From the issue of Ding's mother talking about fruit juice (Portal), I was planning the topic of fruit juice. Because I also seem to have fallen into a "juice = health" trap. When I got home in the evening, I took out the juice in the fridge and looked at it.
Well, I just stepped on the pit of concentrated juice that Ding's mother said.
According to the criteria for Ding Mama's selection of fruit juice, first look at the ingredient list and then look at the nutrition facts list. First of all, do not choose with added sugar, such as white sugar, fructose syrup; Secondly, do not choose juice with the word "concentrate"; Finally, look at the carbohydrate content, the lower the better.
(Diagram and composition of juice in the refrigerator)
From the packaging to the publicity to say that they are NFC, the last three ingredients in the ingredient list are concentrated fruit juice, fortunately, the carbohydrate content is appropriate, 1 box of 200ml, drinking 1 box a day is okay, after the analysis I breathed a long sigh of relief.
Q1
Why not look at the total sugar content
Instead, look at carbohydrates?
Because according to the current labeling regulations of food packaging in mainland China, the core nutrients that manufacturers must label are 1+4: energy, protein, fat, carbohydrates, and sodium, while nutrients other than core nutrients are voluntarily labeled.
Therefore, since there are no hard and fast regulations in China, it is understandable even if the sugar content is not labeled. Sugar belongs to carbohydrates, so we can only judge the total sugar in the juice by the carbohydrate content at the moment. 【1】
It can also be seen from comparison that many other countries require sugar content on food packaging.
I think in this regard, we can compare the regulations in Singapore. Since the end of last year, Singapore has fully implemented the sugary beverage grading system, and the packaging must be printed with grade labels, containing A, B, C, D four nutritional grades, declining health, A grade is the healthiest, D grade is the least healthy. 【2】
In 2015, WHO called on countries to reduce sugar intake in adults and children, recommending that the daily intake of free sugars provides no more than 10% of the total energy, preferably no more than 5% of the total energy, about 50g per day, preferably below 25g. 【3】
"Sugar control" is gradually attracting people's attention, seemingly an ordinary small problem, but hidden great harm, from dental caries and obesity, to a variety of diseases that can kill.
But in our country has not been paid attention to, the latest study published in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, according to China's BMI classification, overweight people accounted for 34.8%, obese people accounted for 14.1%.
Among overweight/obese participants, the most common complications were fatty liver disease, prediabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension. The number of complications increases with BMI. 【4】
There is no doubt that unhealthy eating habits such as high oil, high salt and high sugar are one of the important factors that cause chronic diseases such as hyperlipidemia, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver.
In the cognition of many people, a low-fat, low-sodium, low-sugar diet can be achieved in daily life, but there are many invisible sugars, which are easy to be overlooked, such as free sugar in sugary drinks, including fructose in fruit juice.
Fructose is found in foods, in addition to natural foods, there is fructose syrup. Fructose is associated with common non-communicable diseases such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, obesity, cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes. 【5】
And the study also found that the intake of high-fructose drinks is significantly positively correlated with the occurrence of dental caries in children, of course, this conclusion, it seems that I knew it when I was a child, but it was said that there were bugs in the teeth that ate sugar.
Q2
Could juice just be another sugary drink?
Just this year, a paper published in Nutrition & Diabetes summarized four European population-based studies that concluded the relationship between sugary drinks, low-calorie beverages and fruit juices and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
Note the findings here. Sugar-sweetened and low-calorie beverages were positively associated with the prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, while moderate intake of fruit juices was inversely associated with the prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. 【6】
What do you mean? That is to say, moderate intake of fruit juice may be beneficial to reduce the onset of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, because fruit juice contains a certain amount of polyphenolic antioxidants and vitamins, fiber and minerals, etc., thereby enhancing the body's metabolism.
A 2020 JAMA study also showed that when the amount of juice (including mixed juice and 100% fruit juice) consumed daily is between 75-150ml, it can reduce the prevalence. After the daily intake is greater than 175ml-200ml, the curve increases, and the prevalence also increases. The intake of sugar-sweetened beverages, regardless of the amount, was positively correlated with the prevalence. 【7】
Therefore, fruit juice does not mean that it is another sugary drink, compared with sugary drinks, drinking 100% juice every day is good for the body.
Q3
How should I control the amount of juice I drink?
