Eating fruit or drinking fruit: which one is good for health
What is fruit? | Benefits of whole fruits | What is fruit juice? | Benefits of fruit juice | Choose the right one | Bottom line
Fruits are one of the most important foods in our diet. People can eat fruit as a whole or drink fruit as a juice. Now, the common question is whether whole fruit and juice are equally good for health? The answer is no. Both are not equally beneficial for your health. In this article, I will explain briefly.
What is fruit?
Fruit is a mature, dry-ripened structure of flowering plant. Fruit is one of the most important items in our food group. It is a package of fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Various types of fruits are available in our local market every season. You can eat some fruits raw or you can use some fruits in your cooking. As per recommendation, one to two cups of fruit consumption per day is good for an adult (1).
Benefits of whole fruit:
- Good for heart health
- The presence of antioxidants helps to prevent cell damage.
- Good for skin and hair.
- Good for gut health.
- Helps to control body weight.
- Good for the regulation of blood sugar levels. Some fruits contain high amounts of calories like mango, banana, grapes, sapota, etc. It is better to avoid or limit the consumption of these fruits for people who have high blood sugar levels or are overweight or obese.
What is fruit juice?
Juice is the liquid part of the fruit that you can collect by extraction, squeezing, and pressing method. Drinking fresh fruit juice is an easy way to get vitamins, minerals, and other plant-based compounds that are present in the fruits. Sometimes people are not able to chew whole fruit or vegetables due to old age or any medical issues, so fruit juice or vegetable juice is an alternative. 1 cup of 100% fruit juice (orange, apple, grape, grapefruit, mango, pomegranate, etc.) per day is recommended (2).
Benefits of fruit juice:
- For people who are not able to chew fruits or vegetables, juice is an alternative for them.
- Also, if you need to avoid fiber for medical purposes, you can choose fruit juice.
Choose the right one:
Many people are curious to know which one is the best option for health. As I discussed previously, fruit is a good source of various types of essential nutrients. Therefore, if you consume whole fruits, you get all the essential nutrients that are present in the fruit.
Now, in the case of fruit juice, we need to remove the liquid part of fruits by pressing or squeezing. In this process, fiber and some amounts of other essential nutrients are lost and the fruit juice mostly contains simple carbohydrates like fructose (a carb present in fruits). As a result, you would consume extra calories, which can affect your body weight, blood sugar level, and overall health. Thus, it is always advisable to eat whole fruit, if possible, instead of fruit juice.
Normally, you can eat one or two fruit per day. But when you make juice (approximately 250-300 ml), at least 4-6 fruits are required depending upon the size. It means you need almost double the amount of fruit compared to your consumption level. This implies that you may consume a significant amount of additional carbohydrates, which will eventually affect your total calorie consumption level. For example, a medium-sized orange (100 grams) contains approximately 48 Kcal and 10.9-12 grams of total carbohydrates. Whereas, 250-300 ml of orange juice (approximately 4-6 numbers of medium-sized oranges) contains approximately 120-144 kcal of total calories and 27-30 grams of total carbohydrates.
Bottom line:
You can add both fruit and fruit juice to your diet. But raw fruit is always a better option than juice. Try to drink homemade juice, or if you wish to buy from the shop, make sure no extra sugars are added to it. You must remember that juice is a good option compared to other sugary drinks. Therefore, if you wish to drink juice as an alternative to other sugary drinks, then go for it but in a limited quantity.
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