The concept of "drinkable fruit" is one that I do not quite understand. I understand fruit juice, but Tropicana's new Fruitwise Drinkable Fruit beverages are just confusing. Tropicana makes good-quality products, so I don't doubt that these drinks taste good, but the marketing concept is weird.

The drinkable fruit line is neither a juice nor a smoothie, but somewhere in between. The products claim to deliver two full servings of fruit in their 8-ounce, 170-calorie containers, but the fruit inside isn't necessarily the flavor printed on the packaging. Take the Strawberry Kiwi flavor, for example. It lists it ingredients as "filtered water, apple puree concentrate, strawberry puree concentrate, white grape juice concentrate, apple juice concentrate, raspberry puree concentrate, kiwi juice concentrate and natural flavors." The ingredients are all natural and to increase the thickness it is not surprising that everything was from "concentrate" - but there are more flavors in the bottle than promised, and the kiwi flavor seems as though it was thrown in as an afterthought.

A serving of fruit juice is ordinarily 6-ounces and you could drink 12-ounces of fruit juice for the same number of calories contained n one of these drinks - so why bother with them? Have plain juice if you are looking to get more fruit into your diet or make a smoothie on your own instead of reaching for one of these.

Make sure to eat breakfast every morning – even if you don’t think that you’re hungry. Studies show that people who skip meals as a diet strategy almost always make up for the missing calories at other meals. Skipping a meal causes you to come to the table overly hungry and to eat quickly. Your body will not be able to register the amount of food you have eaten in such a short time, which may cause you to eat until you are over-full.

Good breakfast choices include things like oatmeal, cold cereal with lowfat or skim milk, and yogurt. Fruit is always a good option, particularly on days when you don’t feel too hungry after waking up. If you find eating in the morning to be terribly difficult, take a few minutes to make a smoothie. Smoothies can give you a great mix of fruits and dairy and get your day off to a great start.

Wake Up Smoothie
From EatingWell Magazine
1 ¼ cups orange juice
1 ¼ cups frozen berries (I recommend strawberries)
1 medium banana
½ cup plain low-fat yogurt
1 tbsp sugar (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a blender until smooth.
Makes 2 – 1 ½ cup servings.
(approximately 190 calories per serving, made with strawberries and including optional sugar)