JUICE, “IS IT REALLY THAT BAD, IT’S MADE OUT OF FRUIT?”

If your child eats fruit everyday, she doesn’t need to drink any juice at all.  Yes 100% fruit juice is a quick and easy way to fit in a fruit serving and get a day’s worth of vitamin C. but it does not offer any nutritional advantages over fruit.   And when your drink juice instead of eating fruit, you miss out on the fiber, something your kids need more of.   One apple with skin offers more then 4 grams of fiber, but a cup of apple juice has less than 1 gram.  It is not hard for a child to meet his/her  vitamin C requirements without juice, sliced strawberries or a half a cup of broccoli provides more than a day’s worth of the vitamin.  Not all fruit juices are 100% juice, some contain high fructose corn syrup or other sweeteners as well as artificial colors and preservatives. 

A serving of juice provides more calories than a serving of fruit.  One cup of orange juice contains about 125 calories (6 teaspoons of sugar) while a whole medium orange supplies just 68 calories.  Juice is easy to drink in large quantities, especially due tot he lack of fiber.  Fruit juice will cause the same major increase in insulin levels as refined sugar.  The changes in blood sugar caused by fruit juice consumption can also cause children to crave starches and sweets.  Kids who are addicted to fruit juice don’t drink enough water, young children need 60% more water each day than adults, but kids who habitually drink fruit juice rarely drink water or other healthy liquids such as milk.

Kids who are used to drinking fruit juice are not going to switch to water overnight.   But try to encourage them to start drinking more water and less juice, it can be very gradual.  Offer your child more fresh fruit, they will less likely to crave sweet juices and be getting more fiber and vitamins and minerals.  Dilute the juice with water to wean their systems off the sugar.

Gradually stop buying juice all together.  Like other forms of sugar, juice is everywhere and children will get more than enough of the stuff in the world.   The best bet is to not offer at home, and to get into the habit of drinking more water.  This way fruit juice take a more appropriate place as an occasional luxury item or treat rather than a child’s main source of fluid and calories.

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