The Real Deal on Fresh-Squeezed Juices: Are They Truly Healthy?

How do fresh-squeezed juices impact our health? Apart from their delightful taste, are they really that good for us? The answer isn't straightforward.

When discussing the health benefits and effects of various fruits, their components — vitamins, minerals, and fiber — often come up. An article recently published highlighted another group of components called polyphenols, powerful antioxidants that affect several biological processes, particularly heart and vascular function.

Polyphenols are found in foods like tea, wine, chocolate, vegetables, extra virgin olive oil, and fruits such as grapes, oranges, apples, pears, peaches, lemons, strawberries, plums, and pomegranates.

In recent decades, high consumption of polyphenols has been shown to improve heart health and reduce the risk of conditions like high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and heart attacks. While eating fruits clearly helps achieve this, it's unclear if fresh-squeezed juices provide the same positive effect.

A recent study delved into this issue. It found no significant impact of fresh juices on heart health and cardiovascular disease risk. However, when researchers examined the effect of juices on specific population groups, they did find a positive effect on reducing cholesterol in people at high risk for heart disease.

Additionally, experts emphasize that fruit juices contain high sugar levels, almost comparable to industrial drinks. For example, a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice contains about 25 grams of carbohydrates, with around 20 grams being simple sugars. Therefore, excessive consumption of fresh juices can lead to weight gain and even increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. This is why, in most cases, it's better to eat the fruits themselves to reap their benefits.

On the other hand, research shows that fresh-squeezed fruit juices provide a level of B vitamins and minerals like iron, potassium, and magnesium similar to fresh fruits. However, it's important to remember that the level of vitamin C drops quite rapidly after juicing, so it's important to drink them while they're still fresh. Moreover, unlike eating fruits, it's easy to overconsume when drinking, increasing the risk of weight gain and diabetes.

In conclusion, it's not advisable to completely forgo fresh-squeezed juices or opt for industrial drinks, but rather to avoid overindulging, especially if you have underlying health conditions or already consume a lot of sugar from other sources. In such cases, it's better to replace the juice with water or eat the fruits themselves.