Drinking bottled fruit juice is unhealthy.
By Belle Yip
Office worker Jane Lee used to suffer from constipation. The problem has improved after she started eating more vegetables and fruits instead of drinking bottled berry juice after dinner three to four times a week.
“I suffered from constipation when I drank bottled fruit juice. Sometimes, I stayed in the lavatory for an hour. I could only poop every four days. But now I can do it every day after I have started to eat more fresh vegetables and fruits,” Lee recalls
Lee used to believe she could easily get nutrients like vitamin C and dietary fiber by drinking bottled fruit juice.
“I also found it refreshing to drink bottled fruit juice after dinner. I thought bottled juice was nutritious enough, so I didn’t eat other fruits or vegetables,” she says.
The office worker changed her habit half a year later after learning that it is healthier to eat more whole foods. “I now eat more fresh fruits such as tangerines and cherries,” she says.
Like Lee, university student Sally Chan finds her skin problem has improved after drinking water or tea instead of her favorite bottled apple or mango juice.
“I drank bottled fruit juice for two years. I often got acne on my face when I had it for breakfast,” she recalls.
Chan also had stomach pain a few times a week when she was a frequent bottled fruit juice drinker.
“I started to drink more water and tea and have a proper breakfast such as noodles and rice balls after finishing the HKDSE (Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education). My skin problem has greatly improved, and I do not have stomach pain anymore,” she says.
Varsity reporter surveys food labels on bottles of fruit juice in supermarkets in Hong Kong. Findings show that dietary fiber content in bottled fruit juice is mostly absent.
The sugar level in bottled fruit juice is comparable to that in soft drinks like Coca-Cola. For example, Welch’s bottled grape juice contains 15.2g of sugar, even more than normal Coca-Cola with 10.6g of sugar per 100ml.
Dietitian Chloe Lee Wai Hang states that excessive sugar consumption can lead to skin problems.
“Bottled fruit juice is a high-sugar beverage. Higher sugar intake increases chances of inflammation response such as redness and swelling of skin,” Lee says.
She also points out that the consumption of dietary fiber and gut health are closely related.
“Insufficient fiber intake is the main cause of constipation. Packaged fruit juice is very thin and smooth which means insoluble fiber is not retained when fruits are compressed to make juice. Cold-pressed juice is thoroughly filtered, and that makes dietary fiber content even lower,” she says.
The dietitian from Gleneagles Hospital suggests that busy city dwellers can purchase packaged fresh fruit cups from chain stores as afternoon snacks.
She suggests putting grapes or blueberries in a freezer so that the fruits can be consumed for a few days.
Lecturer Peggy Yip Pui-Sze from the School of Life Sciences at the Chinese University of Hong Kong says sugar content in bottled fruit juice is higher than eating the fruit itself.
Yip warns excessive sugar absorption can lead to obesity, which causes other health problems such as hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.
She adds that vitamin C is very sensitive, and it oxidizes when fruits are being compressed, leading to loss of vitamins in bottled fruit juice.
The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) under the Department of Health suggests that adults and teenagers aged 12-17 eat at least two portions of fruits and three portions of vegetables per day.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a population intake goal of 25g per day for dietary fiber to reduce the risks of many chronic diseases.
Edited by Zora Yan
Sub-edited by Bliss Zhu
