nosh magazine
THE TRUTH ABOUT
Despite the fact that freshly-squeezed juice has a health halo and is marketed as
natural, nutritious and fat-free, juice is a far less healthy option than a real piece
of fresh fruit. Nutrition expert Catherine Saxelby explains this often
misunderstood nutrition fact.
ustralia’s official Eat for Health Guide1
formally recognises just half a glass of
juice (a small 125mL or 4oz) as ONE serve of
fruit. This counts as one of the TWO serves
of fruit a day that’s recommended for older
children, teens and adults.
What’s the problem with
fruit juice?
those in whole fruit so it’s similar to a soft
drink. See point 5.
Fruit is changed when it gets blended or
pulverised into juice. It’s no longer
equivalent to whole fresh fruit and here are
seven reasons why not:
Yes, you can eat more fruit depending on
your age and activity but there’s no need to
overdo fruit if you’re not burning it off. Fruit
has a different nutrition profile to vegetables,
having more natural fructose sugar and
kilojoules (calories) than vegetables but less
fibre, fewer minerals and fewer natural
protective phytochemicals too.
1. Its intact whole cell structure has been
broken down so no chewing is needed –
you just swallow it down. It’s no longer a
whole food.
3. There’s little fibre, which normally acts as a
natural brake to overdoing it. Ponder this:
you can drink a glass of apple juice in a
minute but you can’t chomp your way
through three or four whole apples which is
what went into that glass2,3.
A
2. The natural sugars in juice (mostly
fructose with some sucrose) are absorbed
more quickly into the bloodstream than
However, the Guide is quite stern – with
good sense, I do admit – when it adds this
qualifier to fruit juice:
“Only to be used occasionally as a
substitute for other foods in the group.”
So you can swap a small glass (125mL) of
100 per cent juice with no added sugar
every now and then for:
• 1 piece (150g) medium sized apple,
orange, pear or other fruit
OR
• 2 pieces (150g) of apricots, plums,
peaches, kiwi fruit or other small fruit
OR
• 1 cup (150g) diced, cooked or canned
fruit.
But clearly you can’t guzzle a 600ml huge
container of fruit from a juice bar each and
every day. Nor pop a 250mL popper in
your child’s lunch box either.
Catherine Saxelby, APD
Learn more about Catherine at website | profile
Through her business and website Foodwatch, Catherine Saxelby helps busy women eat right,
lose weight and boost their energy. This Accredited Practising Dietitian provides no-nonsense
nutrition information that’s easy to read and simple to put into practice.
6
www.n4foodandhealth.com
If you’ve ever juiced your own, you know that
it takes a lot of fruit to make a single glass of
juice and you throw away a lot of fibre. I have
a citrus press and when oranges are in season,
we buy a case and use them to squeeze fresh