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.