Thursday, December 1, 2011

Good Belly

Probiotics are pretty awesome. These little living micro-organisms are good bacteria, and they balance out the body. They can help improve core digestive health, and they're believed to support the immune system.

I eat vegan yogurts on occasion, but probably not often enough to really get the benefits of probiotics. I used to take a daily probiotic supplement, but it got a little pricey. But when Good Belly, the vegan probiotic juice company, offered to send me coupons for their products to review, I knew that was an offer I couldn't refuse. I'd seen the stuff in stores, but I was always too cheap to buy it. The $3 to $4 price tag seemed a little steep on my shoestring budget.

But now that I've tried them, I'll certainly be buying more. Good Belly's fruit juices are packed with probiotics, as well as the usual vitamins you get with real fruit juice. And since I'd much rather drink fruit than eat it (I'm not a huge fruit fan), these juices were a great way for me to squeeze in my much-neglected fruit group.

First I tried the Good Belly Blueberry Acai juice:

Wow! Out of all three Good Belly products I tried, this was my favorite. The blueberry flavor was so natural-tasting. And it had a fancy exotic kick from the acai berries. Since the juice is filled with probiotics, it's much creamier than regular fruit juice. Almost like yogurt you can drink.

I also loved the Good Belly Cranberry Watermelon juice:

I expected more of a watermelon flavor, but the cranberry juice overpowered that. Of course, that's totally fine. Cranberry juice is awesome.

Good Belly also comes in tiny portable shots, like this Strawberry Good Belly Plus:

These little juice cups are only 50 calories per serving rather than the 100 or so calories for a cup of the juice. But they're still packed with probiotics. These would be best taken as a supplement rather than a juicy treat since there's only a swallow in there. But how cute are those happy face holes?!

Now that I know how delicious and healthy this stuff is, I don't think I'll have an issue shelling out the cash for these juices on occasion. They cost about the same as a pint of vegan ice cream, and I certainly don't feel nearly as good about myself after eating ice cream.

12 comments:

Sarah said...

I love Good Belly! Thanks for reminding me that I am way overdue to buy myself some more :)

A-K said...

Speaking from experience, I'd recommend NOT drinking more than a serving at a time. Trust me. It's not good. ;-)

Babette said...

The happy face holes is so cute!

bitt said...

these sound really helpful and delicious. sadly most are not gluten free. i hope goodbelly is listening and reformulates it to leave out the gluten!

Southern Purple Veggie said...

I love love Good Belly! They are the best.

Anonymous said...

I bought the blueberry acai yesterday, totally based on your review. I had seen the product before but never realized it was vegan- I'm glad I follow your blog! :)

Tabby said...

Love your blog!

Jesse @ Happy Go Lucky Vegan said...

I've always wondered about these drinks - I'll have to pick one up next time I'm at the grocery. Thanks for the review!

Katie said...

Probiotics can also help with skin problems! I started getting crazy cystic acne when I hit 29, lots of yogurt helps to keep it in check.

Heather H. said...

Im going to give it a try. I bought one this summer, but it disappeared from fridge so I did´t have chance to try it. The blueberry one looks like the one I might like.
Thanks for your review!

Jacki said...

I had no idea that was vegan! We're only recently vegan and my kids drank kefir pretty regularly. I know kefir can by made in other "milks" but I totally don't want to make it. This may fill that void! They do eat soy yogurt every now and then, tho.

Current Threat Level Green said...

Thanks for the reviews! Did you notice any real difference in how you felt or how your body behaved some time after drinking these?