Powdered Fruit, Veggie Supplements Fill Nutrient Gaps

For those who do not eat the recommended daily amounts of fruits and vegetables, a powdered fruit and vegetable supplement may help fill nutrient gaps, according to a dietitian writing for the Miami Herald. In her bi-weekly column, Sheah Rarback, registered dietitian and faculty member of the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, said these powered supplements are made by juicing and then drying fruits and veggies at low temperatures. Manufacturers then remove water, sugar and fiber, and then encapsulate the remaining nutrients.

She noted a study that appeared in the April 2010 online edition of Molecular Nutrition and Food Research on these supplements. The double blind study of 117 healthy men and women measured changes in inflammatory blood markers after subjects consumed either placebo or two different powdered fruit and vegetable supplements. After 60 days, the subjects receiving the fruit and vegetable supplements had lower levels of inflammatory markers, as well as higher blood levels of antioxidant vitamins compared to the placebo group. Lower levels of the inflammatory markers are linked to a decreased risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

Rarback added these findings are consistent with most previous research that shows people eating fruit and vegetables or who eat a Mediterranean vegetable soup experience changes in blood levels of inflammatory markers.

She concludes by saying its best to get nutrition from food, but its good to know about science-backed alternatives to healthy eating.