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It is nice and easy to grab a random fruit juice and down it for that quick boost of nutrients and energy.

Especially when you have just come out of a workout, a long heavy meeting, or haven’t had time for a proper meal.

But with so many options on the shelves, a little more time is needed to figure out if your beverage has the right benefits.

As adults, we quickly learn that eating all those unhealthy snacks actually has major consequences, likewise with just piling things into the trolly willy-nilly.

Real Simple spoke to nutritionists about this, teasing out a few important tips for understanding what a truly healthy juice looks like.

First up, you’ll need to show a little attention to detail.

1. Read the label

Many of the fruit juices available out there contain ingredients that negate all that goodness you’re hoping for, according to Dana Angela White, a registered dietician and author of Healthy, Quick and Easy Juicing:

“Most juices you buy in the market need to be shelf stable, which means they often include added ingredients that are not exactly all-natural,” says White.

“As a general rule, if you can’t pronounce it, investigate what it is.”

Aspartame, for example, is not easily pronounceable because it probably doesn’t want you to know too much about it.

It is an artificial sweetener and has a pretty bad reputation for your health.

That’s the other thing – many brands that punt health have plenty of added sugars in their products, so you’d do well to compare sugar content.

Lastly, portion size is also something to watch out for. White points out that while it may look like a small bottle, often there are two or more servings in there.

If drinking a whole glass of fruit juice isn’t your idea of a good time anyway, you can always substitute it with Sir Fruit’s Health Shots.

These shots are packed with a healthy dose of all the good stuff:

2. Opt for cold

If you are going to go out and grab something, you can’t go wrong with cold-pressed fruit juice:

“Cold-pressed juices are often made in what is called a slow-masticating juicer that has low RPM’s and does not produce heat, which helps the juice to retain its nutritional value,” explains Megan Roosevelt, RDN, an LA-based registered dietitian nutritionist and author of The 5-Day Juicing Diet.

Sir Fruit has a lot to offer on this front, but the cold-pressed CBD shot is really attention-grabbing for all the right reasons:

It’s got cold-pressed apple, green rooibos, spinach, and a 10-milligram dose of CBD.

Think of it as a little bottle of good vibrations that will relax and calm you, reduce your stress and anxiety, and help you sleep better.

3. Pick the power ingredients 

Juices can have a list of ingredients that sound good and taste amazing, but choosing the powerful ingredients is a smarter move:

“Ingredients like turmeric fight inflammation. Ginger is an antioxidant that is beneficial for digestion. There are so many ways to mix up your juices and reap the benefits of these superfoods,” says White.

Not much can beat the beet:

4. Be careful of the detox trend

Good job if you have managed to avoid stepping into the darker side of the juicing world.

It is a challenge to avoid those all-or-nothing detox diets where you drink nothing but juice for several days.

Not only is this unhealthy, but it is also really unnecessary:

“Juices are not a meal replacement, nor are they a replacement for whole fruits and vegetables. It’s a supplement, like a vitamin, [to what you’re already eating],” explains White.

Plus, actual fruits and veggies are already body detoxifiers in their natural fiber-full form, so skimming it down to a juice and drinking only that for days on end isn’t only useless, it’s torturous.

As with most things in life, balance is everything.

Rather than grabbing something on the go, with little time to consider whether it’s really packed full of the good stuff, plan ahead and order your weekly or monthly supply of Sir Fruit goodies via their online store.

You know you’re giving your body and mind the fuel needed to keep going, even when you’re operating on the go.

[source:realsimple]