EatQOD

Here's my issue: V8 juice is good (I prefer the spicy variety... reminds me of a bloody mary ;-p), BUT I can only take down so many bloody mary's before I start yearning for a gin and tonic.

So, I guess what I'm asking is this: is there any other beverage/food that has the same beneficial properties as tomato juice but tastes like something else? I'm doing well on QOD, but I could really use some alternatives to V8.

LO-CAL LIQUID PIZZA SOUP
Well, I'm doing a lot with vegetable soups now. My favorite is just V8 or regular tomato juice that I heat up (I usually add about 1/8 teaspoon baking soda to 12 oz (cup and a half) of soup to make it a bit less acid or add about 1/4 cup club soda to 12 oz of juice, and then add some dried onions, some oregano, and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. I also add things like lettuce, a sliced up carrot, some sliced garlic, etc.

SQUASH SOUP
You can to the same with other veggie soups. One is based on squash. A frozen package of squash has about 140 calories. I nuke this, put it into a pot, and add water to make about 24 oz (two servings). Then I add the squeezings of a 1/2 lemon, a bit of Splenda, and then maybe some cumin. Then I add whatever veggies I want to give the soup some interest. This is especially good for supper. Also add about 1/4 teaspoon of salt (600 mg sodium) per 12 oz soup. An alternative is "Better than Bouillon" - about 1 teaspoon has 690 mg of salt.

I'm also working on more veggie soups with the right amount of sodium and potassium. Should have them in a week or so - watch for the recipes to be posted.

JT

that's interesting... is tomato soup (from campbell's or elsewhere) not as good? Is the nutritional content different? Just wondering. I will have to try squash. Thanks!

the squash has good taste because we like to eat the squash in my country. i believe you will enjoy it!! good luck to lose your extra mass!!

So far I've tried 3 alternatives to V8. I actually like all of them more than V8. For some reason, V8 has a taste that to me is easy to get tired of.

1) President's choice 8-vegetable and 10-vegetable juice

This is a Jewel Food Stores brand in the United States:

http://www.presidentschoice.ca/FoodAndR ... /catid/180

2) Kagome vegetable juice
Try also their carrot/ginger juice! Their veggie juice has far less sodium than V8 - OK for the ON day, or for people who are eating low sodium all the time.

http://www.kagome.us/products.aspx

Sweet Summer Tomato Juice: A selection of tomatoes from around the world with a refreshing hint of lime.

True Vegetable Garden: 11 different vegetables with a balance of spices and a subtle hint of ginger.

Carrot Ginger Zest: Delicious carrot juice with a light twist of ginger.

3) Knudsen juices

http://www.knudsenjuices.com/products/d ... ductID=243

I really do wish that there were more "green" and "yellow" vegetable juices - I haven't found anyone that makes or sells a juice from green veggies.

The closest I could come to is this:

http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=gar ... ch+Froogle

but these are capsules, and I would like the juice, without the hassle of juicing these veggies (spinach, broccoli, etc.) myself. (buy the ones for people, not parrots!).

JT

Credit Jason Hornischfeger for finding this one. I actually don't like the taste of regular V8 all that much anymore - just got sick of it - also, it's too acidy. My favorite juice is President's Choice.

Jason has found a new V8 juice being marketed in Canada

58 calories per 250 mL.
Also contains some fruits.

Called V8 V-Go

Not too much info about what's in it or how it tastes- I can't find any in Chicago yet!

http://www.v8canada.com/default_en.asp
----------------------------------------------------------
Introducing new V8 V-GoTM, a new vegetable cocktail from V8®. V8 V-GoTM is bursting with a seasoned fresh vegetable taste that goes down smooth. A delicious blend of 8 garden vegetables, it's a taste that's surprisingly different from V8® Vegetable Cocktail. And just like V8® Vegetable Cocktail, each 250 ml glass of V8 V-Go™ gives you:

2 of the 5-10 servings of vegetables and fruits you need each day
no artificial ingredients, flavours, preservatives, colouring
no added sugars (V8 V-GoTM is sweetened with fruit juice)

Try some today and startle your taste buds!

Available at many grocery and convenience stores across Canada, V8 V-Go™ Vegetable Cocktail comes in three sizes.
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Campbell's has a wellness website in the U.S. that lists the nutritional composition of the V8 juices (I don't like the fusion line - too much sugar, calories, and carbs). And I don't know how much sodium and potassium the V8 V-Go product contains. But according to at least one person (Jason H) it tasted a lot better than regular V8.

JT

Credit Jason Hornischfeger for finding this one. I actually don't like the taste of regular V8 all that much anymore - just got sick of it - also, it's too acidy. My favorite juice is President's Choice.

Jason has found a new V8 juice being marketed in Canada

58 calories per 250 mL.
Also contains some fruits.

Called V8 V-Go

Not too much info about what's in it or how it tastes- I can't find any in Chicago yet!

http://www.v8canada.com/default_en.asp
----------------------------------------------------------
Introducing new V8 V-GoTM, a new vegetable cocktail from V8®. V8 V-GoTM is bursting with a seasoned fresh vegetable taste that goes down smooth. A delicious blend of 8 garden vegetables, it's a taste that's surprisingly different from V8® Vegetable Cocktail. And just like V8® Vegetable Cocktail, each 250 ml glass of V8 V-Go™ gives you:

2 of the 5-10 servings of vegetables and fruits you need each day
no artificial ingredients, flavours, preservatives, colouring
no added sugars (V8 V-GoTM is sweetened with fruit juice)

Try some today and startle your taste buds!

