We all know that drinking water is one key to maintaining good health and great skin. But let’s face it: sometimes, plain water is just a little boring—especially when compared to a fresh-pressed glass of apple-beet-carrot juice or a refreshing mocktail made with orange, pineapple, and lemon.
While a glass of fruit juice may seem like an obvious, healthy alternative to water—apples and oranges contain tons of vitamins, right?—your go-to juices might not be as beneficial as you’d like. And, when consumed in excess, juices could even contribute to some unwelcome health issues in the long run.
With that in mind, here’s what to know about drinking juice—and how to ensure your daily post-workout drink isn’t doing more harm than good.
Fruit juice is a sugar trap
One reason we love fruit juices is their sweetness. Nature designed it that way: the hormone insulin, which ensures that the glucose from the juice (dextrose) reaches the body’s cells, acts on the reward center in the brain to stimulate the release of happy hormones. Welcome to addiction!
Even though juices contain fruit, they can also contain just as much—or sometimes even more—sugar than a soda. On average, an 8 ounce glass of apple juice contains around 27 grams of sugar. That’s about nine teaspoons of sugar—exactly the same amount as an 8 ounce glass of Coke. So, if you have two glasses of a juice made mostly with apples, you’ve already exceeded the American Heart Association’s recommended maximum daily sugar limit by four grams.
And don’t forget about calories! Apple juice has 113 calories per cup, which is slightly more calories than cola which clocks in at 90-100 calories per cup.
The liver stores fat
Fruit juice contains not only glucose (dextrose), but also a lot of fructose (fruit sugar). This particularly sweet-tasting sugar is metabolized differently by the body than glucose.
Here’s what happens: the body absorbs fructose through the intestines and transports it to the liver through the blood. There, it’s converted into glucose and some of it is released into the blood. Whatever isn’t released is stored in the liver and muscles in the form of glycogen. If there is an excess of fructose that can’t be stored as glycogen, the liver converts that into fat and stores it there as such.
Consistently consuming a lot of fructose can lead to the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease over time.
Juice is not filling
In addition, fructose has an effect on satiety—and not in a good way: studies indicate that after consuming fructose, neither of the hormones that indicate to the brain that the stomach is full—insulin and leptin—increase significantly. This is a problem because these hormones also regulate energy intake. Therefore, fructose has the potential to massively disrupt your metabolism.
It can happen pretty quickly when you consume more fructose than your body actually needs in terms of calories. In addition, large amounts of fructose pose a challenge for the intestines because fructose is difficult to digest; it’s particularly hard for the body if your naturally sweet fruit juice also contains added sugar.
Juice increases the risk of diabetes
A study in The British Medical Journal found that increased juice consumption can increase the risk of diabetes. And, the study shows that it makes a big difference whether fruit is eaten whole or pressed into juice. For the study, the eating habits of almost 190,000 people were evaluated. Two servings of whole fruit per week were proven to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 23 percent. But the risk of developing type 2 diabetes increased by 21 percent for participants who consumed one or more servings of fruit juice per day.
One reason for this lies in the processing of the juice: you get the nutrients, but secondary plant substances and fiber are lost. When making fruit juices, the fiber is often removed or destroyed—but it is precisely this fiber that helps to stabilize blood sugar levels and increase the feeling of satiety.
Is juice healthy?
Overall, it’s truly best to enjoy fruit juice (and other juices containing a lot of fruit) in moderation. As boring as it may seem, you really should stick to water and unsweetened herbal teas when thirst arises. But for those moments when you really want to consume undiluted juice—life is short, juice is delicious, and we’re only human, after all!—there are some things to keep in mind.
* Stick to freshly squeezed versions if possible, even if they are more expensive than pre-packaged versions. These tend to contain more nutrients because the juice is drunk immediately after pressing, and the nutrients won’t have been destroyed by long storage or heat.
* Or, try it in the form of a spritz: three parts fizzy water and one part juice.
* And be sure to consider the entire mix when choosing cold-pressed juices containing ginger, spinach, and other veggies like beets and carrots. Often apple, orange, pineapple, and grape—all sugar bombs—are used to make those seemingly-healthy green juices more palatable.
