19th October, 2010
It is difficult to accept at first, but the truth remains that the processing of commercial fruit juices in the market today leaves almost nothing but fructose to race through your arteries.
Of course, makers of these brands of fruit juice are in the market to make profit, so, they will not tell you all you really need to know about their products. They would rather employ marketing techniques that fool the public into thinking their products are nutritious when, in fact, they contain more sugar or even high fructose corn syrup than the juice itself.
Whether the fruit juice cartons at the supermarket are labeled: fruit drink, punch, cocktail, beverage, etc., the truth remains that if they are not 100 per cent juice, they are just junk beverages.
Most people would be astonished to know how little fruit juice these beverages actually contain. The majority of “fruit†juice, in fact, contain 10 per cent or less real fruit juice. They offer little or no nutritional value and are basically flavoured sugar water.
Juice manufacturers are required to let you know the percentage of actual fruit juice in the container. Look for the small print, especially if the container says only 10 per cent real juice and if it is so, what is the other stuff? It is pure simply water sugar preservatives additives.
These “fruit†juice offer little or no nutritional value and are essentially flavoured sugar water. If the fruit drink mentions it is fortified with added vitamins, it doesn’t make it nutritionally equivalent to fruit.
Despite what some labels in the supermarket may say, the only freshly squeezed juice is one that is squeezed minutes before you drink it. Real fruit contains fibres which slows absorption of the juice’s natural sugar into the bloodstream. Most fruit juices we have in the market today are nutritional gems while others are pure sugar water.
Please, consider these tips if you must make fruit juice part of your diet. Be label savvy, buy juice labeled “100% fruit juice,†examine the ingredients, avoid fruit-flavoured beverages that have added fructose corn syrup; companies do this to cater to your taste-buds, especially children’s.
Look at the juice. Generally, the cloudier the juice, the more nutritious it is. There should be some sediment at the bottom, this is a reminder of the real fruit. If you can see through it, you’re buying mostly water.
Orange juice is a morning favourite and one of the most nutritious beverages available. An excellent source of vitamin C and potassium, orange juice also is a good source of folate and thiamin. Drinking an eight-ounce glass counts as one of your five necessary fruit and vegetable servings for the day.
Nectar usually has more calories, but more nutrients are preserved during processing nectar than other juices. Apricot nectar is especially healthy, containing a lot of beta-carotene, almost a gram of protein per eight-ounce glass and it is higher than most juices in vitamin A, vitamin B-6 and ironntains fibre—which slows absorption of the juice’s natural sugar into the bloodstream.
If and when the craving for a fruit juice comes about, the best bet would be to put the whole fruit in a blender with a little water and make your own. Peel an orange and use the entire contents inside; blend fresh or frozen berries, maybe add a little lemon. It can all be very refreshing and nutritious, just the way nature intend not the processed ones the manufacturers force on you through their hype.
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