Advocacy in Action: Fruit juice is not as healthy as it sounds

US Department of Agriculture on Wikimedia Commons)

That glass of fruit juice may be as bad for you as a sugar filled soda report researchers from the University of Glasgow, Scotland. Many fruit juices have a similar calorie count to fizzy drinks and as much sugar! Here are some examples:

An eight ounce glass of Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice contains 22 grams of sugar. In comparison, an eight ounce glass of Pepsi contains 28 grams of sugar.

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250 ml or just over 8 ounces of a strawberry and banana Innocent smoothie contains 26 grams of sugar, just .5 grams less than 250 ml of Coca Cola.

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Eight ounces of Naked Juice's Acai Machine contains 24 grams of sugar. There are about 4 grams of sugar in a teaspoon so consuming 24 grams of sugar is the same as eating over 6 teaspoons of sugar.

One researcher, Professor Naveed Sattar, told the Herald Scotland, "Fruit juice has a similar energy density and sugar content to other sugary drinks. For example, 250ml of apple juice typically contains 110 kcal and 26g of sugar, and 250ml of cola typically contains 105kcal and 26.5g of sugar."

People often choose a glass of fruit juice over soda thinking juice is the healthier choice. Too much sugary juice however, is bad for your health. People who consume too much sugar are at increased risk for:

A study earlier this year established a direct connection between sugar intake and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The more sugar a person consumes the higher their risk of cardiovascular disease even if they are a healthy weight.

For more information about sugar in our diets see Sugar 101 from the American Heart Association. WebMD andHarvard Women's Health Watch have tips for breaking the sugar habit.

Sources:

A version of this article was originally published by me on Examiner.com.

Advocacy in Action

Fruit juice is not as healthy as it sounds

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