Juice… good for you or no better than soda?

I owe you guys yet another apology. I’m sorry I’m a couple days late with this post. My wisdom teeth surgery got bumped up to Wednesday and I’ve had some complications in the form or a ping pong ball sized collection of blood on my lower jaw and an infection in one of the incisions. This morning I woke up and my face looked like Will Smith when he had his allergic reaction in Hitch. I’m basically a train wreck right now and will not be in public anytime soon which is lucky for you because now you might get two posts this week! And don’t worry, my sister has taken full advantage of teasing me and my mutant-like appearance.

Speaking of mutant-like things, lets talk soda. We all know it’s not good for us. But what exactly is the bad part? For starters it is a source of sugar, but not a source of nutrients. One 12oz can of Pepsi has 41 grams of carbohydrates but no protein, fat, iron, fiber, vitamin C, etc. One large banana, on the other hand, has 31 grams of carbohydrates but it also has 422 mg or potassium, 11 mg of vitamin C, and 3.5 g of fiber and small amounts of more than 10 other vitamins and minerals. The difference is quite easy to see. Soda gives you calories, but nothing which helps your body, and the banana has less calories and more good stuff for you. 

You remember in the smoothie post we talked about how liquids empty from the stomach and are absorbed into the body quicker? Soda, brace yourself I know this will be a shocker, is a liquid. As such, it empties from your stomach really quickly. What the problem be here? It means sugar enters the blood quickly causing hyperglycemia. In order to move that glucose from the blood into your cells your pancreas secretes a hormone called insulin. This is a normal process but when your insulin levels are chronically high, like when you frequently drink sugary beverages, it leads to insulin resistance in your body. Insulin resistance leads to diabetes. And diabetes can lead to fun things like eye problems, peripheral neuropathy, kidney problems. Doesn’t chronic disease sound fun!! On top of that, there is no fiber, protein, or fat in soda which means your stomach isn’t going to send signals to your brain saying you’re full. Think diet soda is a good substitute? Wrong. Artificial sweeteners have been linked to increased vascular events like stroke. We’ll cover artificial sweeteners later. Right now I wanted to talk about other sugar sweetened beverages like juice, chocolate milk, and sports drinks. Check out the list below. Each beverage lists the number of grams of carbohydrates in 12 ounces which is 1 and 1/2 cups. 

Pepsi- 41g 
Tropicana 100% Orange Juice- 39g
  Motts 100% Apple Juice- 42g
Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail- 45g
Capri Sun Pacific Cooler- 34g
Strawberry Kiwi Snapple- 35g
Naked Juice Green Machine- 50g
Tropicana Lemonade- 44g
Pure Leaf Sweet Tea- 27g
McDonalds Sweet Tea- 27g
TruMoo Chocolate Milk- 30g
Fruit Punch Gatorade- 21g
Mountain Blast Powerade- 28g

Now keep in mind each of these is for a 12 ounce portion. Many of these beverages come in containers that have 16+ ounces, so if you drink the entire container you could be drinking even twice this amount! YIKES. As you can see, juice doesn’t really seem like a great option anymore, does it? Some people like to use the excuse well, at least it has nutrients in it, right? Not so much. Light and heat can destroy nutrients so when a juice is pressed, pasteurized, and sits on a store shelf for gosh knows how long it becomes a shell of what it once was. So then its no fiber, no fat, no protein, less nutrients, and a large amount of sugar entering your blood stream quickly. Sounds a lot like soda to me. 

So what should you drink instead? Water, durrr. And if you are one of those “I don’t like how water tastes” weirdos you can can do like Mama Biebs does and fill a pitcher of water and add slices of orange, lemon, cucumber, and mint. Or whatever other fruits you want. I’ve see berries, apples, pears, etc. The world is your oyster. You can also go with unsweetened tea, hot tea, coffee, bulletproof coffee, raw milk or organic whole milk, and kombucha to name a few.

Got any other thoughts? Let me know, I’d love to check into it for you. Hope ya’ll are having a wonderful holiday season with your families. xo