Fruit juice is not as good as many people think

Although it is undeniably the vitamins and minerals that fruit juice brings, eating whole fruits will help the body avoid unnecessary risks .

Talking to PV, Dr. Le Quang Hao, National Institute of Nutrition, said that fruit juice is generally good for health with many essential vitamins.

According to a study published in the PubMed medical site, National Institutes of Health (NIH), consuming fruits and vegetables in the form of juices or smoothies can reduce homocysteine ​​levels as well as the oxidative stress, thereby improving cardiovascular health.

To optimize health benefits and avoid unnecessary risks, we should eat whole fruits instead of drinking juice.

However, Dr. Hao emphasized that we should eat the whole fresh fruit instead of just squeezing the juice. The reason is that doing this causes us to inadvertently waste the fiber found in whole fruits.

'Besides vitamins, fiber in fruits is also essential for the body. As recommended, each person needs to ensure about 25-30 g of fiber/day. This is an important component that helps the body absorb nutrients and eliminate toxins from the body ,' he said.

Another study in PubMed showed that antioxidants naturally bind to the fiber that is lost when juicing. These substances play an important role in the overall health of fresh fruits and vegetables. However, depending on the type of juicer, up to 90% of the fiber is removed during the juicing process.

Dr. Hao said another risk from fruit juices is that they themselves contain quite a lot of sugar. In some cases, fruit juices are even added with sugar to enhance the taste. At this time, they provide a lot of energy for the body. On the other hand, pure sugar is inherently considered unhealthy.

According to Medical News Today, drinking too much fruit juice also carries some risks. Specifically, many fruit juices are high in sugar and calories , which in turn causes a number of problems such as weight gain, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.

In the study published in the journal PLOS ONE, scientists also found links between type 2 diabetes and sugary drinks, including fruit juices.

Not a weight loss solution

From the above problems, doctor Le Quang Hao affirmed that fruit juice cannot help the body lose weight. Even eliminating fiber makes us more likely to gain weight.

Dr. Hao explained: 'The essence of overweight and obesity is that the energy in the body is out of balance. Therefore, the improper diet, not based on this theory will not bring effectiveness, even affect health.

Many people are overweight or obese but still feel tired due to lack of energy and frequent cravings. The reason is that in these people, energy after entering the body is not converted to serve physical activities but stored.

The expert gave the example of people with diabetes whose blood sugar is always very high, even the body is forced to excrete it through urine. However, the cells of this group of people still do not have enough sugar to work because the sugar does not enter the cells. The excess energy is then converted into fat cells for storage.

Losing weight by drinking fruit juice can be counterproductive.

Similar to overweight and obese people, they lack the micronutrients to metabolize energy to serve activities during the day. Instead, they convert into stored energy, causing the body to gain weight and store fat.

The fact that some people try to diet and lose weight by only drinking fruit juice is not effective when considering this principle. Providing too much sugar but lack of fiber is counterproductive.

Not only that, just drinking fruit juice, even though it contains many vitamins, does not guarantee the body enough necessary nutrients, and at the same time causes minimal energy deficiency for other activities.

According to research done in 1993, published in PubMed, most fruit juice diets lead people to consume only about 600-1,000 calories per day, leading to a severe calorie deficit.

Although helping these people lose weight quickly, reducing calories too much causes metabolism to slow down in the long run. This directly affects health and even makes it easier for people to gain weight back.

Doctor Hao recommends that depending on the type of labor, each person needs to provide an appropriate amount of energy for the body. In particular, the basic energy part is the minimum threshold that helps the heart, lungs, brain, etc. to still function normally when we are asleep or inactive. The remaining energy will serve the activities of the day.

'Outdoor workers, athletes will need a different level of energy intake than office workers, teachers, .', the expert added.

In addition, he emphasized the role of exercise and sports. During exercise, excess energy will be used, thereby directly helping the body lose weight.

Meanwhile, fresh fruit contains important, healthy vitamins and antioxidants. However, fruit or vegetables still provide the fullest benefits when eaten whole instead of juicing or smoothies.