September, 2001
Juice is wonderful for you and your kids.
But there are things you should know about juice. Commercial
juice, that is, not the juice you make with the juicers
from LivingRight.com.
First, supermarket juice may not be entirely
healthy for your children. Because commercial juices are
traditionally sweetened with sugar and other additives,
drinking supermarket juices may cause poor digestion and
diarrhea. Generally most juices you see, such as Mott's
and Welch's, are full of sugar. At a time when diabetes
is an epidemic among schoolchildren, supermarket juices,
such as apple and cranberry juice, should be a minimum part
of your child's diet. Diabetics need a balanced sugar intake.
Sugary juices fill both children and adults
up quickly, leaving no room for whole foods, which are essential
for a balanced diet. In the case of children, experts generally
agree that parents need to limit the juice content in their
children's diets. Children 1 to 2 years old require about
1000 calories. The average cup of cranberry juice is about
160 calories (based on 80 calories per half cup.) So those
three or four cups of Mott's apple juice can add up! So
it's no wonder that when dinnertime arrives, kids are too
full for potatoes and green vegetables.
It's important to note that when experts discuss
juice intake, they're talking about supposed pure juice,
not powdered or other juice drinks, which contain minimum
pure juice and maximum sugar. Stick to the real thing, but
in moderation. Many articles cite Carlos Lifschitz, an associate
professor of pediatrics at the Children's Nutrition Research
Center at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, who
recommends that children drink no more than one ounce of
juice a day per three pounds of body weight. This translates
to 1.2 cups a day for a two-year-old and 1.8 cups for a
five-year-old. And the American Association of Pediatrics
recently
released new guidelines for giving children juice:
0-6 months: no juice, just mother's milk
6+ months: no juice at bedtime and no juice from cups or
bottles that allow
children to drink juice all day
1-6 years: no more than four to six ounces per day
7-18 years: between eight and twelve ounces per day
This, by the way, includes juice from a citrus
or other juicer.
Juicing: The Antidote
Juicing is a great alternative to commercially
prepared drinks. Most fruit requires no sugar to taste good.
Mangoes, oranges, apples, peaches, grapes, and other fruit
have a natural sweetness that satisfies your kids' palates.
And while there have been outbreaks of salmonella caused
by apple juice not properly pasteurized, juice from a juicer
generally won't cause any food poisoning. Just be sure to
sterilize your juicer blades in warm water after each use,
and clean any fruit pulp from the juicer.
You should still use caution and observe the
guidelines, especially for children and teenagers. Many
fruits and vegetables have a high sugar content without
needing any additives. For example, carrots, a starchy vegetable,
have a high level of fructose and glucose, also a high carbohydrate
content. For example, 100 grams, or 3.5 ounces, of raw carrots
contain 7 grams (.25 ounces) of sugar. While fructose and
glucose are natural sugars, as opposed to sucrose (table
or white sugar), they still need to be used in moderation,
since research shows that there are no nutritional differences
among sugars.
