Fruit, juice not apples-to-apples comparison

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This article was published 09/10/2015 (3814 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If you’re anything like me, you probably spend a fair amount of time every day trying to figure out what you should or shouldn’t include in your child’s lunch for daycare or school.

Making the right choices can be daunting. You have to prepare a lunch that is nutritious, of course. But you also have to make sure your offering meets all the allergy restrictions (no peanuts, tree nuts, fish, seafood or sesame at my daughter’s daycare) and is actually tasty enough for your child to want to eat.

Under these circumstances, it is easy to see why many parents choose to add a juice box to their kid’s lunch every day. In addition to being tasty, convenient and non-allergenic, they appear to be an easy to way to add more fruit to your child’s diet.

But as tasty and convenient as a box of fruit juice may be, one shouldn’t assume it has the same nutritional value as whole fruit. In other words, this is not an apples-to-apples comparison.

That’s because whole fruit contains many nutritional compounds, including sugar, vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and soluble and insoluble fibre. The latter two compounds are particularly important. Soluble fibre helps keep cholesterol levels healthy, while insoluble fibre helps keep you full, promotes healthy bowels and works to stabilize blood sugars.

Unfortunately, these sources of fibre are removed in the process used to make juice from fruit. The result: although the sugars in 100 per cent fruit juice are identical to those in whole fruit, removing the fibre changes how they are digested. Sugar from juice enters the bloodstream rapidly, but without the fibre from the whole fruit, that sugar does not provide a sense of fullness.

Consider this: to extract enough juice to fill one juice box, you need to squeeze two large oranges. Would your child eat two large oranges in addition to the rest of their lunch in one sitting? Probably not, since the fibre would fill them up. But without fibre, your child will likely be able to chug a juice box and still have room to eat. And that means your child will consume more sugar and less fibre than if they had eaten whole fruit.

This is a problem, because excessive sugar intake contributes to various health issues in children and adults, including obesity and Type 2 diabetes. As a result, the World Health Organization has recommended no one should consume more than 10 per cent of their daily calories from “free or added” sugars — precisely the ones found in fruit juice, sugary beverages and other sweets. Whole fruits and vegetables are not included in the WHO daily max for sugars because they provide fibre and other phytonutrients that have been shown to lower risk for disease all through the life cycle.

Despite the WHO’s recommendation, parents can still sometimes get confused about the nutritional value of fruit juice. One reason is fruit juice is still included in Canada’s Food Guide as a way to ensure adequate fruit and vegetable intake. But Health Canada is reviewing the evidence for this recommendation, and many nutrition experts are insisting it be removed. Currently, Health Canada recommends limiting fruit juice intake to a maximum of 125 millilitres per day. A single juice box contains more than 200 mL. Moreover, a juice box can contain as much sugar as the same amount of cola, about five teaspoons.

Many parents are shocked to learn fruit juice contains just as much sugar as cola when compared on a drop-to-drop basis. Part of this shock is due to the marketing of fruit juice. Manufacturers are good at promoting the image fruit juice is just as nutritious as the fruit itself. That’s why it is important to remember one juice box provides a child with enough sugar to meet the WHO daily maximum, leaving no room for any other sweet treats or desserts families enjoy.

So what should you put in your child’s lunch box?

Instead of fruit juice, send water and pieces of whole fruit in your child’s lunch. Water is the best choice for hydration and is sugar-free. A slice of lemon or orange can add a hint of fruity flavour to water without adding sugar. Another nutritious choice is milk, which provides bone-building calcium, phosphorus, vitamin D and protein. With milk, include ice packs to keep it chilled, or join the school milk program.

Rethink the drink and help your child develop healthy eating habits for a lifetime.

Dawne Lachapelle is a registered dietitian with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.