The Squeeze
- ciaralitchfield
- Jul 8, 2014
- 2 min read
How much fruit is in your fruit juice and are Innocent smoothies so innocent? Everyone is becoming more aware of hidden sugars but there are still some that are slipping into our diets unnoticed. Innocent ‘smoothies for kids’ seems like a safe option for parents with one 180ml carton providing 1 of your Childs 5 a day. The fact that it also provides 26% of their daily sugar allowance is not so pleasing. The 21.8g of sugar present in these drinks is equal to 5.5 teaspoons!
A 150ml glass of fruit juice counts as one of our 5 a day however any more than this may be a mistake. You can drink litres of the stuff but it will only ever count as one of your 5 a day. The first reason for this is that some health befits from the fruit are lost in the juicing process.
When fruit is juiced its fibre is removed. Fibre is essential in keeping us full and improving our digestion. Without the fibre content the juice isn’t as beneficial to our health so should be limited to a glass a day.
The next issue is fructose, the sugar found naturally in fruits. This sugar is killer for our teeth. In a piece of fruit the sugar is encased in the structure of the fruit/ pulp. Once released from the structure, by juicing or blending, the sugar is free in the juice and can easily come into contact with our teeth. This contact leads to dental decay and damaged enamel. Juices are often very acidic, especially from citrus fruits, which can lead to dental erosion which is irreversible.
The best way to protect your teeth is to avoid ‘Juice Drinks’ or ‘Juice style juice’. These are not the same as fresh juice and can contain as little as 5% fruit! These drinks don’t count towards your 5 a day and are usually very high in calories and sugar.
Make your fruit fix last longer by diluting it with water. Tropicana recently launched a Trop50 range which does just this. By making the swap from regular orange juice to Trop50 you save yourself 12g of sugar and 60 calories per serving!
Juicing as part of a health kick has really taken off in the UK and there is no reason to miss out. As long as you restrict yourself to 150ml a day you can reap the benefits of fresh fruit without any worries. If you have a blender try making a Smoothie rather than juice.
Smoothies that are 100% fruit (i.e. fruit blended without the addition of pre made juice) are the best options to go for if you enjoy your fruit. With these drinks most of the pulp has been left in so you can still get some fibre into your diet. Smoothies which contain both fruit and vegetables can gain you 2 of your 5 a day depending on the quality of the mix. Making your own is the best way to ensure a good range of ingredients are used and no sugar is added.
