Friday, October 11, 2013

Foods To Avoid: JUICE


This is a first in a series of  "Health foods to avoid"

Alleged Health Food : #1 ORANGE JUICE (Juice drinks or other juices)

There are foods many foods that are marketed to us as "Healthy Foods". One of the worst on that list is ORANGE JUICE but juices marketed to us are bad for us in general and if you are taking a multivitamin or have a good balanced diet you don't need to add all that sugar to your diet.

Now other than the facts about sugar listed below let me tell you what I found about the packaging and distribution of OJ.

If I asked you to close your eyes and tell me the first thing you see in your mind when I say the words Fruit Juice. Most likely a picture of an orange pops up or you think of words like sweet, healthy and delicious. Why do you suppose it's so. That's because forever we have been sold a bill of goods by the FDA, the manufacturers of these products, Florida Orange Growers Assoc etc.,

Who doesn't think natural 100% made from fresh fruit isn't good for you? It's all in the marketing...

Okay, here are some thing you may not know:




  • Most juice sold in cartons, billed as freshly squeezed could be a year (or greater) old.
  • The juice is originally freshly squeezed and then it's stored in huge tanks can sit there for longer than a year by the time it's used. By this time all the taste is gone, they are left with these giant vats of tasteless unusable liquid. This dilemma is quickly solved by adding chemicals to their 100% all natural made from real fruit product.
  • The chemicals they add are something called a flavor pack (made by the perfume makers, same guys that make CK) to make it taste like juice again and the USDA etc looks the other way; thank to a loophole in regulations.
I don't know if that process is the same for other juices but there is no reason to think it would be any different do you?

Anyway, here are other health reason to avoid fruit juices:
  • studies have shown that even freshly squeezed fruit juices can contain as much as five teaspoons of sugar per glass because the squeezing process concentrates their sweetness.
  • many juice products sold in stores may only have small amounts of real fruit in them, but often they are little more than water, artificial flavor and sugar. But even if you’re drinking real fruit juice, it is still a bad idea.
  • Fruit juice is like fruit with most of the good stuff removed.
  • Did you know orange juice contains the same amount of sugar as Coca Cola.
  • Juice has no fiber in it, no chewing resistance and nothing to stop you from downing massive amounts of sugar in a short amount of time.
  • Eating too much sugar is associated with all sorts of diseases. These include obesity, type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease and many others.

Bottom Line: Most fruit juices contain the same amount of easily digestible sugar as sugar-sweetened soft drinks. It is best to eat whole fruits instead.

2 comments:

  1. We avoid drinking juice at home most of the time, with few exceptions. However, once you have kids, you are surrounded by juice boxes at every turn and waitresses who always push apple juice on your child. Water is best. But the juice epidemic is hard to avoid.

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  2. Hi Kendall's Mommy,
    Thanks for the comment. Juices are pushed everywhere, number one place SCHOOL where the brainwashing begins. It's one of the biggest accounts for the juice pushers pun intended, number two ads we are bombarded with ads that tell us of the health benefits of juice. I would recommend you show your daughter the 30 sec video of the guy drinking fat from the glass, I know the ad is about the sugar in sodas but its all the same. And you can also share with her some facts about visceral fat and what that sugar is doing to her inside. I have two sons and over the past year I have been teaching them about taking care of themselves (nutrition wise) it takes a while but they get it, and when we eat out they make healthier choices. Best of luck and thank you for the comment

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