Australian Natural Health – June-July 2017

The great juice

debate

As the controversy around juice continues to be

debated, LISA O’NEILL investigates whether it’s

a health food, a junk food or just another fad.

S

Somewhere between squeezing our

own oranges and the ‘fruit drink’

poppers that most of us grew up with,

juice has become something of a luxe

product. The Australian juice and

smoothie industry has expanded at

a rate of an annualised 9.8 per cent

over the past five years. Nowadays

it’s likely that the modern-day juice

lover (nay, connoisseur) prefers their

fruit and vegetables cold pressed and

preferably blended into potion-like

combinations with the addition of

herbs, spices and ‘superfoods’.

It’s far more exotic (and expensive)

than your average OJ. But is it

necessarily any healthier? The debate

surrounding the value of juice in terms

of health benefits has been noisy, and

tends to swing between those who

are enthusiastically in favour of juices

and juice cleanses, and those who are

firmly against them. So we decided to

ask around and see what a few different

experts had to say.

The good and the bad...

According to the Australian dietary

guidelines, half a cup (125 millilitres) of

100 per cent fruit juice is equivalent to a

serve of fruit (only occasionally, though).

However, nutritionist Fiona Tuck

(fionatuck.com) says that, if it’s sitting on

a supermarket shelf or even refrigerated

with a long shelf life, you can count out

any of the health benefits remaining from

the juiced fruit or vegetables. “The apple

juice on the shelf that is brown in colour

instantly tells you the fruit has oxidised,”

Tuck says. “The juices with a very long

shelf life will many times have sweeteners

added, artificial f lavours, fortified with

vitamin C or ascorbic acid or they’ll be

reconstituted. All the vitamins, minerals

and live enzymes from fresh juice starts

to diminish even after a couple of days,

so for these juices they have hardly any

nutrient level left.”

Freshly made juices and smoothies

are more highly regarded amongst

the health and wellness set, but

whether they’re blended or juiced

has experts divided on the extent

of their value. Dietitian Gabrielle

Maston (gabriellemaston.com) says her

preference is making a smoothie, where

the whole fruit or vegetable is blended.

“Where you include the whole fruit

or vegetable, it has the fibre in there

which slows the digestion of the drink

keeping us full for longer, plus the

main reason we push for people to eat

a lot of fruit and vegetables is for bowel

health and the good bacteria, to help us

go to the bathroom properly,” Maston

explains. However, juicing removes the

fibre, which Maston believes is a big

downfall. “If you’re having a traditional

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