Green vegetable juice – good for health and poo, but tastes awful
AdvertisementI don’t really understand the motivation behind it, but in Japan there is often advertisements for various companies offering (usually) dried green leafy vegetable juice, or aojiru (literally “green juice”). Dr.Ci:Labo are now getting in on the act, so they recently conducted a survey into aojiru in order to promote their new product.
Demographics
Over the 24th and 25th of June 2013 360 women between the ages of 20 and 69 completed an internet survey. Further demographic background, information on how the sample was gathered, etc was not given.
Here’s someone being fed a rather large helping of aojiru powder…
I’ve never drunk aojiru myself, but I too have the image of it being pretty disgusting and probably not as healthy as it is touted to be, although I suppose if you live a very irregular lifestyle it is a relatively easy way to try to redress one’s vitamin balance and whatever.
Since Dr.Ci:Labo have published this survey, I suppose I’d better mention that their aojiro contains organic wheat shoots, domestically-grown mugwort, pesticide-free moroheiya, organic mulberry leaves and organic Angelica keiskei (parsley family), plus some lactic acid for good measure. Yum!
Research results
Q1: What image do you have of aojiru? (Sample size=360, multiple answer)
Good for health 71.7% Tastes awful 46.4% Good for keeping you regular 32.2% Expensive 20.3% Good for skin 17.8% Good for dieting 9.4% Q2: Why don’t you drink aojiru? (Sample size=360, multiple answer)
Hear it tastes awful 64.7% Wouldn’t continue to drink it 27.6% Not interested 23.1% Expensive 22.4% Bothersome to drink 12.8% Hate green vegetables 1.9% Q3: What measures do you take to cure constipation? (Sample size=360, multiple answer)
Consume yoghurt, other lactic acid-containing food 64.9% Eat fibre-rich foods 51.4% Drink lots of water 48.5% Take medicine 36.9% Exercise 25.2% Stomach massage 22.5% Q4: Which of the following are foods effective for constipation? (Sample size=360, multiple answer)
Yoghurt 84.2% Gobo (burdock root) 58.3% Prunes 43.2% Kanten (agar-agar) 31.1% Mushrooms 26.4% Seaweed 33.1% Konnyaku (Devil’s Tongue) 32.2%
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I have some thoughts on aojiru.
I think that it is an expensive option. For the cost of aojiru you could easily afford more fruits and vegetables every month.
Besides the price, I think one big downfall of aojiru is that it lacks fiber when compared to fruits and vegetables. Its green color also suggests a lack of variety.
I also think some of the claims seem dubious. Every now and then I’ll see some fishy looking infomercial touting the health benefits of aojiru. It just seems like the current (perhaps passing?) health fad in Japan. I don’t think it will be the health fad. People don’t feel good because the majority of them are becoming (or currently are) senior citizens. The crazy thing is, doctors and pharmacists seem to push this stuff as much as the drug stores (read: glorified convenience stores). I’m not sure if the claims these companies make about their products are properly scrutinized.
As far as the taste goes, it’s not that bad. If you can drink green tea, then you can handle aojiru. There are also various ways of consuming it. You could sprinkle it on top of other foods, for instance. My wife liked to mix it in hot cocoa– the color was dreadful but admittedly it tasted pretty good.
My wife used to buy it. I’ve been more careful about what we buy lately and we’ve stopped getting packaged foods (besides soy milk and yogurt), no matter how healthy people claim them to be. I have to say, more actual vegetables is the better and considerably cheaper option.