Fruit juice is seen as healthy but it isn’t what you think.
Many people think fruit juice is healthy because it has the word fruit. A lot of people don’t realize that fruit juice is loaded with sugar and can have as much sugar as soda. Coca Cola has 140 calories and 40 grams of sugar apple juice has 165 calories and 39 grams of sugar. According to The Guardian’s Nutrition section, “Susan Jebb, a government advisor and head of the diet and obesity research group at the Medical Research Council’s Human Nutrition Research unit at Cambridge University, told the Sunday Times that the government’s official advice that a glass counts towards your recommended minimum five-a-day servings of fruit and vegetables should be changed.”
Juice is made from the extraction of natural liquid that is contained in fruits and vegetables. Many people have orange juice, apple juice or cranberry juice for breakfast or throughout the day. Fruit juice isn’t as beneficial as fresh fruit but it can still be a healthy thing to add to your diet. Having orange juice or any other fruit juice at breakfast is refreshing and gives you vitamin c and potassium.
Fruit juice is a concentrated source of calories and sugar. An 8-ounce glass of orange juice has 21 grams of sugar and 112 calories. But an orange has 12 grams of sugar and 62 calories far less than the juice. The Guardian also stated that fruit juice is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Fruit juice also lacks the fiber that is found in a regular fruit. Fiber can help lower cholesterol and also help us feel full. When buying fruit juice in the store the best ones are 100% fruit juice with no sugar added.
Companies often leave the juice that they squeeze from the fruit in tanks that they can store for up to a year. The juice often loses its flavor from being stored in those tanks so the companies add flavor packs and sugar to bring back the flavor.
Some of the juices don’t even taste like real fruit juice they just taste like fruit flavored sugar water. If you are going to drink fruit juice drink it in small amounts. It is better to juice the fruit yourself rather than buying fruit juice in the supermarket. The healthiest option would be to just eat the fruits instead of drinking the juice.
