Whether to eat your fruit or drink it is a contentious issue. Do we have to choose sides or can we have our fruit and drink it too? We speak to the Associate Nutritionist at HIC, Lee Thoong, to get her take on this issue.
Just how much produce goes into one cup (250ml) of juice? The short answer is probably more than you would eat.
1 cup of orange juice = 2-4 oranges
1 cup of carrot juice = 9 carrots
As such, while a serving of juice is higher in natural sugar and calorie content compared to whole fruit, it also contains more vitamins and nutrients.
Better absorption of nutrients with fruit juice
The low fibre content in juice that makes essential pytonutrients (e.g. beta carotene, lycopene and lutien) easily absorbed by the body, according to the Linus Pauling Institute.
A cup of juice also gives your body a higher percentage of your daily recommended value of nutrients. If you find it a daily challenge to have the recommended servings of fruit & vegetables, then 100% juice is good way to ensure you don’t miss out on your essential vitamins and nutrients.
One third of juice. Two thirds fruit & veggies.
Whole fruit and juice are not mutually exclusive. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) recommend that one-third of daily consumption of fruit and vegetables come from juice.
How to make the most of your juice:
- Only go for 100% juice without sweeteners or preservatives. Read labels carefully as most juices that line the supermarket shelves are made from concentrate and contain very little pure juice.
- For lower natural sugar content, have juices that are vegetable-based instead of fruit-based. If you have yet to acquire the taste for greens, then mix your veggies with a citrus fruit to make the taste more palatable.
How to make the most of eating fruit:
- Eat the fruit skin and pulp as they contain most of the flavonoids & fibre
- Have fresh fruit instead of canned fruit. Canned fruit is usually preserved in heavy syrup which contains much sugar.
HIC The Lighter Side 