Reasons Fruit Juice Is Better Than Carbonated Beverages

The campaign to drop carbonated beverages and drinks like coca cola and malt is gaining momentum. The winners are fruit drinks and fruit juice. As people shift to these options, the same question about safety of these products comes to mind. Let us take a look at the content of these drinks.

Content

Food regulatory bodies enforce manufacturers of these drinks to include the contents of their product. They are written on the body of the container or on the company's website. The first is the label that is always bigger than the rest word in the bottle. The label goes like 100% fruit drink. Then they include the content and nutritional value.

The content is written in order of weight. The ingredient with the highest weight is written first. This is followed in descending order. Then the nutritional value is included to show the value the drink will provide.

Content Of Carbonated Beverages

Carbonated drinks contain carbonated water, sweetener and natural or artificial flavour. The sweetener may be a sugar, high fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, sugar substitutes or a combination of two or more of these.

Content Of Fruit Juice

Fruit juice is freshly prepared by matching the pulp of the fruit. They contain one or more fruit juices. They are hundred percent fruit juice. They don't contain additives. A fruit juice usually has fewer labels like 1-5 names of fruits.

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The nutritional value of fruit juice is the same with that of a fruit. They contain vitamins and minerals. However most fruit juices are not sweet. There are two types of fruit juice. The first is freshly prepared from fruits without preservatives. This type does not have a long shelf life. You find this type on the street by roadside sellers. The second type of fruit juice is the type that has been pasteurized to remove bacteria. This can be found in supermarkets or grocery stores. They can be stored for a long time.

Fruit juice benefits

From the above description of a fruit juice, fruit juice is far better and superior to carbonated beverages. But unfortunately they are more expensive. They are way above the reach of the average Nigerian. What fruit juice is not completely safe for consumption.

Content Of Fruit Drink

Fruit drink is a sugary solution that contains the colour and flavour of a particular fruit. It does not contain the real fruit. But in some rare cases they had a little percentage of a concentrate of the fruits to be drunk. It is usually lower than 40%. The major constituent is water and sugar. But the taste and flavour resembles that of a fruit juice. That is why most people confuse a fruit drink and a fruit juice. Labelling and marketing strategy is not helping matters. For example names like punch, cocktail, beverage or at the end of the name 'ade' are not real juice. Some come with the label pure juice but are not 100 percent juice.

Danger Of Carbonated Beverages, Fruit Juice And Fruit Drink

The reason why research has shown that carbonated beverages are dangerous is because of the fact that the sugar can cause cavities (tooth decay). Also, the dissolved carbon dioxide in carbonated drinks becomes a gas when it warms to body temperatures in the stomach. This causes belching which causes a little heartburn and sour taste in the mouth. The gas extends the stomach.

Another major problem with carbonated drinks or beverages is that it can cause obesity and weight gain. Some carbonated beverages contain sodas which reduce appetite for other foods, weak bones due to the presence of phosphorus. Drinks without sugar or a little bit of alcohol less than 0.5% don't cause many damages but they don't have any nutritional benefits.

Fruit juice contains the same amount of calorie in carbonated drinks and even the fruit itself. Soda and fruit juice contain 110 calories and 20-26g of sugar per cup (240ml). The body processes the sugar from fruit juice, fruit drink and carbonated beverages the same way. But the presence of pulp and skin in fruit play a crucial role in making the body absorb less sugar from fruit. The dietary fibre binds to sugar which delays sugar absorption. This allows a small bit of sugar to be absorbed into the body. This allows the small sugar absorbed to be used as a source of energy.

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However, the sugar from carbonated beverages and fruit juice is absorbed immediately because there is no dietary fibre to delay absorption. This leads to the release of insulin. Insulin drastically drops the amount of sugar in the body and converts it to fat and glycogen. This leads to instant need for more sugar and hunger. The thirst for another round of drink comes without appetite for good food.

Most important nutrients are stored in the pulp and skin of fruits. A good example is flavonoids in orange pulp which is an antioxidant. This is missing in the fruit juice. Also the fibre in fruit provides suitable substrate in the form of undigested fruit residue for beneficial microbiota in the gut.

The truth is that most drinks around are fruit drinks with little fruit concentrate. You have not really changed your diet. You only change taste. The best is to go for fruit. If fruit juice is expensive, don't go below a fruit drink.