Why Fruit Juice Isn't Usually the Healthiest Choice (& Some Better Options For You)

I want to clear up some confusion around fruit juice! While indeed the ingredients are better than a sugary soda, your blood sugar still goes for a wild ride when you consume these sugary drinks. This is because fruit juice lacks the fiber that comes with eating the physical fruit. The fiber found in whole fruit helps to slow down the absorption of the sugar in your bloodstream. While whole fruit will lead to a more steady and slow release of sugar, fruit juice will lead to a much larger spike and crash.

Fruit juice is also much easier to over consume! It takes handfuls of fruit to create enough juice to drink, which maintains all of the sugar and removes the fiber. Due to the lack of fiber, you won’t feel quite as full. While eating something like 5 oranges in one sitting would be very difficult to do, drinking 16oz of OJ (the equivalent in sugar and calories) is very easy to do.

Commercial fruit juice is also often pasteurized, causing it to lose some of the vitamins & minerals present. Pasteurized juices have been heated to high temperatures for a short time in order to kill any bacteria or other microorganisms that may be present but this in turn also kills some of the beneficial compounds.

When it comes to drinking juice regularly, it’s a more nutritious choice to go for a vegetable juice that maybe has 1 fruit present since vegetables aren’t nearly as high in sugar as fruit. Vegetable juices taste delicious AF and are packed with an array of beneficial nutrients that you wouldn’t normally get in a single meal (if you need some inspiration for homemade juice recipes check out my blog post).

If you don’t have a juicer (or the patience for the cleanup that it takes) then you may be tempted to opt for a bottle of “green juice” from your supermarket. However it’s important to know that while they may seem like a good choice, most bottled “green juices” are either mostly concentrated fruit juices or have other filler ingredients. Here’s a few reasons why that’s an issue:

1- That huge amount of sugar will lead to a a blood sugar spike and crash later, especially due to the lack of fiber.

2- The way these “green juices” are processed, strips the fruit of many of it’s beneficial vitamins, minerals & phytonutrients.

3- The amount of greens & nutrient-dense foods is lacking in these commercial juices compared to the amount of fruit juice incorporated.

Some Better Juice Options

I know from my personal experience how frustrating it can be to find out that a product isn’t what you thought it was, especially when it comes to your health. That’s why I’m such a big advocate of healthy on-the-go juice options like Organifi! All of their products contain research-backed, whole food ingredients that will actually benefit your health. And a huge added bonus is that their juices don’t require any messy cleanup.

Now here’s why I’m truly a fan of Organifi Green Juice and excited to be a partner:

1- The beneficial ingredients are extracted in a way that keeps many of the beneficial vitamins, nutrients & minerals intact.

2- There are no fillers & all ingredients are organic.

3- Their green juice includes research-backed ingredients like ashwanagda, spirulina, chlorella, +more.

If you’re looking for a green juice that supports your overall health & immune system, look no further. Check out my partner Organifi, and get 15% off with my code: MeowMeix.

Xoxo

MeowMeix aka Amanda