Undoubtedly, you will get many benefits if you regularly eat fresh fruit. However, there are still many people who prefer to drink juice rather than eating fruit. Which is healthier, drinking juice or eating fresh fruit directly?
Why is fresh fruit better than processed?
Fruit juice is indeed very practical, easy to make or buy anywhere, and can even be drunk anywhere.
In addition, many people prefer to drink juice because of its sweet taste. However, did you know that drinking fruit juice is not necessarily healthy?
Here are the reasons why you should choose to eat fresh fruit over drinking fruit juice.
1. Fruit juice contains chemicals
Almost all fruit juice products sold in supermarkets claim that the product is a natural fruit extract.
Packaged juices do contain real fruit extracts. However, how much does the fresh fruit extract contain?
Apparently, not 100% of the content in packaged juice is an extract from the original fruit.
Packaged fruit juices are even added with additives to enhance the taste.
There are also various additives in packaged juices, such as preservatives (sodium benzoate) which have an impact on health.
A study in The Scientific World Journal (2014) showed that consuming too many drinks or foods with preservatives can increase the risk of coronary heart disease, cancer, and other degenerative diseases.
2. Eat fresh fruit with more fiber
Juices do still contain vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients (plant chemicals) found in fruit.
However, eating fresh fruit provides lots of healthy fiber that is not found in fruit juices. The juicing process removes this fiber content.
Fiber is very good for health, especially digestive health.
Fiber also helps you feel full longer and helps control your weight.
Meanwhile, fruit juice is digested faster by the digestive system than eating a whole piece of fresh fruit. Drinking juice actually makes you hungry.
3. Fruit juices are high in sugar
One of the reasons why you should eat fresh fruit is that it is low in sugar.
Stanford Children’s Health states that one of the biggest ingredients in packaged fruit juice is sugar.
In a box of apple juice, there is almost 30 grams of sugar or the equivalent of 10 teaspoons.
The sugar content is quite high considering that the Indonesian Ministry of Health recommends that sugar consumption should be limited to a maximum of 6 teaspoons per day.
The Harvard Gazette explains that people who drink bottled juice more often than eat real fruit are at risk of developing diabetes.
Meanwhile, the habit of eating fresh fruit actually reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes.
Easy way to eat fresh fruit
- Make fresh fruit into a fruit salad.
- Snack on dried fruit such as raisins, dates, or blueberries.
- Add sliced apple or banana to the bread.
- Sprinkle fruit, such as berries, into cake or pudding batter.
- Add sliced fruit to your cereal or oatmeal.
Is it better to drink juice or eat the fruit directly?
Still, it’s still better to eat the fruit directly than by drinking fruit juice.
This is whether you make your own fruit juice with fresh fruit, or without any sugar. Why so? What Is Better, Eating Fruits Or Drinking Fruit Juices? | Fit tak
1. Digest fruit slowly
The answer is because eating fresh fruit makes you chew all the pieces of the fruit.
By chewing the fruit slowly, the nutrients including the sugar contained in the fruit will be broken down and absorbed gradually by the body.
The breakdown of sugar will occur first in the mouth, then in the stomach, and finally in the absorption in the small intestine.
This makes it take longer for sugar to be absorbed and less quickly raise blood sugar.
2. Prevent blood sugar spikes
Because it is a liquid, the nutrients in fruit juice are broken down and absorbed by the body more quickly.
This condition makes blood sugar rise quickly so it is not good for patients with type 2 diabetes or type 1 diabetes.
Therefore, eat fresh and whole fruit which is full of fiber.
Fiber-rich fruits can help you feel fuller.
Besides being good for digestion, the dietary fiber in fruits can help reduce cholesterol, thereby lowering the risk of heart disease.