Fruit cocktail, fruit punch, fruit beverage … nope none of them is 100% fruit juice. If the label does not say 100% fuit juice, you are in for some diluted, High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) infused, poor excuse for a satisfying fruit serving.
The biggest offenders are Sunny Delight and Snapple. When the labels say 5% or 10% juice it’s your warning to stay away. Here are some tips to choose the best Fuit Juice for your family:
- 100% Fruit Juice: Manufacturers cannot mess with this term. If it’s not 100% it can’t be labeled so. It does not matter if it’s a fruit juice blend, as long as there is no dilution, you should be fine.
- Does the label say “juice”? Any of the “-ade”s, punches and “drinks” are not fruit juices.
- Do the ingredients have anything unnatural? If you find High Fructose Corn Syrup, Glucose Syrup or water, then you are not getting the bang for your buck.
- Pasteurized juice is heat treated to remove an bacteria that may have been introduced in the processing stage.
For infants, companies like Gerber and Beech-Nut offer a variety of 100% fruit juices, while toddlers and adults would do well to turn to companies like Welch’s and Tropicana to get their fill.
Orange juice is a morning favorite and one of the most nutritious beverages available. An excellent source of vitamin C and potassium, orange juice also is a good source of folate and thiamin. Compared to other juices, orange juice is higher in protein, vitamin A, B-vitamins, vitamin C (it contains more than 10 times as much vitamin C as apple juice), calcium, iron and potassium, making it a heavyweight among fruit juices. Drinking an 8-ounce glass counts as one of your five necessary fruit and vegetable servings for the day.
-Via Ask Dr.Sears
Do keep the first Quick Tip in mind, though!
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