(Newswire.net — December 22, 2013) Portland, OR — Funny thing is that drink giants Coca Cola and Pepsi actually own top “healthy” juice brands, Odwalla and Naked Juice. These smaller juice operations where snatched up by the soft drink companies when they started losing market share.
But did you know that 100% fresh fruit juice isn’t much better for you than the sweetened soda products their parent companies produce.
Fresh fruit juice or fruit smoothies are good for you, right?
Well, maybe not. As healthy as those options sound, drinking fruit juice or fruit smoothies may be more harmful than you ever imagined.
Drinking a glass of juice is nowhere near as good for you as eating a full serving of fruit.
Most juice is loaded with calories and sugar. Many long-term studies show that regular juice drinkers have a higher risk of gaining weight and developing diabetes.
But moderate juice consumption can be harmful. In one study, people who drank two glasses of juice per week increased their risks of diabetes by nearly 30%. Compared to those people drinking an equivalent amount of weekly soda increased their risk by 42%. Surprisingly similar.
Fruit is also lacking in fiber. A major benefit with eating more produce is increasing the amount of fiber in your diet. When you exchange whole fruit for fruit juice, you don’t get the same as whole fruit due to the fiber loss.
Fiber controls how your body absorbs sugar and helps regulate your appetite. When scientists compared people who ate apple slices before lunch with people who drank a serving of apple juice, those eating the whole fruit ate an average of 15% fewer calories during their meal before they felt full than those participants who drank the juice.
Approximately 40% of the vitamins and minerals are lost when you juice. If you don’t personally juice your fruit, then you are probably getting even less fiber and vitamins, but just as many calories.
Do you know how fresh-squeezed juice is how it is stored. Orange juice is stored in an oxygen-free environment for up to a year before hitting your grocery store shelves. This destroys the taste, aroma and enzymes in the juice.
Here are some alternates to store bought fruit juice.
Fresh, filtered water
If you’re used to those sugar sweet drinks, water may not sound so good. But after a week of drinking water instead of sweet beverages, you’ll come to appreciate how clean and fresh it tastes.
Unsweetened tea
Need some more flavor? How about tea? Many tea varieties are available to try.
Whole fruit
Have a banana, some apple slices or a bunch of grapes. Try freezing it. You still get all the fiber and vitamins in these frozen tasty treats.
A simple change helps improve your health and control your weight.
Source: Health Edge