The Truth About Juice

So what's the truth about juice? With all the information available today about the dangers of sugar in your diet, it amazes me how people still think fruit juice is a healthy option for hydration when on a healthy weight loss diet. Fruit is full of essential vitamins and minerals so it only seems logical that "fruit juice" would provide the same benefits as having an apple with lunch or enjoying a grapefruit at breakfast. I'm here to tell you that you might as well pop a multi-vitamin and enjoy a soda pop, because it's pretty much the same thing if you are trying to lose weight. Don't take for granted the amount of sugar you are consuming each morning you pour yourself that big glass of OJ.

Now some people may argue, "I only drink unsweetened, organic juice. It's made from all natural ingredients". Well I've spent a significant amount of time reading over the labels of almost every kind of juice product available from the big-box grocery chains to the organic markets and they all came up the same...loaded with SUGAR. If you still doubt me, do some research yourself. Next time you are in the grocery store, grab a 2 liter bottle of Pepsi and compare the sugar content to an equal serving size of orange juice. What's even more important to pay attention to is that every gram of carbohydrate contained in the juice comes directly from sugar.

At this point you are probably asking yourself, "If every gram of carbohydrate comes from sugar in fruit juice, than the same must be true of fruit, right?" The answer is YES, but whole fruit can still be considered a favorable option for a carbohydrates because it also contains plenty of fiber that gets lost in the process of turning that whole fruit into juice. On top of that, the vitamins available in the whole fruit are reduced almost as soon at the juice is bottled and continues to diminish once it is stored for any amount of time.

So what in the world are you supposed to do if you just can't live without your juice and you are on a weight loss diet? I've always advocated against deprivation. If you really love a certain type of food (or drink) there is no reason you should have to completely eliminate it from your diet. Here are a few strategies to help you get your "juice fix" and still stick to a healthy eating plan.

1. Drink the juice, pass on the dessert. If you are trying to manage your weight and don't want to give up the juice, you need to make it part of your eating plan. Water and "black" tea are the only liquids that you can consume in unlimited quantities when sticking to a healthy lifestyle. You should be consuming no more that one glass of fruit juice per day and ideally it should be one with no sugar added. In addition, you may have to give up something else to replace the extra sugar your adding to your eating plan. That could mean passing on the frozen yogurt or fruit salad later in the day so you need to decide what's worth keeping and what you can live without.

2. Purchase a quality juicer and make your own juice. When you are on a healthy weight loss diet. There are tons of delicious and nutritious juices available when you make your own. Another benefit of using a juicer is that you will be able to get all the nutritious vitamins and minerals from the fruit because you can consume the juice right away. It's a good idea to limit your serving size to 4 ounces of fresh juice while mixing it with 4 ounces of filtered water. You can also take advantage of juicing vegetables alone or with your fruit. This will keep the sugar content down and is a great way to get children to get their daily serving of vegetables! Also remember it is always best to drink the juice right away. Try to avoid making a lot of juice and keeping it for later. It will start to oxidize only a few minutes after you put it in the refrigerator and you will lose the benefits of the vitamins and minerals that are available when you drink it fresh.

3. Get creative! You can start to wean yourself off of drinking regular juice by creating new drinks options that taste great, but dilute the amount of sugar you're consuming. Similar to the way you would slowly reduce the amount of salt you add to your food, you can dilute juice a little at a time so you don't really notice the missing sugar. Slowly reducing the amount of juice and replacing it with water is the obvious answer, but you can also consider mixing your juice with regular and herbal teas. Eventually you will find that drinking the full concentrate of juice is just too sweet. Here is a great recipe you can try:

RASPBERRY TEA LEMONADE
- 6 bags of raspberry herbal tea
- 96 ounces boiling water (approx 2.5 litres)
- 30 ounces of fresh organic lemonade (approx 1 litre)
Pour the water over the tea bags in a large pot. Leave the tea bags in the hot water until cool. Remove the tea bags, transfer the cool tea to a serving pitcher and add the lemonade. Keep the mixture in the pitcher or transfer to individual water bottles and refrigerate. Enjoy!

The best weight loss program always reduces the amount of sugar in your eating plan. Ensure you stick with the right weight loss foods if you are trying to lose body fat.