Fruit juice ‘even more unhealthy than fizzy drinks’
Fruit juice may be more damaging to health than lemonade and cola, scientists said yesterday
they have found that – after an initial serving – each extra 355ml glass a day increases the chance of premature death by 24 per cent.
Consuming the same quantity of fizzy drinks increased the risk by only 6 per cent. the researchers pointed out that the high sugar content in juice – whether bought or made at home – may raise the chance of diabetes and help clog arteries, which can cause heart attacks and strokes.
they tracked 13,440 people for six years after asking them about their consumption of fruit juices and drinks with added sugar.
this showed the heaviest consumers of either type of sugary drink had a 14 per cent higher chance of dying prematurely than those who drank the least.
‘When it comes to the main ingredients, fruit juice is a lot like sugar- sweetened drinks,’ said Jean Welsh, senior author of the study from Emory university in Atlanta, Georgia. ‘But we don’t think of them that way because they have this “healthy halo”. As people become more aware of the health impacts of fizzy, soft and fruit-flavoured drinks, i have become concerned that they may turn to drinking larger amounts of fruit juice. these new findings show they may have similar health effects, which suggests that people should minimise their intake.’
Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the research is based on questionnaires filled out by people aged 45 and older. they recorded the amount of sugary drinks they had, and how often, and were followed up through medical records and family interviews.
Over an average of six years, 1,000 people from the study died, including 168 killed by coronary heart disease. the results show that for every extra 355ml of fruit juice the risk of
‘There is little health benefit’
dying from any cause rose by 24 per cent. that compared with 6 per cent for every additional sugar-sweetened drink like lemonade and cola.
the risk of dying from coronary heart disease was 28 per cent greater – with similar but smaller effects for sugar-sweetened drinks.
An 11 per cent average risk for both types of drink remained when researchers took weight into account, suggesting the danger was not only from sugar causing obesity.
Experts believe that sugar from fruit juice may cause resistance to insulin, which regulates sugar, and this raises the risk of furred arteries. typically people in the study obtained 4.4 per cent of their daily calories from sugar-sweetened drinks and 4 per cent from fruit juice.
those who got more than 10 per cent of their calories from the two types of drinks had a 14 per cent higher chance of early death than those for whom the drinks made up less than 5 per cent of intake.
Dr Gunter Kuhnle, associate professor in nutrition and health at the university of reading, said there was likely to be no risk from the 150ml of fruit juice recommended as the daily maximum in the uK.
But he added: ‘this is a very important study, especially as fruit juices are often seen as a “healthy” alternative to sugar-sweetened beverages, even though they often contain much more sugar – especially smoothies.
‘Fruit juices can provide vitamins and even some fibre, but there is little health benefit beyond this.’
Dr Alison tedstone, chief nutritionist at Public Health England, said: ‘Sugary drinks can contribute to dental caries increased calories, weight gain, and associated ill health.
‘Current advice is to swap sugary drinks for water, lower fat milks and lower sugar or diet drinks. it’s important to limit juice and smoothies to 150 millilitres each day.’