There is a big difference between fruit and fruit juice. And that difference is sugar. The same reason you hand your child a juice box instead of a can of soda. Sugar is something we all know to stay away from these days, but how are we getting tricked into consuming more of it?

You’ve already made the switch to healthy eating. You prepare your own meals, make them as fat- and sodium-free as possible, and always choose healthy dessert options. Whole foods are the best, and naturally sweet fruits are a great option for a post-dinner palate cleanser. But what’s a good lunchtime drink option, or thirst-quencher?

“Fruit” Means It’s Healthy

You always thought fruit juice was a good answer: it’s marketed as healthy, healthier than soda at least, and you’ve always enjoyed it, thinking it was good for you. Unfortunately, fruit juice is now being exposed as the health danger it has always been.

In January, Elizabeth Chaplin, an elementary school principal, wrote to parents about a new rule to confiscate juice cartons from children’s lunch boxes. Instead, pupils would only be allowed to drink water. This sounds like prison-rules, but it has nothing to do with control.

The pragmatic principal was merely looking ahead. She had seen the results of studies, and had watched children growing up for years now, and she had seen enough.

What Has More Sugar: Juice or Soda?

Chaplin’s rule came days after Susan Jebb, a government advisor and head of the diet and obesity research group at the Medical Research Council’s Human Nutrition Research unit a Cambridge University, said that the government’s official advice should be changed.

“Fruit juice isn’t the same as intact fruit and it has as much sugar as many classical sugar drinks,” said Jebb, who has stopped drinking juice. “It is also absorbed very fast, so by the time it gets to your stomach your body doesn’t know whether it’s Coca-Cola or orange juice, frankly. I have to say it is a relatively easy thing to give up. Swap it and have a piece of real fruit. If you are going to drink it, you should dilute it.

Jebb is suggesting that a glass of fruit juice should no longer count towards your daily intake of fruits and vegetables. The amount of added sugars in a can or box of fruit juice makes it just as unhealthy as a soda.

Findings show that high-sugar diets, including fruit juices, are associated with an increased risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other disorders. But why are so many people drinking fruit juice these days?

“May Contain Fruit Juices”

“Fruit juice and smoothies are the new danger,” says Barry Popkin, professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina. They are the danger because people now have a propensity for better health. They tell themselves to put down the soda and grab something else, something healthier. And the marketing responds.

From “100% All Natural” to “May contain fruit juices,” juices and smoothies are certainly marketed as “better for you” than soda. But more often than not the juices and smoothies are higher in sugar and calories than soda.

And even though it may “contain real fruit juices,” all a juice box needs is one drop of grape juice to “contain real fruit juice.” And yes, you’ve cut donuts out of your breakfast because they’re unhealthy, but if you still drink juice you’re doing just as much damage.

“An 8-ounce serving of Snapple Apple has more sugar than 2 and a half Krispy Kreme glazed donuts, you were probably off reaching for the box rather than the bottle.”

Just look at all the juices on this list of the most sugary drinks on the market. This is a good resource because it shows how unaware most of us are. This list stacks sodas, juices, and smoothies against each other. It also stacks up the sugar cubes to show you exactly what you’re consuming.

Juices And Their Sugar Content:

Tropicana Twister, 20 oz : 87.5g of sugar

Minute Maid Lemonade, 20 oz : 67.5g of sugar

SoBe Power Fruit Juice, 20 oz : 60g of sugar

Lipton Iced Tea, 20 oz : 53g of sugar

Naked Juice Energy Smoothie, 15 oz : 53g of sugar

SoBe Energize Green Tea, 20 oz : 51g of sugar

SoBe Green Tea, 20 oz : 51g of sugar

Fuze Iced Tea, 20 oz : 43g of sugar

Pure Leaf Iced Tea, 15 oz : 42g of sugar

Snapple Tea, 16 oz : 36g of sugar

Southern Sweet Team, 16 oz : 36g of sugar

Vitamin Water XXX Acai, 20 oz : 32g of sugar

We are all aware that sodas aren’t good for us, so many of us made the switch to juice. If you aren’t preparing your own juice, you leave your health open to added sugars (corn syrup, fructose, etc…) and if you do make juice at home, you’re missing out on some of the benefits you’d get from the whole fruits and veggies.

It’s time to be just as wary with juices and smoothies as you’ve been with sodas, energy drinks, and the refined sugar that comes with all of these products.

IMAGE SOURCE: http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-3501/Sodas-Evil-Twin-Fruit-Drinks-Infographic.html

SOURCE: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jan/17/how-fruit-juice-health-food-junk-food