Are fruit juices the best way to cool down?

It’s finally summer! Normally in the UK, ‘summer’ is a few warm days in August but this year in July we've had some heatwaves. It’s hot, the sun is shining, and you’re reaching for a cold drink. But what should you go for? A cold juice, or a chilled smoothie? This post is going to consider the nutrition of both.

What’s the difference between a juice and a smoothie?

A juice is the liquid taken from fruit or vegetable. While a smoothie is the whole fruit or vegetable blended. Smoothies tend to contain other ingredients like milk or yoghurt, but a juice is just fruit/veg.

They have similar ingredients, but the nutrition can be quite different.

The sugar content:

Juices and smoothies contain a lot of sugar, and they can be easy to drink lots of. Excess sugar can contribute to obesity, and dental decay. And adults should have no more than 30g of free sugars a day.

Free sugars are those added to foods but also include those in fruit juice and smoothies. This is because the sugar is released from within the fruit when it’s blended or juiced. So, it’s ‘free’ from within the plant cells and readily available to be digested. The sugar will be digested quickly and will result in a rise in your blood sugar levels.

You may be surprised to know the amount of sugar in fruit juices.

• 100ml of orange juice – 8.6g of sugar
• 100ml of apple juice – 9.7g of sugar
• 100ml of grape juice 16g of sugar
• 100ml of coca cola (for context) – 10.9 g of sugar

It’s also worth thinking about how many oranges you’d have to juice in order to get a glass. It’s an average of 3 oranges to get a small glass of juice. It would take seconds to drink this, but it would take you longer to actually eat 3 oranges. This can help put into context the amount of sugar you’re consuming.

Fruit juices and smoothies do contain lots of sugar, but they also have lots of nutrients. A 150ml portion of fruit juice counts as 1 of your 5 a day. But drinking more than this wouldn’t count towards more than 1 of your 5. This is because the juice doesn’t contain all the fibre found in the whole fruit.

The fibre content:

Fibre or ‘roughage’ is a form of carbohydrate that we can’t fully digest. Adults should aim for 30g of fibre a day.

Fibre can help us feel full, keep our gut working, and protect us from some diseases. It tends to be in the skin of fruit or veg. Fibre takes longer to digest, so it’ll slow down the absorption of the sugar in the fruit. This means there won’t be as sharp a rise in your blood sugars levels.

Juices don’t have any fibre as none of the roughage is contained in the juice. Smoothies will tend to have more fibre than a juice. As it’s the whole fruit or vegetable being blended together. So, the pulp is there to provide fibre, but it does depend on what’s in it. A fruit based smoothie may have around 1g of fibre per 100ml. While a vegetable based one could have around 3g of fibre per 100ml.

Adding in different ingredients can make your smoothie more balanced.

How to build a balanced smoothie:

To make a more balanced smoothie, you’d need to add more fibre, fat, or protein. By swapping out some of the fruit for other ingredients, it would reduce the amount of sugar. Fibre and protein take longer to digest so adding these to smoothies would also slow down the absorption of any sugars in it.

Adding vegetables, nuts, seeds, oats, or dairy products is a great way to do this. Trying to avoid using juice as a base for the smoothie would also help reduce the sugar content.

Balanced smoothie ideas: 

Here a few ideas of ways to balance your smoothies. You don’t have to have a perfectly balanced smoothie, adding in one or two things can make a big difference.

• Banana – mango – spinach – peanut butter – milk
• Mixed berries – avocado – plain yoghurt – chia seeds - milk 
• Banana – pineapple – cashew nuts – ginger – coconut water
• Pineapple – spinach – cucumber – coconut milk – flaxseeds
• Strawberries – cherries – oats – milk – chia seeds

Key points:

• Adults should have no more than 30g of free sugars a day. Excess sugar can contribute to weight gain and tooth decay.
• Adult should be having 30g of fibre a day. Fibre helps keep you regular, keeps you feeling full, and can reduce the risk of some diseases.
• Juices are high in sugar and low in fibre. They should be drunk in moderation. A 150ml glass of fruit juice counts as 1 of your 5 a day.
• Smoothies can be high in sugar and low in fibre if they’re mainly fruit. Adding in vegetables, dairy products, or nuts/seeds can make them more nutritionally balanced.
• A balanced smoothie won’t lead to as a sharp rise in blood sugar levels and can keep you satisfied for longer.

 

I hope this post has given you the facts to make informed choices about your food. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Bye for now! 👋

References:

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/food-types/how-does-sugar-in-our-diet-affect-our-health/

https://quadram.ac.uk/UKfoodcomposition/