The unfortunate truth is that juice affects the body very much in the same way as pop. Both of them contained refined sugar. I know your thinking 'but juice just has to be better'! Well, yes, juice doesn't (usually) contain chemicals, as does pop, but it is still sugar and your body recognizes both in almost the same way. Really juice IS processed sugar. They took all the fiber out of the fruit and/or vegetable and all you have left is (duh) the juice. Your body doesn't have to do much work to break it down. It enters your stomach already partially digested (yup, they did some of the work for you and that is never a good thing when it comes to nutrition) and if you aren't about ready to run 5 miles it is immediately stored as energy (fat). The worst juice? Apple. It kills me when I see mom's giving their kids apple juice in a sippy cup thinking it is nutritious. I have gotten in many an arguement with moms on that very subject. Sugar is sugar. White sugar comes form a plant right? Apples come from a tree, right? There you go.
That's why they talk about the glycemic index so flippin' much! The longer it takes for something to empty out of your stomach the better it is for you.
When I have analyzed food logs, for men especially, they usually take in a lot of calories in the form of liquid (your thinking alcohol, but that is for a later post). Men are pretty clear that sugared pop is not a good thing if they want to be lean, but I have seen food logs where men are drinking a half-gallon of juice every day! As soon as they stop, they quickly lose 5 pounds.
Smoothies are another story entirely. They are packed, packed, packed with sugar and calories. You have to be super diligent about checking the ingredients whenever you think about ordering one. When I order a smoothie, I always order a low-carb version. For no other reason then that low carb usually means low sugar. Again, smoothies have done some of the digestive work for you. If that's true, your whole system is putting out less energy, and, remember, that's not something you want. Period.
Think before you drink. And I'll say that again later. And probably again after that.
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