Fruit Juices - Should We Drink Them?

Orange juice was my favorite morning beverage, until I realized how the sugar was affecting my blood sugar and my weight.  So over a year ago, I decided that I would not drink fruit juice any more.

Fruit juices (apple, orange, pineapple, etc) are loaded with sugar.  Juice contains just as much, sometime more, sugar than sugary soft drinks.  Yes, juice can contain vitamins, antioxidants etc…but it’s the sugar content we worry about.

Here is the problem with drinking juice: fruit juice is basically a concentrated dose of sugar in each glass (liquid sugar).  A glass of juice is the equivalent of eating several pieces of fruit in a short amount of time.  When fruit is juiced in the factory, all the fiber from the actual fruit is removed.  We need the fiber to help slow the absorption of the sugars.  Without the fiber from the fruit pulp, we have a huge sugar spike and then will have a huge sugar crash a couple hours later.  And when we drink juice, we don’t feel full, so that’s additional calories with no benefit.

When we have a sugar spike in the body from fruit juice, the fructose (sugar) is sent to the liver.  The liver then gets overloaded and some of the sugar turns into fat and can cause insulin resistance.  This is why high sugar diets lead to weight gain.

Juicing fruit is different than using the whole fruit in a smoothie or Shakeology shake.  When we use the whole fruit we are getting the fiber and pulp of the fruit.

The bottom line:
If you need something sweet, eat a piece of whole fruit.  
This way you get all the vitamins, antioxidants, etc AND the FIBER to slow absorption of the sugars. Don’t drink your calories – eat your calories.