Should we eat or drink our fruits?

More and more studies are now showing that increased consumption of fruits and vegetables reduces risk of chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.  But are fruits and fruit juices equally beneficial?

Lets take orange juice (that everyone loves!). You need about 3-4 medium sized oranges to make one 8oz glass of orange juice.  When you drink one glass of orange juice, you are essentially drinking 3-4 medium oranges. Many of us are not going to get through 4 oranges in a single sitting but we sure can drink one glass of juice with a single meal.  When you can get all that vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in a single glass of juice, why not just drink a glass of orange juice instead of eating an orange?  This is the main argument of fruit juice supporters. To answer the question we are going to look into two components of whole fruits that is removed from fruit juices - the skin and the pulp.

Comparing the nutrition facts of one peeled medium orange (USDA's Food and Nutrition Service Database) and one 8oz glass of Minute Maid 100% orange juice we see that, one whole orange has 3g of fiber while the orange juice has no fiber at all; whole orange has 12g of sugar and orange juice has 24g of sugar. This difference in nutrient profile is primarily because the pulp of the fruit, the primary source of fiber, is strained out of fruit juices.  Without the pulp, there is high content of sugar but no fiber. Most of us do not realize this high calorie content of fruit juices and we end up consuming more calories than we intend to.   27 - 30 gms of carbohydrate mostly from sugars, is going to greatly elevate blood sugar levels in diabetics. Some fruit juices even have added sugar in them, in the form of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). This makes matters even worse because HFCS has been linked to other problems like obesity and high triglyceride levels. 

Juice being a liquid food is also not going to contribute very much towards satiety, you are not going to feel full after drinking one glass of orange juice. Fiber plays a very important role in lowering appetite, the hungry feeling, after a meal. Even a small quantity of high fibrous foods takes longer to eat so its more filling and satisfying. 

The other component of fruits that is missing in fruit juices is the skin. Most of us eat fruits such as grapes, strawberries, apples, sometimes mangos with their skins on. Skin is the place where the fruit stores a lot of antioxidants, carotenoids and flavonoids, all of which have been shown to reduce the risk of many diseases. Studies have shown that fruits store some of the important nutrients more in the skin than in the pulp. We loose these nutrients when we drink only juices and not eat whole fruits.

I have read some online discussions of how a diet of fruit juices helps in weight management. All this sugar and no fiber is not going to help you manage your weight let alone reduce risk for other chronic diseases. It is recommendable to eat whole fruits as much as possible rather than drinking it . Encourage kids also to eat more whole fruits rather than fruit juices.  But if you really are craving fruit juices, then I would advise you to peel (for fruits like oranges), throw the whole fruit in a blender and drink the juice without straining. It is the squeezed and strained juices that has all the fiber and nutrients removed.