If you turn over your favorite brand of orange or cranberry juice to inspect the label, you might be surprised to find it's loaded with more than vitamins and minerals—it's probably sky-high in sugar, artificial sweeteners, and sodium, too.
When you eat an apple, you're eating one apple, but when you drink 12 ounces of apple juice, you're drinking the sugar of about four to six apples," says Barbie Boules, RDN, founder of Barbie Boules Longevity Nutrition, Inc. "Even though it's naturally occurring, that's way too much sugar."
What's more, says Boules, there's usually little to no fiber in fruit juices to slow down the absorption of the sugar. This digestion-slowing, belly-filling macronutrient is key when it comes to minimizing spikes in blood sugar and keeping your energy levels from tanking soon after you finish sipping a glass.
"The naturally occurring sugar in a whole piece of fruit should not be compared to a bottle of juice or refined sugar," she says. "The fiber and a symphony of other nutrients and goodies [found in fruit] can be lost in processing."
Now you know you should always pick an apple over a bottle of apple juice when given the choice, but does that mean that all fruit juice is terrible for you? No, but you have to be cautious: because juices are often touted as a health food, it makes them dangerously misleading. Studies have shown that when people perceive food as healthier, we tend to eat—or drink—more of it.
That said, some juices are lower in sugar than others and can be a smart option (in moderation!) when you need to increase your intake of fruit. Here's how to figure out which brands are healthy and which are only pretending to be good for you.The bad news is that you can't just grab any old bottle of juice off the supermarket shelf if you want to avoid a sugar crash. Even brands that use lingo like "all natural" and "no sugar added" can have astronomical amounts of sugar per serving because of the concentration of fruit sugars found in each bottle.
1. Tropicana Pure Premium Vitamin C + Zinc
No matter what time of year it is, your immune system could probably use a boost. Gorin suggests drinking Tropicana's fortified OJ, which is 100 percent orange juice with additional vitamin C and zinc. One caveat: Gorin says to cap this juice at one serving per day so you don't overdo it on the zinc (per the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, ingesting too much zinc can cause GI distress and lower levels of good cholesterol).
Bolthouse Farms 100 percent Organic Carrot Juice
Opting for a juice made from vegetables, not fruit, can be a good way to quickly find a product lower in sugar than other options. Though Boules didn't recommend any specific brand, she did say that the more vegetable-based (as opposed to all-fruit based) a juice is, the lower in sugar it's likely to be.
3. Beet It
If you've never heard of beet juice, you're probably not an athlete: Palinski-Wade says beet juice provides your body with a source of nitrates that are converted in your body to nitric acid, quickly bringing oxygen to your muscles.
4. Sunsweet Amaz!n Prune Juice
"With the only ingredient being prune juice, each serving provides three grams of fiber to help support digestive health," says Palinski-Wade, who adds that this juice also provides a source of five essential vitamins and minerals, including a good source of potassium. With stats like that, it just might be worth getting used to drinking Grandma's favorite.
