To juice or not to juice?

Fruit juices have been given a bad rap of late, with Ministers downgrading fruit juice to a lower Health Star Rating. But is it all bad news for juice lovers? Well, it’s time to squeeze the facts from fiction and reveal if fruit juice still has a place in your fridge.

Fruit Juice Jemma O'Hanlon Dietitian Nutritionist

Fruit juice consumption comes with both pros and cons, so let’s dive straight into the glass and explore what these are.

Pros

Fruit juice can be a great way to get your daily vitamin C, with a glass roughly providing your recommended daily intake
Juice offers hydration – if you’re someone who struggles to drink water, it can be a way to help meet your fluid intake for the day
It can offer natural sugars that can give you a burst of energy at the gym – the natural sugars can provide fuel which the muscles and your brain will use as energy to perform optimally
Some juices combine both fruit and veggies to give you some bonus veggie serves in your day

Cons

Juices tend to be overconsumed. For example, most people could easily drink a 300mL bottle of juice, but less could chomp through 4 oranges in one sitting. That’s because it’s the complex matrix of fibre in a whole piece of fruit that keeps us fuller for longer. Juice doesn’t have the same satiating effect.
Drinking juice can give your body a big sugar hit in a short space of time. This is not the best when it comes to blood sugar control and can lead to these excess kilojoules being stored as body fat if they’re not burnt off
Juice and dentists don’t get along. Fruit juice is acidic and can increase the risk of dental erosion. This is of particular concern for kids (RIP Poppers).

So what to do? Here’s my advice:

Get your 2 serves of whole fruit in every day, no excuses. A serve would be 1 orange (hello nostalgia of half time soccer oranges kicking in) or 1 apple.
If you wish to sub out one of those serves for fruit juice, do so occasionally with ½ glass (125mL) max. You can always top this up with sparkling water to enjoy a larger glass and extra hydration.
If you are pumping iron regularly at BodyPump, smashing it out on the treadmill or generally working up a sweat in your club, you’re going to be burning more kilojoules and it might be ok fuel up beforehand or refuel with a small glass of juice. Let’s also consider that you’d be much better off having a glass of juice post-workout than 10 schooners of beer at the pub on Friday night.
If you love your juice and there will be no other alternative, always choose Australian. Country of origin labelling is now mandatory so check the label and make sure you support Aussie growers.

This article was first published in Fitness First Magazine and has been reproduced with permission.