Knorr Vie shots. Any opinions?

Archeron

I hate to admit it, but I am one of those people who is just not vegetable friendly. While I do try as hard as I can to reach my 5 a day, I do sometimes find it difficult, as I am really a picky swine when it comes to what veg I will and wont eat. Although I'm getting better (recently discovered that brocolli is not the spawn of satan after all), I still have a way to go.
I went through a phase of taking those Knorr Vie shots when they first came out, but kind of phased out after a few weeks. Now I've deceided to take them again, and was wondering if anyone has opinion as to the actual good they may or may not do? Basically, the ad's say that 40% of your daily requirement is contained in one shot, so I have been taking two of these a day. I presume that its okay to exceed your 100% recommended amount of fruit and veg like this? Coupled with the two shots, I would also eat my veg of choice every day, and a couple of pieces of fruit for snacks, so I would guess that if the 40% per shot is a real figure, my F&V intake would probably now be about 130%.

Does anyone think this is a wise or unwise way to go about this? Are these Vie things any good, or is it all just hype? I have noticed that fewer and fewer shops are selling them now, and am wondering why. At €1 per shot, they arent exactly cheap, so if anyone has any opinions, I'd love to hear them.

g'em

Sometimes when you things like athis are too good to be true, they really are. This is, unfortunately another very clever product jumping on the "I want to be healthy but I don't want to be inconvinced" train of thought (not a put down @ you OP, just the general spate of people who want to get healthy and fit in the laziest way possible around this time of year!!!).

I couldn't find a list of ingredients for the Knorr Vie shots but I did find the transcript of an ASA complaint made against Unilever about the Vie ads, you can see it here . In it Unilever say that the vie shots are made of 35-43% puree and 25% fruit and veg content, some water and the rest is made up of freshly squeezed products i.e. not a lot of freshness at all!!

The problem about these products is that technically they do help to give you your RDA of certain vitamins and minerals, but you're losing out on the fibre of fresh produce, as well as some vitamins and minerals that get destoyed during processing. Wholefoods are virtually always a better option than juices, and certainly better than purees and concentrates.

If you can teach yourself to like broccoli (one of the best foods for you ever btw!!) than try and teach yourself to like others too. It's very much a psychological thing, I know I've taught myself to like loooads of foods I never owould have eaten before, and now I prefer them to junk. And at €1 a pop for the vie vs just over €1 for a bag of carrots, you'll save a fortune!!

Archeron

Thanks g'em, appreciate that. The link makes for interesting reading. I agree with you about the too good to be true thing as well, nothing is ever really as it seems! Interesting link about the ad, because I must admit, the ad did work on me. (cough, I'm gullible, cough :rolleyes: )

g'em

No worries. That's not to say that Vie is unhealthy, it isn't, but it's not as healthy as "real" foods, and ridiculously overpriced for what it is. If you find juices easier to stomach than whole fruit and veg get fresh juices that are made up on the spot at juice bars, plenty of places will do vegetable juices now too. They taste fantastic too

tk123

Ick I tasted the orangey ones and they weren't for me. It seems like a waste to me - I love my fruit and veg thou so I'd rather munch my fruit during the day (melon, grapes, apple and raisins) and eat parsnip and sweet poatato wedges with my dinner then drink a little bottle of puke!

Archeron

tk123 wrote:

Ick I tasted the orangey ones and they weren't for me. It seems like a waste to me - I love my fruit and veg thou so I'd rather munch my fruit during the day (melon, grapes, apple and raisins) and eat parsnip and sweet poatato wedges with my dinner then drink a little bottle of puke!

I nearly got sick as well when I tasted one type as well, I think it was the orangey one too. The red color ones arent too bad though.

kelle

That's disappointing. My son just point blank refuses to eat fruit/vegetables, so I make him drink one of those a day (sometimes have to reward him with a chocolate square - wrong, I know but you do anything).

MagicMarker

A product called ''green fuel'' was recommended to me once, you just add it too water and it's supposed to provide benefits you'd get from veggies. I haven't been able to find anything about it on the internet so haven't used it myself.

Anyone heard of it/tried it? Obviously it's not supposed to replace veggies in a good diet, but supplement them.

gnolan

MagicMarker wrote: »

A product called ''green fuel'' was recommended to me once, you just add it too water and it's supposed to provide benefits you'd get from veggies. I haven't been able to find anything about it on the internet so haven't used it myself.

Anyone heard of it/tried it? Obviously it's not supposed to replace veggies in a good diet, but supplement them.

I know there's a product called 'Spirulina' i think. Its a dark green powder, basically a tub of Vitamin A. You add water and try to down it. I'm a fairly tolerant person when it comes to the taste of stuff, but this is fukcing muck. Its really good for you, but its not worth it. Imagine trying to drink a half-pint of slurry....now imagine adding a spoon of 'Spirulina' to it.

EDIT: Just noticed that this thread is a few years old

billyhead

I take the spirulina supplement. Its tolerable if you mix it with something else rather then water i.e protein powder or muesli/porridge

gnolan wrote: »

I know there's a product called 'Spirulina' i think. Its a dark green powder, basically a tub of Vitamin A. You add water and try to down it. I'm a fairly tolerant person when it comes to the taste of stuff, but this is fukcing muck. Its really good for you, but its not worth it. Imagine trying to drink a half-pint of slurry....now imagine adding a spoon of 'Spirulina' to it.

EDIT: Just noticed that this thread is a few years old

greenthrust

MagicMarker wrote: »

A product called ''green fuel'' was recommended to me once, you just add it too water and it's supposed to provide benefits you'd get from veggies. I haven't been able to find anything about it on the internet so haven't used it myself.

Anyone heard of it/tried it? Obviously it's not supposed to replace veggies in a good diet, but supplement them.

Hi MagicMarker,

I was looking for something similar as well for quite a while. Just found a food supplement which is in powder form and adds the nutritions of spirulina and/or greek salads to your meals. It's called Vitamina Salads. I found it at Superfoods Greece. under the products section.

corkcomp

+1 to what G'em said .. they are a gimmick tbh .. I know so many people who eat tons of crap and shove in a couple of vie shots thinking its as good as actually eating proper fruit and veg ...

greenthrust

corkcomp wrote: »

+1 to what G'em said .. they are a gimmick tbh .. I know so many people who eat tons of crap and shove in a couple of vie shots thinking its as good as actually eating proper fruit and veg ...

I totally agree, the thing is these guys advertise salad supplements with spirulina and hippophaes which are plants (?) that you can't buy at the grocery store. More they say u can mix it with stuff such as your burger and make it healthier. I'll give it a shot, nothing to loose there.

mikom

Strong smell of vegetable shill off these later posts lads.

HammerHeadGym

Yeah, what Gem said. The problem with fruit drinks, purees smoothies and that sort of stuff is, when all the fibre has been mashed out of it, the carbs enter your system very fast and cause an insulin spike, effectively starving your brain of food by suppressing the sugar in your bloodstream leading to cravings for more and more carbs. If you really hate veg that much (like I do) go for fruit. Nothing wrong with polishing off a few apples and oranges and the like after your chicken breasts.