Available at many grocery and convenience stores across Canada, V8 V-Go™ Vegetable Cocktail comes in three sizes.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Campbell's has a wellness website in the U.S. that lists the nutritional composition of the V8 juices (I don't like the fusion line - too much sugar, calories, and carbs), but the Canadian Campbell wellness site doesn't cover the V8 juice line. So I don't know how much sodium and potassium the V8 V-Go product contains. But according to at least one person (Jason H) it tasted a lot better than regular V8.

JT

I am one of those people who doesn't like V8 or tomato juice. While I'm capable of eating it anyway, I haven't enjoyed eating it every other day So I came up with the following alternative:

My previous breakfast was:
V8 juice, 50 calories, 680 mgs of potassium.
Designer Protein, 90 calories, 18 grams of protein, 90 mgs of potassium.

My future breakfast will be:
1 cup of papaya (cut up in cubes), 55 calories, 361 mgs of potassium.
3/4 cup of egg whites, 90 calories, 270 mgs of potassium, 18 grams of protein.
2 tbsp of salsa, 10 calories, 72 mgs of potassium.

This gives about the same amount of potassium, calories and protein as with the V8 juice and protein powder. I think the egg whites with salsa and papaya will be more satisfying and enjoyable than the V8 and protein powder.

If papaya isn't available, you could use lots other fruits high in potassium-- strawberries, bananas, grapefruit. Milk is high in potassium. If the potassium in whatever you select isn't enough, you could add a stalk of celery, eaten with a low calorie dip. A stalk of celery has about 6 to 7 calories and 120 mgs of potassium. I think celery is the secret behind the high level of potassium found in V8 juice.

You might do better just going with milk and Cheerios for breakfast. I would use 2% milk or even whole milk. I know it has a few more calories, but you need some fat. Sort of contrarian about the saturated fat - if you are more orthodox, stick with skim milk.

Anyway, the ratio of calories to potassium in milk is about the same as it is in fruits. (which is twice that in vegetables). By the way, most veggies will have a lot of K and low calories. Just go to the frozen food section and get bags of frozen veggies or fresh broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, etc.

Milk 2%
http://thecaloriecounter.com/Foods/100/1079/Food.aspx

8 oz = 110 calories = 8 x 46 = 360 mg potassium
plus you get about 8 g of protein.

The cheerios have a lot of magnesium in the whole grains, etc.

Fruit juices are OK, but fructose has been linked to obesity - so I avoid more than 1-2 servings of fruits per day.

BTW, I use Lactaid - since I have problems digesting milk - this is lactose-free milk - this, or the Dean's "Free" product is widely available in the US.

JT

In my previous post I meant cubes of papaya, not papaya juice. It is about the same thing but eating the actual fruit is more satisfying and digested a bit more slowly.

I like JD's suggestion of using milk and cereal because I would rather not eat egg whites twice a day. I have those for dinner on my present menu. I compared Cheerios to oatmeal and concluded there is about twice the nutrition in oatmeal as Cheerios for the same calories and much less sugar. So I would go with oatmeal.

In a side by side comparison:
1 package of oatmeal = 106 calories, 3/4 cup of Cheerios = 118 calories.
Protein, oatmeal = 3.8 grams, Cheerios = 1.9 grams.
Potassium, oatmeal = 110 mgs, Cheerios = 60 mgs.
Magnesium, oatmeal = 39 mgs, Cheerios = 20 mgs.
Fiber, oatmeal = 2.5 grams, Cheerios = 1.6 grams.
Sugars, oatmeal = .3 grams, Cheerios = 13.1 grams.

Actually what I would do is measure out 1/3 cup of Old Fashioned Oatmeal, which is 100 calories, and eat that with one cup of skim milk. This works out as follows:

Calories (100 + 100) = 200 calories
Protein is (9.7 + 3. = 13.5 grams.
Potassium is (446 + 110) = 556 mgs.
Magnesium is (39.5 + 38.6) = 78.1 mgs.
Sodium is (144 + 153) = 297 mgs.
Fiber is (0 + 2.5) = 2.5 grams.

Instead of using 2% milk, to add some fat I would use a walnut. Each walnut half appears to have about 13 calories and about 1 gram of fat. I'm sure the saturated fat is OK, but I would rather eat walnuts. For sweetener I add Splenda.

McK,
Good idea, although on my Cheerio's box, it says 1 g of sugar, not 13. You must be using one of the sweetened varieties. I also use Splenda and lot's of cinnamon.

Total carbs is about 22 g/110 calories for Cheerios and 25 g for 150 g Oatmeal (McCann's steel cut).

Just got back from a trip to Scotland, where the "porridge" was great. Also ate haggis and some very nice sausages.

Oatmeal is great - it just takes time. Kashi has a lot of nice cereals, some of them based on Amaranth - You can usually get these with < 25 g carbs per serving. I LOVE Trader Joe's.

But the idea is, getting a whole grain cereal, some fiber (you can get other brands of oat-type cereals with up to 5 g of fiber per serving or even 15 g!).

I love walnuts, also. Lately, though, I've noticed, now that I switched to Lactaid, how satisfying milk, and esp. whole milk, can be. It seems when I have a bowl of this with cereal, I am not hungry for a long time. Something in the milkfat. Again- totally counter the "prevailing wisdom", which I never believed, anyway.

Initially, I thought it was just sodium that you needed to feel good during an OFF day- now I find that a minimum of protein, and also, of some fat, also makes one (me) happier. But I'm no longer eating QOD since I've been at my target weight for the last 6 months.

All the best,

JT

To me, it tastes exactly like vegetable soup broth (as opposed to tomato juice). So if you hate tomato juice but like vegetable soup, give this product a try. I've only ever had it microwaved. I still can't stand the thought of drinking it cold, but when heated up, especially if you add some minced celery pieces for crunch, it's just like vegetable soup, which is most welcomed by my stomach on an OFF day.