bolthouse Farms offers juices, salad dressings, wellness shots, and iced coffee. Their Blue Goodness juice has 290 calories and 54 grams of sugar, comparable to Naked’s Blue Machine with 55 grams.
A 16-ounce Pepsi has 56 grams (3.5 grams per ounce) of sugar, while Naked drinks can have up to 53 grams (3.5 grams per ounce) in a typical 15.2-ounce bottle. The Half-Naked and Cold Pressed drinks have less sugar and are newer options. If choosing between Pepsi and a fruit smoothie, the smoothie is healthier as it contains nutrients, unlike Pepsi, which is mostly empty calories.
