Heavy Consumption of Fruit Juices is Bad for the Health

While drinking fruit juice is considered as healthy, researchers at University of Glasgow's Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences suggest that drinking more than one glass of fruit juice in a day would increase the risk of diabetes. The researchers, led by Professor Naveed Sattar and Dr Jason Gill, said that the amount of sugar contained in fruit juice was comparable to any other sugary drinks. While solid fruit intake was linked with reduced or neutral diabetes risk, the researchers found that drinking fruit juice led to increased risk of diabetes.

The researchers also revealed that a large majority of people, including health professionals, falsely believe that fruit juices and smoothies contain lower sugar levels compared to sugar-sweetened beverages and consuming fruit juice could lead to the same health effects as sugary drinks. The study has been published in the Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology journal.

“There seems to be a clear misperception that fruit juices and smoothies are low-sugar alternatives to sugar-sweetened beverages. Contrary to the general perception of the public, and of many healthcare professionals, that drinking fruit juice is a positive health behavior, their consumption might not be substantially different in health terms from drinking other sugary drinks”, Dr Gill said.

Source-Medindia