nosh magazine (issue 3) | Page 6

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