Is juice a good part of a healthy diet? (1 Viewer)

[StephenA]

Since I'm trying to lose weight, I've been changing my diet around alot. I've severely cut down on soda, and been drinking lots of water and juice, with some Snapple iced tea. One of my doctors said that I should drink less juice, due to the sugar adding to the weight. Is this true? Should I drink only water or what? I really love orange juice, apple juice, and cranberry juice, and was told before that it's fine to drink alot of juice.

 

[BrianW]

Fruit juices are generally considered high-calorie foods, though they’re nutritious and beneficial as well. I certainly wouldn’t drink more than 24 ounces per day of any fruit juice, but that’s my own limitation and probably doesn’t apply to your situation at all.

How about eating fruit instead? In addition to the juices the fruit contains, you also get a more filling snack by weight since fruit contains a lot of fiber. (And the fiber is good for you, too.) Peaches are in season now, and oranges and bananas are available year-round.

If you must drink lots of orange juice, then try drinking the kind with lots of pulp. It probably won’t have fewer calories, but less of it will go a longer way when you’re craving a snack.

 

[Malcolm R]

Juice has as many, sometimes more, calories than soda. If you must drink juice, at least be sure to drink those that are actually 100% juice so you're getting whatever benefits juice can offer. However, water is the best choice.

 

[Bill Catherall]

Bottled juice has added sugar. That's the problem. Your doctor is right. Even juices that are 100% juice have added sugar. If you really must have juice than make your own and don't add any sugar. Then you can add all kinds of good stuff to it and you'll know what's in it.

 

[Mark Romero]

Skip the juice. Too many carbs. Drink water.

 

[Scott Thomas]

but drink V8 juice for added vegatable intake

 

[Jon_Are]

but drink V8 juice for added vegatable intake

...unless sodium is a concern; V8'll kill you on the sodium.

Fruit juice is better than pop (...er....soda ), but not by much. It's crammed with simple sugars that will quickly raise your blood sugar and not give you much in the way of lasting energy. It will do next-to-nothing with regard to staving off your appetite. Eat fruit (previously-noted fiber & feeling of fullness) and drink water.

Me, I'm hopelessly addicted to V8. Can't get enough of the stuff.

Jon

 

[Earl J]

What about those fitness waters like Propel? They have 30 calories per bottle, with 2 grams of sugar. I think they taste pretty good too. They come in flavors like Black Cherry, Orange, and Lemon. Just a thought...

 

[Max Knight]

Juice has a lot of calories. Look at the side of an OJ carton some time, it will surprise you. This is good for people like me who are trying to up their caloric intake to gain mass, but bad for people like you, Steve, who are trying to loose weight!

Stick with plain old water, nothing fancy. By drinking only water you can potentially cut hundreds of calories out of your diet, which should be quite helpful with the weight loss.

 

[BrianB]

...unless sodium is a concern; V8'll kill you on the sodium.

... so drink the "Low Sodium" V8 that's available?

 

[Leila Dougan]

I like V8 but hate the low sodium variety. All the sodium is what makes it taste good! LOL

Regarding the juice, everyone is correct. It has as much sugar and calories as soda. As far as those "fitness water" varieties go, most of them are either loaded with sugar or artificial sweetener. I'm allergic to quite a few artificial sweeteners so those are out for me. If you don't mind it then quite frankly I don't see much different between that and diet soda. Marketing ploys mostly.

I drink a lot of water but get tired of the same boring "water" taste. This is what I do to mix things up:

-- a few drops of lemon/orange juice (Not orange juice that you buy, but from a freshly sqeezed orange). It will flavor the water but won't really add any calories.

--flavored water. Not the water I mentioned above that has sugar/artificial sweeteners in it, but that is just water. Canady Dry makes very yummy rasberry, orange, and lime carbonated water that does not have any calories.

Good luck and once you get used to drinking more water and less other stuff, you won't really miss it. I now have a vanilla coke (my absolutley favorite drink at the moment) as a dessert, not a beverage. For me the big thing was acknowledging that when I'm thirsty I need water. Instead of looking at beverages as something to drink when you're thirsty, save them for when you just want the flavor of it and you're not so thirsty. It helps you enjoy them more instead of thinking "OMG I've had how many sodas today??!?".

 

[Don Black]

Avoid the juice... As mentioned before, they have way too many carbs and calories. Maybe try the diet V8 or diet Twister instead? They are both low cal/low carb and taste pretty good. Personally, I drink a ton of water and diet soda.

 

[Ron-P]

I drink the low sodium V8. I may drink a glass of OJ for breakfast now and then, but that is rare. Other than that, I do not drink fruit juice or soda of any kind.
I mainly cut out all fast-food, drink more water and walk 2.5 miles 4-5 nights a week. It's working great and I do not have to cut out my main basic food group...beer
Peace Out~

 

[KyleS]

I knew that you were going to add in that last statement Ron before I even got to it.
Drinking water is by far the best thing you can do for a healthy non-calorie drink but it doesnt have a lot of the benefits smaller glasses of juice can have. Drinking small glasses of juice is fine but when you get as much juice as you would water then there is a problem IMO.
Make sure that you check the label of the flavored waters a lot of them contain Phenylalannine or other supposed cancer causing agents for sweetners.
KyleS

 

[StephenA]

Ok, thanks guys. I'll cut back on the juice too.