Fruit in liquid form, on the other hand, acts like an instant
sugar injection. It’s very easy to drink a lot of juice in a short
amount of time, and that much sugar is hard for your digestive
system to handle. This is not to say that juice can’t be part of
most people’s diets. It offers vitamins and minerals and some-
times fiber, and it can hydrate you if water isn’t doing the trick
or isn’t available. But you’re best off keeping your total con-
sumption to a minimum. Opt for juices with nothing added
and nothing subtracted.
Lastly, a word on dried fruit and how that fits into the pic-
ture. Its main drawback is the same as that of juice: It’s easier
than with whole fruit to consume too many calories in one
sitting because the calories and sugar are concentrated into
smaller, more efficient delivery packets, which makes for a
worse metabolic impact. But because that key cellular struc-
ture remains intact, it’s still better than juice. And depending
on what’s available to you, if it’s a choice between eating dried
fruit or no fruit at all, dried fruit is definitely worth it, given its
long shelf life, low price, and portability.
44 how to be a Conscious Eater