4 Reasons You Should Stop Drinking Juice (Yes, Even If It’s Green And Cold Pressed)

4 Reasons You Should Stop Drinking JuiceGraphic © herbshealthhappiness.com. Background photo – Pixabay (PD)

There is one health trend that hasn’t gone out of style: drinking juice. If you’ve ever been on the end of a parent’s or friend’s “health talk”, you would remember a piece of advice that involve ditching sodas and sugary drinks for fresh juice. Juice in itself isn’t all bad, but just drinking juice leaves much to be desired in the health department (you can’t live off of juice alone!) — and here’s a few reasons why.

1. Juice Has No Fiber

One of the reason why fruits (and veggies!) are great for health is because of their fiber content. Fiber is a substance that helps promote a healthy digestive tract by clearing out waste. If you have problems with constipation or digestion in general, switching to a high-fiber diet can be very beneficial (you can even ask your doctor about this). However, juicing, blending, and even to some extent chopping fruit reduces or eliminates its fiber content — which is why you get pulp after juicing a piece of fruit. Pulp is the good stuff (a.k.a. fiber) — and we just throw it away. The USDA actually reports that for every hundred grams of juice, you only get 0.2 grams of dietary fiber! ^[1]

2. Juice Spikes Your Blood Sugar Enormously

Without the fiber, you’re basically drinking a heck of a lot of sugar — naturally occurring sugar it may be, but sugar it still is. Juice, processed or otherwise, still causes a sudden increase in blood sugar which can leave you feeling energized at first, but can cause a sugar-crash when the high wears off. When you eat fruit in its natural state, the fiber content slows your body’s ingestion of the sugar content, making the influx of sugar much slower than if the fruit was juiced. ^[2]

3. You Aren’t Really Absorbing Vitamins And Minerals From Juice

Without fiber, the only healthy benefit you get from juice is the vitamin content — notably Vitamin A, Vitamin C, D, E, and K. However, these vitamins are called “fat-soluble” vitamins for a reason. That means in order for the body to fully absorb them, they have to be consumed with fats! Fat-soluble vitamins need to be encapsulated in fat globules so the body can absorb and process them. This is why juices are only beneficial when taken with meals with a bit of healthy fat included in them. Most people simply don’t know that if you just drink juice with nothing else, you aren’t really absorbing the vitamins they claim to contain. ^[3]

4. You Get Hungry Easily

If you think that just drinking juice will help with your diet, you are wrong. Juice can be filling for a little while, but since liquid is quickly absorbed by the body (compared to actual food that takes a few hours to digest in the stomach), you get hungry much faster than if you had a healthy meal instead. In fact, a British study published in 2013 found that liquids have “weak satiating effects”, meaning they don’t make you full and make you hungrier much faster than solid food. ^[4]

Beyond juice’s effect (or lack thereof) on your health, here’s a look at additional reasons why you should stop drinking juice.

5. Pulp Ends Up Being Trash

One of the main healthy components, the fiber, ends up becoming pulp which is (mostly) thrown away. While some companies use their pulp as compost in their own farms, some simply throw the pulp away. Rarely do farms take pulp from juice-producing companies since they produce their own organic waste (from farm animals and produce that doesn’t they sold) to turn into compost. Besides, juicing is inherently wasteful since it takes several pounds of fruits just to make 16 ounces of juice (around four pounds) — you’re still better off eating your fruit in its entirety instead of throwing three quarters of it away. ^[5]

6. Juice Is Expensive

Juices, green or otherwise, are ridiculously expensive. You will find fresh juice that can cost even up to 5 to 10 dollars, depending on the size of the bottle, or if its organic or not – while containing less than a dollar’s worth of actual fruit. While some people may be willing to shell out a lot of money for “healthier” drinks, the fact is that juice production is a business and consumers are being forced to pay more for something that isn’t as healthy as its marketed to be.

Eating a meal with fruits and vegetables is still more beneficial than drinking juice or its variations. Not only does it help you feel fuller, you are also reaping the benefits from the vitamins and minerals from whole fruits and vegetables. If you can’t stay away from juice, try making your own! Blending is much more favorable than juicing, as long as you drink everything — fiber-y pulp and all.