Fruit juice?

[Burnt_Toast]

Is fruit juice good to drink when you can't eat fruit all the time? Also is from concentrate good for you? and which juice is the best to drink? Grape? orange? pineapple? apple? I alway put away gallons of apple juice when I was young and I am thinking of going that route again.

 

[Andy M.]

Whether it's from concentrate or not is less important than what else is in the container.

Many bottled fruit juices are more than just fruit juice. Read the labels. Many have sugars and other flavors added. It's difficult to even get a plain old carton of orange juice. It's often has added stuff like calcium or such. Even products that are labelled 100% fruit juice are mostly some cheap filler juice with other juices added.

Even fresh squeezed juices are loaded with sugar. Not table sugar but fructose, a fruit sugar. Also, they can be high in caloires. e.g. OJ is 165 calories for an 12 ounces. That's more than a can of soda.

All that being said, fruit juices are probably less harmful than other cold beverage choices, except for water.

 

[Michael in FtW]

Believe it or not ... FROZEN CONCENTRATE is the next best thing to fresh - then the refrigerated juices that are made from concentrate (these are produced throughout the year to meet demand) ... the bottled stuff is at the end of the food chain. The main reason is vitamin degredation when subjected to heat for sterlization and botteling or stored above 38ºF for more than about 12 days.

As for the concern about "added stuff" - read the label. Let's take a can of frozen orange juice concentrate for an example. If the indredients listed is something like "100% all natural Florida Orange Juice" - it has no additives of any kind. And, yes, fruit juice fresh squeezed does contain sugars ... in the case of orange juice it's about 50% Sucrose, 25% Fructose and 25% Glucose. If they didn't contain naturally occuring sugars they would not be sweet. Fruit "drinks" are not the same as pure fruit juices ...

Juice vs Fruit: You're throwing away part of the nutritional value of the fruit is you just squeeze it and only drink the juice ... you're throwing away some nutrients and fiber thatdo not wind up in the juice.

Not All Additives are Bad: During the process of botteling juices they are heated and that causes a loss of vitamins. Adding back the vitamins lost during processing isn't IMHO a bad idea. The same thing happens during the pasteurization of milk ... but the main vitamin loss there is Vitamin D, which is added back in. Added Calcium isn't necessarily bad, either ... my step-mom has a poor appetite so it's hard to get her to eat enough high calcium foods - but she will drink OJ with added calcium so that is what I give here (with the blessing of her Doctor and a Ph.D. Nutritionist that I have worked with for about 25 years and trust).

If you're looking for the most nutrition - the best thing is eating fresh fruit ... followed by fresh squeezed juice, then use frozen concentrate, then juice made from concentrate, then the bottled stuff.

 

[Caine]

The biggest problem with drinking the juice instead of eating the whole fruit is the sugar rush you're gonna get. Because the fiber naturally found in the whole fruit slows down digestion and the absorption of the sugar, if you just drink the juice, especially apple or grape juice because there is no "pulp" in those juices like there is in unadulterated orange juice, your blood sugar level is going to take a tremendous hit.

 

[Topaz]

For me, the biggest negative with fruit juice is the absence of fibre. Most of us don't get enough fibre in our diets and eating more fruit and vegetables can correct that. Skip the juice.

 

[Constance]

I've seen reports latey that say if you're going to drink fruit juice, drink it through a straw, because the acid is hard on your tooth enamel.

 

[-DEADLY SUSHI-]

I've seen reports latey that say if you're going to drink fruit juice, drink it through a straw, because the acid is hard on your tooth enamel.

Not unless you have a very unique enamel problem like my friend. Outside of that, you will have no problem. ANNNNNND always drink pasturized stuff. Yes.... un-pasturized is better BUT you do NOT want to get sick. It can kill you!!!!!

 

[Burnt_Toast]

wow ok that's good news. I not worried about fiber cuz I can get through my meals during the day. As for the sugar rush I guess that can be avoid by not drinking all your juice in once gulp. Hehe hope I can manage. I was really looking at pineapple juice also. They stuff taste good but it's so strong. Also it it a good idea to mix juice with like protein shakes and stuff? To make kinda a nattural energy boost drink? Also adding protein would slow the sugar rush right?

 

[CharlieD]

I love home made apple juice, my all time favorite is carrot/apple juice mix. well, I'dike that even if it is stor bought. But my kids dentist warned me not to give too much juice to kids, because it is just as bad as soda. The very list one can do is to brush teeth after drinking the juice.