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Juicy News
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Learn how fruit juices are getting a healthy facelift
By Janice Biehn
True or false: Fruit juice has lots of sugar and calories but few nutrients? The answer is, it depends what you choose. If you’ve been frowning on fruit juice, perhaps it's time for a rethink. Sure, some juice has earned it the nickname of ‘liquid candy’ and triggered concerns about extra pounds and tooth decay. However, there’s a growing selection of juices that offer more in the way of nutrition and health perks.
Berry interesting facts
One of the key benefits of getting more fruit into your diet is to boost your antioxidants – nutrients that destroy free radicals or rogue tissue cells and help prevent chronic disease. Antioxidants found in fruit, and therefore fruit juices, include vitamin C, beta-carotene, carotenoids, flavonoids and phenols. Boasting the highest antioxidant concentrations among fruit, according to a USDA study, were berries, including wild blueberry, blueberry (cultivated), cranberry, blackberry, raspberry, and strawberry.
Fruits and vegetables are loaded with vitamins and minerals and antioxidants, which have long been known to help prevent cancer as well as a host of other illnesses. Consequently, the food industry has been tapping into these purported health benefits and responded by creating superfruit juices. Traditional choices like OJ have been given a health facelift, now being enriched with bone-saving calcium or heart-healthy plant sterols. Meanwhile, newcomers to the market, such as blueberry and pomegranate, boast disease-fighting antioxidants, and get you closer to meeting the recommended daily intake of fruits and vegetables.
According to Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating, a half cup of real fruit juice equals one of the 5 to 10 recommended daily servings. While dietitians advise choosing whole fruit over juice to get the benefits of fibre, fruit juice can be a good alternative and an excellent source of vitamins and minerals. "You have to drink 13 cups of apple juice to get the amount of fibre of eating just one apple," says Toronto dietitian, Sue Mah. "But if a small amount of juice helps people meet their daily quota, then that's OK."
Here's a primer of new key ingredients you’ll find in today’s fruit juices:
Pomegranate
Besides being loaded with vitamins C, A, E and folic acid, recent studies have shown that the jewel-like seeds from this Middle Eastern staple may help treat breast cancer by reducing estrogen stimulation, and lower the risk of heart disease by reducing the conversion of bad cholesterol (LDL) into its harmful oxidized form.
Blueberries
Touted as the new cranberry, blueberries have been found to have the highest antioxidant activity, compared to 40 other fresh fruits and vegetables. Studies to date have shown that antioxidants in blueberries can fight harmful oxidative damage that can result in heart disease and brain aging.
Probiotics
No longer limited to dairy products, probiotics are finding a home in fruit juices as well. Probiotics are live bacteria cultures that promote digestion and a healthy gut. First developed in Finland, probiotic juices offer an alternative to dairy-based probiotic products.
Omega 3s
For people who don’t eat enough fish, omega-3 fortified foods have been credited with reducing the incidence of heart attacks by reducing inflammation and blood clots, as well as relieving joint pain in people with arthritis. Omega 3s first appeared in orange juice, but are also now in other juice cocktails and blends.
Of course, not all juices are created equally, so you need to choose carefully to find the most nutritious ones. For example:
• Look for those saying ‘100% juice’ or ‘juice from concentrate’, then check the ingredient list — there should be nothing but juice and water.
• Watch out for words like ‘drink’, ‘beverage’ or ‘cocktail’ — they may say ‘made with 100% real fruit juice’, but there’s no regulation regarding how much juice is added.
• Look high on the ingredient list -- if the fruit juice is listed first or second on the list, then the product more than 50% juice content. If it’s after the sugars, then it’s between 1% and 25%.
• Avoid additives, such as fructose or sucrose, which can mean a lot of extra sugar and calories.
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