A review and meta-analysis published in Advances in Nutrition, a journal of the American Academy of Nutrition, summarizes the recommendations for 100% daily intake of fruit juice: the American Academy of Pediatrics AAP, the American Dietary Guidelines, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Healthy Eating Research Program. 【8】
It is not difficult to see that the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's healthy eating research program is much stricter than AAP in terms of age, and we can only refer to AAP's, and adjust it slightly according to the carbohydrate level of different juices.
It should be noted here that for infants under 1 year old, both guidelines do not recommend drinking any juice.
Well, now that we know that the right amount of 100% juice is good for your health, let's go back to the juice on the market now.
Commercially available juice analysis
I looked at the national standard of fruit juice, GB/T 31121-2014 fruit and vegetable juice and its drinks, I can only say that this thing is really not something that ordinary people can understand, and can make people dizzy alive.
Therefore, combining the national standard and commercially available products, I divided the juices on the market into 5 categories according to my own ideas, according to the ingredient list and the labeling of beverage content.
The first category is fruit drinks
Juice content≤ 5%
Ingredient list: water + (concentrated) fruit juice + sugar/sweetener + food additives + flavor...
The second category is fruit juice drinks
Juice content≥ 10%
Ingredient list: water + (concentrated) fruit juice + sugar/sweetener + food additives + flavor...
Class III Concentrated reduced fruit juice (FC)
100% juice content
Ingredient list: water + fruit juice concentrate
Class IV Non-concentrated reduced fruit juice (NFC)
100% juice content
Ingredient list: fruit juice
Class 5 Autoclave Juice (HPP)
100% juice content
Ingredient list: fruit juice
Sam's Club juice analysis
It just so happened that we went to visit Sam last week, and while we were shopping for healthy snacks, we also looked at the juice. Let's take a look at the juices sold in Sam's Supermarket!
We found a total of 25 fruit juices and counted the information of 25 fruit juices, including juice types, ingredient lists, carbohydrates, etc., to determine whether the juice is worth recommending.
Note: The purple background indicates the recommendation, and the red letter in bold indicates the ingredients that need attention
After screening the ingredient list, 15 models are considered shortlisted! Five of them performed well and were relatively low in carbohydrates.
But fruit juice is very delicious, and it is easy to overdose if you don't pay attention to it. Xiao Huan, my friend who visited Sam with me, said that she couldn't stop drinking Sam's juice every time.
A dazzle is a big bottle.
The more recommended 5 are all NFC juice, the ingredients are clean, except for apple juice with a little additional VC, the other only 1 fruit.
Three of them are Sam's own orange juice, apple juice, mulberry juice, carbohydrates are about 10g per 100ml; Two are coconut water, which has the lowest carbohydrate content, around 5g per 100ml.
But it should be noted that a bottle of mulberry juice is 946ml, if 1 person drinks a whole bottle in a day, sugar intake will exceed the maximum daily intake of about 4 times, and it is best to control it at about 200ml when drinking.
The other 10 models, there is no problem with the ingredient list, but the marked carbohydrate content is more than 11g per 100ml, and drinking 200ml is easy to excess. So be sure to drink in moderation, 150ml a day is best.
The remaining 10 models, some are not 100% juice, some add extra sugar, and some use concentrated juice, so I will not recommend it here.
Look, sure enough, coconut water yyds! But it's also easy to step on thunder, there is a Sam's own coconut drink, if you don't look good at the ingredient list, it's easy to think of it as pure coconut water. Not only contains additional added sugars, but also emulsifiers and thickeners.
There is also this Internet celebrity small lime juice, basically one hanging per car.
(Image from the Internet)
Looking at the ingredient list, the content of small lime juice... See for yourself.
Pick a juice summary
1. Do not choose products with additional added sugar, such as white sugar, fructose syrup, glucose, honey, etc.
2. Recommended 100% fruit juice: freshly squeezed> cold-pressed/HPP>NFC.
3. For products of compound fruit and vegetable juice type, give preference to the products in front of the ingredient list.
Recommended daily consumption
Under 1 year old, 0
1-3 years old, ≤ 120ml/day
4-6 years old, ≤ 180ml/day
7-18 years old, ≤ 240ml/day
Adults, ≤ 240ml/day
On this basis, it can be adjusted according to the nutrition facts table. If the sugar content is indicated in the nutritional facts table of fruit juice, it can be calculated according to the daily intake of less than 25g of sugar.
If only the carbohydrate content is labeled, it can be calculated according to the following method: carbohydrate < 11g/100ml, you can consume 100% fruit juice according to this recommended drinking amount; Carbohydrate ≥ 11g/100ml, which needs to be reduced on this basis