Fruit juice: the drink that makes you take the most calories

Do you think that drinking fruit juice is healthier than a soda? Nothing is less sure. A study conducted by Canadian researchers and published on November 21, 2018 in the journal The British Medical Journal has shown that sweet drinks and especially fruit juices could have a higher caloric content than other sweet foods, thus increasing the risks of developing a Type 2 diabetes.

Fruit juices provide "excess energy with low nutrients"

The researchers collected and compared data from 155 different studies to try to understand how foods that contain fructose, a simple sugar naturally found in fruits but that can also be added, can affect blood sugar levels in people. diabetics and non-diabetics. They found that while fruit and other foods containing fructose did not appear to have a negative effect on blood sugar levels, this was not the case with sugared beverages. fruit juices, which provide "excess energy with low nutrients" and therefore useless and harmful.

Added fructose promotes overweight and the onset of diabetes

This excess of calories would be particularly harmful because it would increase the risks of developing type 2 diabetes. In March 2015, a study published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings explained that the added fructose is one of the main factors in the development of type 2 diabetes, inducing a decrease in the sensitivity of cells to insulin. As a result, it accumulates and promotes the concentration of fat in the body. These adverse effects seem to be attributed only to fruit juices that contain artificial sweeteners, since researchers say that "fruit juices, when they do not provide excess calories, can have beneficial effects on blood sugar levels. and insulin, especially in diabetics ".

Prefer natural fructose!

According to the authors of the study, it is in particular the fibers contained in the fruits that can explain these beneficial effects on the glycemia, because they slow down the release of the sugars. If the results are to be interpreted with caution, according to Dr. John Sievenpiper, director of the study, they "could help guide recommendations on important sources of fructose to prevent and control diabetes." "Until more information is available, health authorities should be aware that the harmful effects of fructose on blood glucose seem to come from energy and the food source." You will have understood: prefer homemade fruit juice to artificial fruit juice or even better, eat the whole fruit!