FITNESS 2013 Healthy Food Awards: The Best Juices

By Lauren Cardarelli
If you're going to drink your calories, make them count with good-for-you juices that taste great -- we found eight!

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What Makes a Winner
Companies submitted 69 new juices to FITNESS. Our experts -- Anar Allidina, RD, a dietitian in private practice in Toronto; Keri Gans, RD, the author of The Small Change Diet; and Stephanie Middleberg, RD, the founder of Middleberg Nutrition in New York City -- helped us determine which ones should move on to the next round. Those finalists were sampled and voted on by FITNESS staffers.

Trop50 Red Orange
This stevia-sweetened blood orange juice has "an exotic, not-diety flavor," a tester said, plus less than half the sugar and calories of regular OJ and 120 percent of the vitamin C you need daily. (50 calories)

POM Coconut
Looking for a sports drink that tastes like "a tropical vacation in a bottle"? Then this mix of coconut water and pomegranate juice is for you. It's packed with potassium, which becomes depleted when you work out. (90 calories)

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Cheribundi Tart Cherry Lemonade Refresh
Blend lemonade with tart cherry juice -- which has been shown to help muscles recover faster after a tough workout -- and you get "old-fashioned deliciousness with a science-backed boost." (80 calories)

Minute Maid Pure Squeezed Light Orange No Pulp Juice Beverage
"I usually water down my OJ when I drink it post-workout, but this no-pulp version is just light enough, taste- and calorie-wise, as is," one tester declared. (50 calories)

Evolution Fresh Raspberry Watermelon
Having a bottle of this cold-pressed juice -- made with no exposure to nutrient-zapping heat -- to look forward to helped one staffer "power through a grueling sweat session; it's that refreshing." (80 calories)

Tropicana Farmstand Peach Mango
Fit in an extra serving of both fruit and veggies with this best-of-both-worlds pick. Peach and mango purees give it a "smoothie-like" consistency, while carrot and sweet potato juice fulfill half of your daily vitamin A needs. (120 calories)

Related: 8 Guilt-Free Frozen Desserts

Simply Orange with Tangerine
This orange-tangerine combo "strikes the perfect balance between sweet and tart," a tester said. "Case in point: I set up a make-your-own mimosa bar for a girls' brunch, and this juice was gone long before the others." (110 calories)

V8 Original 100% Vegetable Juice Hint of Lime
Even nonfans of tomato juice liked this "zesty, fresh-from-the-garden" spin on the classic. Despite delivering two grams of fiber, it has a texture that's surprisingly thirst-quenching, not thick. (50 calories)

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