Fruit juices are good for you, right? Not necessarily. Most juice beverages contain lots of calories, and some contain no vitamins or minerals at all.

By JORGE SOSA
Staff Writer

During the hustle and bustle of grocery shopping, it pays to take a few seconds to read ingredient labels. This is especially true in the juice aisle, which contains many sugary concoctions that are barely worthy of being referred to by the J-word.

While 100-percent, honest-to-goodness, fruit juice can be healthy for you, it takes some investigating to be sure that’s what you’re buying.

Federal regulations prohibit anything that’s less than 100-percent fruit or vegetable juice to be labeled “juice.”

Often, you’ll see beverages that are less than 100-percent juice labeled as “juice beverage,” “juice cocktail” or “juice drink” in fine print.

To determine the exact juice content in a fruity beverage, check the Nutrition Facts label. The percentage is usually listed along with the nutrient content and ingredients.

Why real juice is best
“You really want to look for the 100-percent juice,” said Beth Nere, a registered dietitian with Hutchinson Area Health Care. “It will give you the most benefits as far as vitamins and minerals and what are called phytonutrients.”

Phytonutrients are compounds found in fruits and vegetables, which some researchers believe can help improve one’s health. Lycopene, lutein and limonene are among the more commonly known phytonutrients.

“The only thing you don’t get is fiber,” Nere said.

Fiber is present in whole fruits and vegetables, but not commonly found in fruit juice. For this reason, Nere recommends juice as a dietary complement — but not a wholesale replacement — for whole fruit.
Too much of a good thing?

Drinking too much juice can contribute to weight gain because, after all, juice contains calories. But, weight gain shouldn’t be a concern as long as you’re sticking to the recommended limits, Nere said.

What are the limits? According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, infants 6 months or younger shouldn’t have any 100-percent fruit juice. Children ages 6 months to 6 years can have four to six ounces of 100-percent fruit juice daily. For children ages 7 to 18, the recommended daily amount is eight-to-12 ounces.

For men 19 years or older, the total daily recommended amount of fruit is two cups. For women ages 19 to 30, the daily recommended amount is also two cups. For women age 31 or older, the daily recommended amount of fruit is 1 1/2 cups. Most fruit servings should come from whole fruits, although 100-percent fruit juice can count toward the total amount.

One thing Nere suggests we can all do without is sugary beverages that contain little or almost no juice.
“Something like Sunny Delight is only about 5-percent juice,” she said. “It’s fortified, but it’s not as beneficial as 100-percent juice. Usually, you end up with more calories, too.”

When juice isn’t juice

All juices are not created equal. Here are a few examples:

Juice Newton
Judy Kay Newton was born in New Jersey and scored a couple Top 40 hits as a pop-country singer in the early ’80s. Of course, real country singers don’t come from Joisey.

O.J. Simpson aka “The Juice”
Why Orenthal James Simpson came to be known as “The Juice” is obvious. The initials “O.J.” say it all. But, unlike freshly squeezed orange juice, this ex-running back (turned actor, turned convicted felon) can be hazardous to your health.

Juice (the movie)
This 1992 gangsta drama stars the late Tupac Shakur. The slang term “juice” refers to power and respect in the criminal underworld. It’s not clear if the juice in question is mango-papaya or cranapple.

— Jorge Sosa