Are we sure that fruit juices are really genuine? Are they really an alternative to fruit in children’s snacks?
In order to answer these questions, you need to know a few things; for example, how these drinks are defined and how they are produced.
On the market there are several types of fruit drinks, range from:
- Juices obtained exclusively from squeezed fruit;
- Fruit juices derived from concentrate, to which aromas and dilutes are added;
- Fruit nectars, produced from a concentrate to which sugar, water and aromas are added.
Beds like this may seem like descriptions of almost healthy drinks, but unfortunately that’s not the case.
THE PRODUCTION OF CONVENTIONAL JUICES
These drinks are produced from fruit waste, that is, from all those fruits that for various reasons cannot be marketed in super-markets because no one would buy them. Already this makes us understand that they start from second/ third quality products if it goes well. These are then squeezed, and the juice obtained is pasteurized to ensure its preservation and microbiological safety: it is a pity that with this method some of the vitamins that were left in the juice are lost. In addition, sugar, flavorings and additives are added in certain types of juice.
This should already make us think that the “fruit juice” that we usually buy is not a cure-all for our health, indeed in the long run it can lead us to problems such as some diseases.
The wrong habit is to replace the consumption of fruit with these juices; in fact, in fruit we find fiber, much more vitamins and polyphenols than in juices are no longer present.
These substances help our organism maintain the state of health, strengthening the immune system, fighting free radicals and, in the case of fiber, modulating the absorption of sugars.
THE PROBLEM OF CONVENTIONAL JUICES’ CONSUMPTION
In fact, the problems that can arise from the consumption of juices for a long time, as shown by some scientific studies, are the development of type II diabetes, the increase in triglycerides in the blood and the risk of obesity. These side effects are attributable to the lack of fiber intake along with the large amount of sugars.
For these reasons it would be better to limit their consumption, and prefer homemade juices, prepared at the moment so that they can keep their content of vitamins, enzymes and polyphenols unchanged and that they can be added with fiber.
Andrea Riva
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