Glass of fruit juice a day worse for your health than sugary soda

FRUIT juice could be even worse for a person’s health than drinking cola and lemonade, US research suggests.

The study of 13,000 adults found that a half-pint glass of juice a day could increase the risk of early death by almost a quarter.

Experts said the fructose content of such drinks could be driving up insulin resistance and stimulating hormones that promote fat deposition around the waist. Both can lead to a greater chance of heart disease and diabetes.

For the first time, a study has compared 100 per cent fruit juices with sugar-sweetened beverages such as cola and lemonade.

It found that a daily 12oz (340ml) glass of a sugar-sweetened drink such as cola was linked to an 6 per cent increased risk of early death over the six year study.

Drinking a daily glass of fruit juice of the same volume was linked to a 24 per cent rise in premature mortality.

Researchers from Emory University, in Atlanta, and Cornell University, in New York, found that higher death rates were associated with consumption of all sugary drinks.

However, the study was observational, so it could not demonstrate that the drinks caused the increased health risks.

The participants had an average age of 64 at the start of the study, and during an average follow-up of six years, there were 1,000 deaths from any cause.

The research was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

British scientists said the findings were important and that people drank too many juices and smoothies, disregarding their high sugar content, when they would be better eating pieces of fruit, which are more filling.

The NHS recommends a maximum of one portion of 150ml of fruit juice daily, as part of a “five a day” routine.

Typically, people in the study got 8.4 per cent of their daily calorie intake from sugar-sweetened drinks and 4 per cent from 100 per cent fruit juice.

Dr Gunter Kuhnle, associate professor of nutrition and health at the University of Reading, said: “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 are a poor replacement for actual fruit consumption, in particular as they can be easily overconsumed.”