Many times, our children show reluctance when it comes to eating fruit and we, to get them to do so, we turn them into . Either at home, making natural juices, or buying packaged juices at the supermarket. Are they a healthy alternative to whole fruit? Are they a good drink option for our children? Dietitian-nutritionists tell us no. The reason is in the . We explain it to you.
4 reasons why you should never replace fruit with juice
- Fiber: in juice we lose all the fiber so recommended in our diet.
- Sugar: The natural sugars of the natural fruit are converted to free sugars for all purposes if we squeeze the fruit. When throwing away the pulp, “the matrix” is lost, which is the one that retains the sugars. Under normal conditions (whole fruit), the matrix causes sugars to be released more slowly in our body. When this mechanism disappears by squeezing the fruit, the sugar behaves like free sugars released directly into our bloodstream, causing insulin spikes that are not recommended, especially in children.
- It is much more satiating take the fruit in pieces than in juice. Chewing plays a key role.
- Juices are hypercaloric if we compare them with the whole fruit. A child eats a whole orange or a whole apple at most, but in juice they would be able to eat three or four pieces. Or not?
intrinsic sugar
It is the sugar that contains the food itself. We find it in fruit, vegetables and milk.
Free added sugar
Added sugar is the free sugar that has been added to the food/product during its production (industry), preparation (cooks) or at the time of consumption (when we add sugar to coffee, for example).
free sugar
Although fruit juices do not contain added sugar, they contain a high amount of free sugar, since the fruit is not whole and does not maintain its food matrix. That is why eating fruit juice is not healthy, because the sugar it contains falls into our body in the same way that free sugar does, causing glucose spikes.