Everyone is fond of gulping down bottled and canned juices. They also come in paper bottles. One does not even think twice before purchasing and consuming it. Be it a happy occasion, a routine thirst, or an outing!

These canned juices are everywhere used. Even celebrities are fond of them and can be often seen having them in their hands on an outing. But how real are these fruit juices? Are they really healthy and safe? Let us find out.

Fruit juices and the unhealthiness

There have been no studies to date to link packaged fruit juices with cancer, heart disease, or any such ailments as diet coke. But they are still not a healthy choice.

They have high caloric content with minimal to no fiber content. The high sugar adds to the calories and can potentially cause tooth decay.

Nutritionist Robin Miller states:

“ounce for ounce, soda and juice often deliver the same calories and grams of sugar”

Due to a lack of healthy and hunger-reducing fiber, fruit juices are just empty calories in a glass, just a sugary drink.

Fruit juices vs real fruit

The juice form of fruits is not as healthy as real fruits. Robin explains:

“Grab [a] real piece of fruit and you’ll get the satisfaction of chewing, hydration, vitamins, minerals, and FIBER.”

Further, she elaborates:

“Fiber promotes feelings of fullness, slows digestion, and reduces spikes in blood sugar.”

Therefore, even fresh raw juices cannot substitute the health benefits of real fruits. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics also agrees with this. The Academy recommends that at least half of the daily intake of fruits should be in the form of real fruits.

It should not be only fruit juices. NYC dietitian Cynthia Sass opines:

“While your body likes the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, juices lack fiber and don’t require chewing, so they’re less satiating than whole produce.”

Problems with fake juices

Many bottled fruit juices put a lot of claims on the label. But not all of these might be true. Robin examined Ocean Spray’s 100 percent juice. It is a cocktail of cranberry, grape, apple, and pear juice concentrate plus water, natural flavor, pectin, and ascorbic acid.

But it has only water, cranberry juice concentrate, sugar, ascorbic acid, and vegetable concentrate for color. She wonders why color is needed and asks:

“Aren’t cranberries super colorful anyway?”

Tropicana has a juice that they allege is 100% orange juice. Robin points out:

“They have filtered water, orange juice concentrate, and natural flavors not found in regular orange juice.”

Other popular brand juices also have added flavors in them.

Effect of processing

Robin adds that cold-pressed juices may have more micronutrients than juices. Hence they are costlier. But they are better than the juices that have undergone the high-temperature pasteurization process.

This can destroy the micronutrients of the fruit. Some juice varieties in the market put back these lost vitamins and minerals into the packed juice after the processing.

Nonorganic fruit juices are loaded with pesticides. But when the label says it is organic fruit juice, it does not mean that it is healthy with all the goodness!

The best would be to have a whole fruit with a glass of water. But there are some fruits such as watermelon that are high in water content. So with them, even water would not be required.

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