A simple way to eat fruit is in juice forma way that should not be the most common because it is not the healthiest, but that sometimes causes us to increase our intake without hardly realizing it, thus also adding vitamins and minerals. The ideal is to drink the whole piece, but if you choose to drink juice, it is always better to have it freshly squeezed than bottled. In fact, in many establishments in Spain it is not unusual for them to have juicer machines so that the orange juice is natural, not only in bars and cafes, but also in shops.
If packaged juice has nevertheless won in this battle, it is important choose the one that is as natural as possiblewhich has the least amount of sugars possible and the greatest amount of fruit, something that is not always easy to know. To make it easier, The Japanese use a trick which helps them know the amount of fruit that those juices have and which is very useful when selecting which one to buy and which one to leave in the store.
The trick to knowing the amount of fruit in packaged juices
In Japan there are many canned and bottled drinks, but not all of them contain the same amount of fruit. Of course, only if the drink contains juice in its entirety, that is, Only if it contains 100% fruit do they allow them to put an image of the cut fruit on the label. If the fruit that appears on the label is whole, it is understood that the percentage of fruit in the juice is between 5% and 99.9%. Also, in case instead of a photograph, what appears to be a drawing, then the percentage will be less than 5%.
This is not a rule that can be extrapolated to Spain, in Japan they have an obligation to respect it and this is how they make clear the amount of fruit juice that the drink contains, but in our country to know it is necessary to look at the label. This is a standard approved a long time ago, the label must show the amount of juice contained in the drinks.
Juice, a good substitute for fresh fruit?
As we pointed out before, Replacing the intake of fruits and vegetables with juices is not the best ideausing it as an occasional supplement, on the other hand, can be a good idea, especially to complete the recommended amount of these foods and better if a blender is used instead of a juicer.
It is important to be very clear that a juice is not nutritionally equivalent to a piece of fruit because they lack the fiber that the whole piece has and they do not stimulate chewing either. Furthermore, although the juice comes from a natural fruit and we make it at home, incorporating the pulp, the sugars of both are not the same.
There is no problem if the we drink as an occasional drinkcan be hydrating and provide, as we have said, vitamins and minerals (and in some cases also fiber), but it is not advisable to replace the consumption of natural and whole fruits with juice because it would mean an excess of sugars because without realizing it, in Instead of consuming one orange, for example, we will be taking three or four, which multiply the amount of sugar without realizing it. If we replace the fruit at snack and breakfast with a juice, at the end of the day we will be drinking the equivalent of eight or nine oranges and their corresponding sugar, in addition to everything else ingested during the day.
Furthermore, juices They are not as satiating as the whole piece of fruitnot only because of the fiber that swells in the stomach when it mixes with water, creating a feeling of satiety, it is also something we get when we chew. Therefore, we can be clear that excessive consumption is not a problem, but never if the juice is used as a substitute for the whole fruit.
References
Sweeteners and sugars: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia. (sf-b). https://medlineplus.gov/spanish/ency/article/002444.htm
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