Drinks for children: how much fruit juice is healthy for the child

by BUNTE.de Redaktion 07 July 2017 at 07:35 a.m.

The hot summer is coming and your child is drinking too little water? Many quickly grab fruit juice. But is it healthy at all? You can find out how much fruit juice makes sense and what exactly is harmful to it here!

Healthy plus? Everything about fruit juice

Unfortunately there is not a lot of good aspects, which can be found on fruit juice. Sure – fruit juices consist of fruit and fruit is always healthy. That is. But not in the form of juices. Because when a juice is made, the fruit is simply squeezed or juiced. That leaves vitamins that important fiber is sorted out and not fed to the body. And exactly here lies the problem.

Because for one half a liter of apple juice you need about 1 kg of apples. That corresponds to about 8 apples. Nobody would be able to eat so many apples. The sweetness from the apples, of course, remains in the juice. And this way we take it with a glass of juice disproportionately more sugar to us than the body needs.

The desire for a sweet refreshment is totally normal. Because the body needs energy – also in the form of sugar. Then it makes sense to eat an apple. Because the sugar in the apple brings the requested energy to the body. The fiber contained also saturate at the same time. So the body can find the right measure. This natural instinct is impossible to imitate with a glass of juice.

For comparison: An apple contains about 7 grams of sugar. A glass of apple juice (200 ml), however, is already 20 grams. And that is – especially for children – just too much.

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Hidden sugar

Incidentally, this does not only apply to juices. Sugar is often found in many foods that we consume safely. Whether in ketchup, jam, muesli, yoghurt or toasted bread – we often eat too much sugar unnoticed. And that leads to – especially if it is already an integral part of a children’s diet Obesity, tooth decay and as a late consequence of diabetes.

Fruit sugar is better than table sugar?

First of all, every sugar added to the body is put into the vital glucose converted that we need as energy supply. Glucose is, so to speak, the gasoline for our engine. However, the sucrose (Table sugar) converted faster than fructose (fructose). Then the insulin level rises quickly and you get a lot of energy quickly. This surge is followed by a rapid drop in energy if the insulin level drops again after a short time. cravings are the result.

Fructose is better in that it takes the body longer to convert it to glucose. In these times the insulin level does not rise quite as quickly and doesn’t mess up blood sugar as much as table sugar.

But the same applies here: the more, the worse. Because a large amount of fructose in the form of, for example, yogurt or fruit juice causes insulin levels to rise just as uncontrollably. And that’s not good for the organism. Because a permanent roller coaster ride can lead to consequential damage such as Obesity and diabetes lead – even in childhood.

And what about smoothies?

Have you finally found a way to secretly make your child tasty pears and spinach? But unfortunately there are also bad aspects here. Because like in a glass of juice, there is a smoothie in a glass disproportionate amount of fruit, that the body wouldn’t be able to do in its pure form. In liquid form, the glass is natural fast emptied – yes the insulin level goes crazy. For comparison: a glass of smoothie contains more sugar as a Glass of cola. This is also not advisable.

So much fruit juice is healthy

If your child refuses any form of fruit and vegetables for whatever reason, it is advisable, now and then to smoothies or fruit juice grip to guarantee an intake of important vitamins. There is nothing wrong with that, as a sweet afternoon snack a few Squeeze oranges or mix a spritzer and give them to the little ones. But here it depends on the amount in any case!

The WHO recommends for children a maximum daily sugar intake 25 grams. For the amount of fruit juice that means:

For toddlers a maximum of half a glass of juice a day (contains 10g sugar)

For elementary school children a maximum of one glass of juice a day (contains 20g sugar)

It is important that you do not just give the juice to every meal, but as Snack verbuchst. This way, the body can utilize the added sugar better and is not constantly burdened with too much sugar. The following applies to all meals and in between for all drinking bottles: Water is the best choice!