Headstrong Health: The Psychology of Getting Fit

“Why does no sugar added grape juice have 160 calories per serving?”

Most juices are highly processed. Despite the 100% claim, lots of people are surprised to find out that some natural juices actually have more sugar than their sugar-added conterparts. A typical “100%” juice can have a nutrition label that looks like this :

Carbohydrates (Sugar) contain 4 calories per gram. At 39 grams, that’s 39×4- which is where you get your 160 calories. And that’s for 8 oz. We all know you don’t just drink a sippy cup of juice when you’re thirsty. Especially considering it’s super sugary, which triggers you to want more.

Juice marketers will hype it up to contain “real fruit juice,” “100% juice,” and “High/All Daily Vitamin C.” Big whoop- you can get your vitamin C from the citric acid added to lots of sugar drinks, too. The process that a fruit goes through to become store juice strips it of fiber, reduces vitamin content (so they add it back in with supplements), and concentrates it into a syrupy solution that is later reconstituted with water.

>>Some motivation: If you have 1 glass of juice a day (being gracious and saying you really only have 8 oz) that is 160 extra simple carbohydrate/sugar calories.

160×7 = 1,120 calories per week.  Since 1lb is 3,500 calories, you could lose half a pound a week just by switching juice to flavored water. <<

“If you were to buy a tasty juice from the store that’s actually healthy, what would you recommend?”

Unfortunately, the juices I’ve found that are as good as if you juiced them yourself typically run a bit more expensive- and they won’t exactly cut your calories. The best ways to steer around your juice craving are these:

1. Add water. Or, to be more accurate, add juice to your water. You’d be surprised at how little you need to get a great burst of flavor.

2. Try seltzer mixes. Get the $1-2 store brand flavored water, but watch out for sneaky sweeteners! Get plain, and check diligently for aspartame and sucralose, which can lead to headaches, cancer, and lead you to depend on sugar even more than usual. Add the seltzer to your favorite juice for a nice kick.

3. Freeze some fruit. Ice cube trays work great for fitting a few berries or slices of lime, orange, and lemon. Once frozen, these can be tasty additions to regular or seltzer water. (Or wine if you’re like me and can’t turn down some homemade “sangria.” I try to be fancy and call it that, but it’s really just wine with frozen fruit).

4. Juice your own. This is definitely the most ambitious, but juicing your own fruit ensures that you know exactly what’s in it. Juicing fresh fruit minimizes vitamin loss, and you can add in pulp for extra filling-up-ness, vitamins, and fiber.

Recommendations:

Naked Juice

Carrot juice (surprisingly sweet and lower in calories)

Green juice – various brands. Contains kiwi, and most brands slip in vegetables while remaining tangy and delicious

Low Sodium Tomato or Vegetable Juice

Grapefruit juice – harder to drink a lot, and contains a ton of vitamins

Unconventional fruit juices – acai (thicker, be warned), pomegranate. These aren’t primed by our childhood memories and feel-good commercials, so you are less likely to go overboard.

I think the best way to go is to fruit-or-dilute. Eventually, after stepping it down a notch by adding water, the highly concentrated sugary juice becomes too much for your palate to handle. You end up picking the seltzer with strawberry slices to drink instead.

Other articles on Juices:

http://www.webmd.com/diet/ss/slideshow-juice-wars