It is well established that people who eat lots of whole-grain cereals, fruits, and vegetables have a lower incidence of certain cancers. Research has also shown that emphasizing these foods can also help prevent heart attacks and strokes.

National Safety Associates (NSA) of Memphis, Tennessee, would like you to believe that its juice+®(R) capsules provide "a convenient and inexpensive way to add more nutrition from fresh, raw fruits and vegetables to your diet."

The company sells through a network of independent distributors who are encouraged to use them and to tell others how they have benefited. Although NSA makes no "official" JUICE claims, its distributors make lots of them.

NSA's "Guide for New Distributors," a 94-page loose-leaf manual dated October 1997, states that the products are made by juicing 17 foods and converting the juice to a powder. During the process, sugar, salt, and most of the calories and fibre are removed. Then enzymes and some fibre are added and the powder is put into capsules.

The manual suggests that each food source provides a special JUICE benefit. Apples, for example, are said to "contain boron, a trace mineral that affects the electrical activity of the brain, increasing mental alertness."

Oranges are said to "contain every class of cancer inhibitor known." Acerola cherries are "a source of vitamin C, known to relieve symptoms of osteoarthritis." Carrots are said to lower cholesterol, parsley to be "good for the heart and immune system," kale to be a "powerful cancer fighter," and cabbage is "thought to block breast cancer." These claims are misleading, but even if they were true, there is no reason to conclude that taking juice+® capsules would provide the same benefit.

The manual also claims:

"The food enzymes in juice+® will facilitate digestion of your food, making it more usable to your body. This also conserves the body's own enzyme supply to do other important things like fighting off disease."

This statement is false because (a) most people have enough enzymes in their intestinal tract to digest their food; (b) most of the enzymes in food are destroyed during digestion; and (c) the body's production of metabolic enzymes does not depend upon the amounts of enzymes in the digestive tract.

juice+® promoters also misrepresent scientific studies sponsored by the company. The main one involved 15 people who took juice+® capsules for 28 days and raised their blood levels of beta-carotene, alpha carotene, lutein/zeaxanthin, lycopene, and vitamin E. The study found, for example, that beta-carotene levels were five times as high and lycopene levels were 20 times as high.

Although many juice+® distributors regard this study as earth-shaking, it does not prove that taking juice+® is helpful -- or even safe. Only clinical trials can test that. In fact, there is some evidence that beta-carotene supplementation increases the risk of cancer.

But that's not all. Much of the protective effect of fruits and vegetables is due to their fibre content. juice+® pills have nearly all the fibre removed. Moreover, eating lots of grains, fruits, and vegetables does not merely provide high levels of phytochemicals. It usually means that the overall diet is low or moderate in fat. Nobody knows whether adding a product like juice+® to a high-fat or low-fiber diet would provide much benefit. The bottom line is that if someone's diet is low in fruits, vegetables, or grains, the most prudent action is fix the diet.

NSA sales aids acknowledge that taking juice+® is not as good as eating the recommended amounts of grains, fruits, and vegetables. But they recommend taking juice+® anyway. NSA's "Preferred Customers" who buy a four-month supply of juice+® capsules at a time, pay about $500 per year. If every North American did this, the total annual cost would exceed $100 billion.

Do you think this would be a wise allocation of resources? I do not. the benefit of juice plus

Nsa Juice Plus is a natural Vitamin provides the nutritional essence of 17 different fruits, vegetables, Whole Food Vitamin and natural anti-oxidants, phytonutrients and fiber in convenient capsule fo