Why Fruit Juice Isn’t The Same As Soda

Have you heard it said that drinking fruit juice is basically the same as drinking soda? Here's why the truth is more nuanced and why in many ways, it's not true!

First off, we need to clarify what we are talking about with "fruit juice". There are different ways to get fruit juice. You can go to the grocery store and fruit juice that, at the very least, is pasteurized, and may even contain added sugars or syrups. Typically there will also be preservatives in it as well, and potentially other types of chemical ingredients.

I do not ever recommend drinking these kinds of fruit juices. The pasteurization decreases the nutrients in the juice and so you're not getting a lot of benefit from it nutritionally, in addition to ingesting the other added ingredients in the juice. There really is no benefit to drinking it and it cannot be used as a substitute for a juice cleanse or in adding juice into your diet.

However, fresh juice made with a juicer is a completely different story.

In this case, the juice hasn't been pasteurized or otherwise altered in a way to preserve shelf-life, and it won't have any additional ingredients. It should have only the fruit it's made from as the ingredient. All of the phytonutrients and vitamins and minerals will be intact and available to benefit your body.

But what about the sugar content? Indeed, with my clients who have blood-sugar concerns such as diabetes, I have them keep (freshly juiced) fruit juice to a minimum or potentially avoid it while they're healing. But the reality is that fruit didn't create the diabetic condition. Other dietary, lifestyle and emotional causes create diabetes, and the person then becomes sensitive to higher-glycemic foods like fruit, but that doesn't mean the fruit is bad or that the fruit is responsible.

So isn't fruit juice the same as drinking soda? First off, let's again compare freshly juiced fruit juice, not pasteurized, processed store bought fruit juice.

It is vital to understand that your body responds differently to fruit sugar than it does to refined sugar such as is in soda.

Your body also responds differently to natural fruit sugar than it does to artificial sweeteners such as in diet sodas.

Your body recognizes fruit sugar; humans are meant to eat it. Your body does not recognize processed, refined sugar and it does not recognize artificial sweeteners. Refined sugar can lead to clogged arteries, fresh fruit juice will not. Refined sugar can create hormonal issues, fresh fruit juice will not. Some artificial sweeteners are carcinogenic and linked to other health issues. Fresh fruit juice is not carcinogenic.

Additionally, soda has no nutrients, no vitamins, no phytonutrients, whereas fresh fruit juice contains lots! Fresh fruit juice also has water content and will hydrate your body, whereas soda will dehydrate you.

I do still recommend the majority of your juicing on cleanses and with individual juices be made up of leafy greens and low-glycemic produce like cucumbers, celery etc (70% -100% low-glycemic juices, depending on the person). However, please don't be afraid of fruit juice and please understand it is not the same as drinking soda.

Photo by Irene Fernandez via Unsplash