Fruit Juice Good for Health Conscious People—Nutritionist

By Dipo Olowookere

A renowned nutritionist, Dr Bisi Abiola, has recommended 100% fruit juice for people who desire to live healthy as it would help them live disease-free.

Dr Abiola, who is also the Managing Director of Indulge Nigeria Limited, explained this in her monthly wellness dialogue, a platform that is aimed at correcting the misinformation about fruit juice intake.

The nutritionist pointed out that drinking fruit juice is good because the human body absorbs its nutrients faster than solid food and whole fruits. She said that a glass of grape juice is a good choice for managing weight and blood sugar level.

According to her, orange juice contains a chockfull of calcium, a healthful dose of Vitamin C, increases the level of citrate in urine and reduces crystallisation of uric acid. She added that fruit juice helps to slow down kidney stone formation among people with history of the condition, noting that it has no scientific link with obesity.

Dr Abiola noted that 100% fruit juice is an option for those whose digestive systems could not sustain the pressure of breaking down solid foods and fibre.

“It helps you to get closer to your daily recommended fruit and has no scientific link with obesity,” she stated.

She revealed that juice-cleanse aids weight loss but warned that the exercise is a crash diet and that its impact could only be sustained if the individuals involved does not return to their normal lifestyles after the exercise.

Her words: “One of the myths is that juice cleanse can help detox your body. While there is no scientific evidence to support this claim, proponents of fruit juice cleanse say it is suitable if you are fasting and prefer breaking the fast with refreshing drinks rather than solid food. Cleansing, however, should not be more than three days.”

“The notion of juice cleanse detox is based on the vitamins and small quantity of B group vitamins and some trace of minerals present in 100% fruit juices. This makes fruit juice a sensible choice especially when the body needs detoxification.

“Interestingly, this is not a hard call to make as there are packaged 100 percent juices from brand of repute like Chivita, which are as good as whole fruit option in terms of nutrients.”