Did you know that there is much more sugar in our diets today than there was 30 years ago? This has triggered huge increases in obesity, diabetes and conditions like Candida (overgrowth of yeast and sugar). As we become more aware of the effects of sugar, many of us are trying to make improvements to our diets. But did you know that many of the ‘healthy foods’ that are marketed by the food industry actually contain high levels of sugars too? Yep there’s no escaping it, sugar is everywhere………
In the ‘80s, when Wham, big hairs dos, day glow t-shirts, Dynasty and massive shoulder pads were at there pinnacle, we were all told that obesity was caused by eating too much fat. Food manufacturers responded by removing fat from their products and adding sugars like high fructose corn syrup instead. Then, in the 2000’s when Michael Jackson was awarded artist of the century in the States, Dirty Den dies (again), the Iphone took the world by storm by a little company called Apple, consumers started to realize that all this added sugar was actually making them fat anyway, and leading to an explosion in type 2 diabetes! So the food industry again responded, this time by marketing ‘healthier’ drinks such as juices and smoothies. They have also started to sweeten their foods with the healthier-sounding ‘fruit juice concentrate’ or ‘concentrate from juice’……..and even worse artificial sweeteners such as aspartame and sorbitol.
But the fact of the matter is that these new drinks and foods contain just as much sugar as they used to. Your body does not care where sugar comes from, and it just loves the easy-to-digest fructose typically found in a fruit juice. In fact, recent studies have shown that drinking fruit juices and smoothies can actually have a similar impact on your blood sugar as a can of fizzy pop and contrary to what we are lead to believe fruit juice is not the same as whole fruit.
It’s very tempting to believe the hype around certain fruit juices and smoothies. They are marketed as an easy way to get your ‘five a day’ servings of vegetables and fruit, and you don’t need to peel a carrot or a grape to get them inside you!!! If you aren’t actually keen on vegetables and fruit the only supplement I recommend to my clients is Juice Plus as it has the essence of 26 vegetable, fruits and berries in capsules. Its the only whole food nutrition supplement on the market that is backed with over 30 independent scientific studies. If you think ‘mmmmm’ that does sound good have a look at thewebsite for more information or call me to find out more!
Can consuming to much fruit juice lead to health problems?
A recently publishedBMA study looked at whether consuming fruit juices or whole fruit could lead to type 2 diabetes. Over 180,000 individuals were included in the results. The researchers found conclusive evidence that eating specific whole fruits (blueberries, grapes and apples) actually reduced the chance of type 2 diabetes. On the other hand, regularly drinking fruit juice was found to increase the chance of type 2 diabetes.
Why is drinking a juice so much worse than eating the whole fruit? When you eat the whole fruit, all that extra fibre prevents sugar from being absorbed quickly in your gut – its great for helping you go the the loo….! On the other hand, when you drink fruit juice, there is nothing stopping the fructose from being absorbed quickly and spiking your blood sugar. In the UK, fruit juices will soon have to be labelled with a red ‘traffic light’ warning sign to signify that they have a high sugar content. That’s why I recommend that Candida sufferers eat some whole fruits later on in their treatment plan, but I ask them to always avoid fruit juice.
There’s more – I am now on my soap box so I might as well continue!
Fruit juice doesn’t just come in a bottle! Oh no, it’s also the fast-growing ingredient used by the food industry to sweeten our meals. In fact, if you regularly read the labels on your food, you might have noticed that ‘fruit juice concentrate’ is rapidly replacing High Fructose Corn Syrup and other unhealthy sweeteners in our food.
You may be asking yourself “isn’t that a good thing, right”? Nope, unfortunately, it is not. The sugars from fruit juice are really no different to regular added sugar. Your body absorbs them just as fast, and they have just the same effect on your blood sugar levels. Using fruit juice concentrate is simply a clever ploy by the food industry to make your drinks sound healthier than they really are. Having come from a food marketing background I do know about misleading, sorry “clever” labelling…..!!
Another interesting fact (this might win you a million one day in “ who wants to be a millionaire so remember it”!….. ) China is actually the world’s largest exporter of apple juice concentrate, and the largest importer of their product is the good old USA! Once it’s been processed into a powder, then the concentrate is shipped across the world by massive-sized tanks, then added to our food and drink. Given the extraordinary number of problems with food safety in China, this has to be a concern……
Simple dietary changes can also regulate your blood sugar because if you have been regularly drinking fruit juices or smoothies, your blood sugar may well be too high and although fruit juice may be derived from a natural food, it is full of sugars that can be easily digested in your gut which is a lot of sugar and that can lead to obesity and type 2 diabetes. As well as throwing your gut flora completely out of balance which can have not very good side effects, like wind, abdominal bloating and just the general feeling of being unwell.
In an ideal world I would recommend minimising fruit juice completely and sticking to the whole fruits.
Well I hope you enjoyed reading those facts! Don’t forget to subscribe to your newsletter below for more interesting health tips!