Fruit. It may be one of your five a day, the key to vitality. But one health expert claims when juiced, fruit is nothing more than a poison.
According to an article in the Telegraph, no matter how you dice it, fruit juice is pure sugar, and therefore can only be bad for us. A new book, "Fat Chance: The Bitter Truth about Sugar" by Robert Lustig offers a damning report on sugar, which the author blames for our current obesity crisis.
Surprisingly, he slams the so-called healthiest sugars as the worst. "Calorie for calorie, 100 per cent orange juice is worse for you [than sodas]," said Lustig.
OK, so most of us drink juice in moderation, but the case studies are shocking: an eight-year-old with high blood pressure, due to a three-glasses-a-day juice habit. (Then again, what else was he eating/drinking?)
The point is that juice has sugars in concentrated form. In other words, most brands contain more sugar than we should be taking in.
The article reminds us that historically juice was akin to a "vitamin shot"—something you took like medicine, only a few tablespoons at a time. Compare that to the average juice box which has around 17g sugar a pop.
Lustig's main peeve, though, is fibre. At least by eating the whole fruit, you get the fibre, which allows your liver to "fully metabolize what's coming in."
But what's a parent to do? Those boxes are just so darn convenient...
Do you worry about how much juice your kids drink?
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