A new study has found that of all the fruit juices available in the market today, the pink grapefruit juice is the one that provides the most nutrients per calorie.
According to study author Gail Rampersaud, a researcher at the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Florida, pink grapefruit juice not only has a high vitamin C content, but is in fact better than oranges, white grapefruit, pineapple, prune, grape and apple juices.
“It is an excellent source of vitamin C. It also provides potassium, folate, thiamin and magnesium, as well as certain carotenoids that can be converted into vitamin A in the body. Pigmented grapefruit juices, such as pink or ruby, also contain lycopene, a carotenoid that gives pigmented grapefruit its rich color,†rampersaud said.
As part of her research, rampersaud focused only on common 100 per cent fruit juices, and used six different methods to calculate each juice’s nutrient density.
In case you are wondering, nutrient density has been defined as either, nutrients provided per calorie, or the ratio of the amount of a nutrient in foods to the energy provided by these same foods.
Nutrients include fats, proteins, fats, sugars, numerous vitamins and minerals.
According to Rampersaud, citrus juices rank high mainly because they generally have higher amounts of a wider variety of nutrients compared to the other juices included in the analysis, coupled with the fact that the citrus juices are lower in calories.
She also found that pink grapefruit juice provided an entire day’s recommended vitamin C amount in a single 8-ounce glass.
