It has been estimated that as much as 70% of disease can be prevented by good nutrition. Yet, in todays busy lives, it is increasingly difficult to obtain the nutrition the body needs to maintain good health. There are several reasons for this:

• Time and distance to market - Fresh fruits and vegetables lose as much as 50% of their nutritional value within 5 days of harvest. How long was it since the apple you had today was picked?
• Poor farming techniques - In order to combat the above issue, many farmers choose to pick their produce before it is fully ripe. But 65% of it's nutritional value develops within the last few days of vine ripening.
• Depleted soil nutrients - It is becoming increasingly difficult to find soil that has been able to maintain a high nutrient value.

Over the last few years, research has shown that most vitamin supplements are "fractured", containing just laboratory-synthesised vitamins taken out of the context of the thousands of phytonutrients with which they work in concert when consumed in whole food. Numerous studies have called into question the value of such supplements, except for a few rare cases.

Instead of artifical vitamins, I recommend a healthy diet with the proper nutritional balance to maintain good health. In fact, good nutrition, along with proper hydration, good sleeping habits and adequate hydration are the cornerstones of good health.

A whole food diet composed primarily of plant-based foods is the most healthy diet for most of us. But because of the facts above, is is difficult to obtain the recommended amount of servings of fresh fruits and vegetables. Here in the UK, we recommend a minimum of 5 servings a day - a serving is the size of your fist. But in the USA, many health advocates are now recommening from 7 to as many as 13 servings every day! Who can do that?

The answer is: not many of us. For those who can't, an American company quietly came up with an alternative 16 years ago called Juice Plus+^®. It is a whole food supplement containing nothing but fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, berries and similar food products. In fact, there are from 17 to 29 fresh foods included altogether, picked at the height of ripeness, juiced, reduced to a powder and placed into convenient daily capsules to help us bridge the gap between what we need and what we get. One of the most impressive things about Juice Plus+^® is the research - 15 clinical studies and growing, all studying various aspect of health affected by it's consumption, performed at prestigeous universities and research foundations around the world.

I am not affiliated with NSA, the makers of Juice Plus+^® or any of it's dealers, and it is not my policy to take any compensation for for statements about products made on this site. But I do recommend Juice Plus+^® for anyone who cannot or will not get enough fresh fruits and vegetables in their daily diet. It is available in over 20 countries worldwide, including the UK.

If you would like to learn more about Juice Plus+^®, I would refer you to our friends at Jasmine Partners, who are representatives for the product. You can visit their website at www.TheJuicePlus.net. (Select your country on the drop-down menu.)