Did you know March is National Nutrition Month? Well, now you know 🙂

One of the most buzzed-about topic in the field of nutrition the past few years has been antioxidants.

You probably have heard a lot of buzz about the acai berry lately, the new “it” antioxidant powerhouse.

But long before the acai berry was marketed as such, the pomegranate was the ruby-colored antioxidant gem of the health/nutrition industry.

And today, the pomegranate is still a top superfood — one I love!

So imagine my excitement when, while still in Korea, I received an e-mail from Ryan at P♥M Wonderful, asking me if I’d be interested in doing a blog review of his company’s antioxidant-packed juices*.

Though pomegranate is one of my absolute favorite fruits, since beginning Weight Watchers in 2004, I’ve nearly always opted for whole fruit over their juice counterparts.

Still, I welcomed the free samples to review and he arranged to have it delivered when I would be back home. And sure enough, they arrived this weekend!

When the box of cuties came on Saturday, they weren’t quite drinkable just yet (they were lukewarm, even with the special cooling packaging). But after a couple hours in the fridge (see pic) they were ready for tasting!

I am basing my review on two main areas of importance: taste and nutritional content.

I found it to be sweet and refreshing, with just a bit of (necessary) tartness. I really liked it!! Knowing it was 100% all-natural (Per P♥M Wonderful — “The only juice brand guaranteed to contain 100% authentic pomegranate juice. It’s all-natural and contains no added sugars, preservatives, colors or cheap filler juices”) really added to my enjoyment.

(See other P♥M Wonderful stats below).

Nutritionally-speaking, these adorable juice bottles have 160 calories each, which was  high for me, as I rarely — if ever — drink my calories anymore, unless it has some redeeming quality — in the form of a skim latte (protein!) or a glass of wine (antioxidants!).

Basically, if I’m going to drink 160 calories — with 32 grams of sugar — it would need to be a very special treat, not something I’d likely make part of my daily repertoire.

(Take a look at the American Heart Association’s sugar guidelines here).

So to make it less caloric — and to dilute some of the sweetness,  I cut the juice with some water and made  two servings out of the bottle. T’was still great!

I shared my samples with my husband to get a second opinion and surprisingly my husband, whose sweet tooth is about half the size of mine, found the juice to be too tart for him on first sip! This shocked me, since he usually thinks things taste too sweet!

But after a good shake (which we hadn’t done — oops!) he thought it tasted much better. A huge juice fan, he decided to mix his P♥M Wonderful with the new Minute Maid Pomegranate-Blueberry juice and really enjoyed it.

About P♥M Wonderful (The following content has been provided by P♥M Wonderful)

P♥M Wonderful is…backed by science.
P♥M is the only pomegranate juice backed by $32 million in medical research. Actually, we are the only pomegranate juice backed by any medical research at all. To date, numerous published clinical studies have documented the benefits of drinking pomegranate juice; benefits that include improved heart and prostate health.

P♥M Wonderful is…100% authentic.
P♥M is the only brand that can guarantee 100% authentic pomegranate juice because we are the only company to grow, juice and bottle our own fruit. There are no middlemen.

P♥M Wonderful is…tree to bottle.
P♥M is the only pomegranate juice that controls its juice from tree to bottle; bottle-to-bottle, batch-to-batch, year-to-year.

P♥M Wonderful is…grown in California, USA.
P♥M is the only pomegranate juice guaranteed to come exclusively from fruit grown in the USA. P♥M has thousands of acres of Wonderful variety pomegranates growing in our sunny Central California orchards.

————-

How can you not love a product that is not only tasty, but also sustainable, socially-conscious, and eco-friendly?

As I mentioned earlier, my only complaint about P♥M is caloric content (it’d be 4 WW Points a serving) … but if I continue to cut it with water (and make a bottle last for two servings) I think it’d be a great, healthy drink to keep in the fridge for a special treat.

It’s a shame pomegranates aren’t around year-round, but that’s also what makes them so special when they are in season.

And it’s good to know that if I wanted a pomegranate fix, say, in the summer, I could buy a bottle of P♥M Wonderful.

Thanks, Ryan, for the samples!! I give P♥M Wonderful an A 🙂

How about you? Do you drink juice or prefer fruit? Have you tried P♥M Wonderful yet? (You can become a Facebook fan here!)

*FTC Disclaimer: P♥M Wonderful sent me free samples of their product for review on my blog.