We all believe in the power of mother nature. And many of the new super-food trends reflect that. Goji berries, Acai berries, Chia seeds, to name just a few. Food and beverage industry earns billions of dollars every year. In 2017, the health food market crossed the 1 trillion dollar line and it is predicted to have grown another 280 billion dollars by 2022. This is why 30% of all food companies invest in healthy foods. And surely, health food has gone mainstream. It’s easily accessible at many retailers and even discounters.
One of the big trends in health foods are fruit juices and smoothies – a sector which well-known brands like Innocent, Raw Juice, Evolution Fresh and many other players occupy.
Who would have thought that a smoothie or fruit juice can be bad for your health?
Let’s compare soda-pops and fruit juices. Sugar-sweetened drinks usually contain approximately 35 g sugar per 330 ml. How much sugar is in the same volume of a fruit juice. About the same. And in a study published earlier this month, Lindsay Colin and her coworkers from Department of Epidemiology, Emory University, Atlanta (Georgia) concluded that “consumption of sugary beverages, including fruit juices, is associated with all-cause mortality”. Or in other words: several studies showed that high consumption of dietary sugars, sugar-sweetened beverages are associated with e.g. diabetes and obesity. The data of this study suggest that it does not matter if you drink a sugary soda-pop or a “healthy” fruit juice. Both will equally contribute to your higher risk of coronary heart disease, and can lead to diabetes and obesity, and consequently a higher mortality rate.
So, a smoothie a day might not keep the doctor away. On the contrary. Key to health is a balanced diet.
