Fruit Juice Is Not Healthy

It amazes me some of the health myths that persist to this day, where so many people still believe that fruit juice is healthy. In my opinion you might as well just drink a bottle of Mountain Dew for breakfast. The miniscule amount of vitamins you get in juice are completely outweighed by the insane amounts of sugar that comes with it. People think that because it's natural sugar derived from fruit that it's healthy. It's not.

I was just at the store, where sometimes I will pick up items at random and look at the nutritional information on the back. I picked up a bottle of Nantucket Nectars mango orange juice, and found out there are a whopping 58 grams of sugar in a single bottle of this juice. You might as well just call it diabetes in a bottle. Even crazier is that people most often drink juice for breakfast, and they say breakfast is the "most important" meal of the day.

So what do most people eat for breakfast? Cereal, toast, bagels, muffins, JUICE.... So for being the most important meal of the day, the Standard American Diet (SAD for short) appears to offer the WORST choices for this MOST IMPORTANT meal. All the stuff I just listed will only spike a person's blood sugar, making them hungry again just a few hours later and needing to eat.

I realized long ago this is what keeps the food industry going, and why they tell us breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It's nothing more than pure marketing disguised as health advice. People would be so much healthier if they simply skipped breakfast altogether.

 

How about the organic juices with no sugars added....just the natural fruit.....?

 

Yes, even those. It's way too much sugar. Eating whole fruit is where it's at. With juice you're losing a lot of what's good for you and gaining all of what is bad. People don't realize that when they drink a glass of orange juice or apple juice, it's like eating 5 or 6 whole pieces of fruit, but you're missing out on all the fiber, as well as a lot of the essential vitamins and antioxidants that make fruit part of a healthy diet. It's pretty much concentrated sugar, and has a comparable amount to soda. Other than lacking in artificial colors and caffeine, I don't really see fruit juice being much healthier than soda. Juice contributes every bit as much to obesity and diabetes as soda does, except for the fact that people tend to drink soda more than juice. If people stopped drinking soda, and drank only juice, they would be just as fat.

The only juice I would recommend to someone is the kind they make themselves at home with a juicer. And I am talking about vegetable -- not fruit -- juice. Juicing with things like kale, spinach, lettuce, etc. is very healthy, and I highly recommend it.

 

right...the worse it tatses the better it is for one....lol

 

I disagree, because over time your tastes change once you make modifications to your diet. When you stop eating sugary foods, you lose your taste for them and you begin to appreciate the flavor of things your body truly needs to thrive.

 

There's also 'diet' frut juice with pretty much no sugars left in it at all. I'm not advising it for health reasons but if one enjoys the taste and want to avoid sugars...

What about freshly made orange juice with the orange fibers and all in it? Can't be that unhealthy to start the day with a glass of freshly made OJ?

 

Hey..I actually have a question matt. I totally agree w you about juice..unless you use a juicer and veggies. But anyways..what about a three year old who wont drink water unless its mixed with juice? Its just that and milk. What other option for that ag see group..anyone? Its not like lemon and water would work but some other flavor? Hmm. Well at least I mix his water with very little juice..

 

Its trish btw.

 

poor juice getting a bad rap..

 

you could try putting fresh fruit in a pitcher of water and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours so all the flavors infuse into the water

that actually sounds really good right now, I may have to do that today lol

my grandmother used to poke a hole in an orange for me and I would drink the juice directly from the orange and then peel it open and eat the insides. Yum

 

you are blowing things way out of proportion. juice contains vitamins and antioxidants. it doesn't have fiber, but people get fiber from most other sources (cereal, vegetables, for example) in the diet and they don't really need to get any fiber from their drink. you're not missing out on any fiber by drinking juice. it's like saying you miss out on fiber by drinking water.

fruit juice has not been proven to contribute ''just as much'' to obesity and diabetes as soda. get your facts straight before you start spreading misinformation. high consumption of juice has been associated with weight gain in children but not in adults:

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/118/5/2066.short
http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FPHN%2FPHN10_02%2FS1368980007246634a.pdf&code=d13a4534ed6564efead73b8e039e5e6c
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20232604

quote something actually scientific next time you make scientific claims.

 

So-called "diet" fruit juice contains all sorts of artificial sweeteners which I do no recommend at all.

Freshly squeezed orange juice is probably better than the stuff you find in the dairy case, but it's still got way too much sugar. It's not a good way to start the day because it spikes the blood sugar, only to have it come crashing down a few hours later, making you hungry and irritable.

A person is far better off eating whole fruit than drinking juice. They're getting more vitamins and fiber, and less sugar this way.

This is a good question. I was thinking about this the other day because my friend's son, who is two and a half, drinks a lot of juice. I tell his mom all the time that it's contributing to his pudginess, and she will ask me "what am I supposed to give him then?" I actually think whole milk would be just fine for children as long as it is free of hormones. I also like Meliai's recommendation with the fruit infused water. They actually sell special water bottles made to infuse fruit into water.

I must admit I have never given this question much thought until recently, but if I think of something I will let you know.

I don't remember saying that it DOESN'T contain vitamins and antioxidants, but rather any benefits coming from these things are lost in the high sugar content. It's like drinking a bottle of Mountain Dew or Dr. Pepper and popping a multivitamin with it. Yeah, you're getting some vitamins with it, but it's outweighed by the insane amount of sugar.

And yeah, of course juice contributes MORE to obesity in children than adults because children tend to drink more juice. The fact is that juice is going to make anyone fat if they have metabolic issues, which is pretty much anyone with a weight problem or a propensity to gain weight. Fructose is fructose. It's processed by the body the same way, regardless if it's coming from soda or from juice.

People talk about high fructose corn syrup being bad, and it is, but drinking concentrated fructose in the form of fruit juice is just as bad, even if that fructose is completely natural. It still needs to be broken down by the liver, and with that amount of sugar a lot of it is going to be turned into fat unless a person has the metabolism to handle that it. Over half the population does not have the metabolism to handle that amount of sugar without it eventually leading to health problems.

 

What if you juice your own fruit, is that bad?

 

Again, fruit juice is fruit juice. Yeah, it is probably slightly better than the stuff you buy already made in terms of micronutrient content, but it's still a lot of sugar which many people cannot handle.

I suppose if a person does not have weight issues and problems with insulin resistance, juicing small amounts of fruit with vegetables won't hurt too much, but pure fruit juice, in my opinion, just is not healthy, regardless if you make it at home or buy it at the store. Some juices are probably less harmful than others because the fruits they derive from have less sugar, but the juices most commonly consumed (orange, apple) are just loaded with sugar, even when you're only drinking a small glass.

 

but an apple a day keeps the you know who away....lol

I used to get the grass green drink made at health food stores, and it was awful getting it down, but I did on several occassions.....

 

How about apple cidar?

I like cidar vinegar, too.....

 

I'm buying a juicer in the next few hours. I'm excited too.

 

Apple cider and apple cider vinegar are two very different things. The apple cider is loaded with sugar, whereas the apple cider vinegar is not. I personally use apple cider vinegar daily, multiple times, mixed with water, pink Himalayan salt, and about 8 or 9 drops of iodine. ACV is great for the body in terms of digestion, detoxing, and normalizing the body's PH, making it more alkaline and less acidic. When taken with salt and iodine, it also gives me a good boost of energy, especially when consumed pre-workout.

 

Mmm my new juicer is pretty good.