“Ouch! Arghh! Finally you heave a sign of relief! However, you felt a sharp pain while you were trying to release your stool. The next thing you noticed, there were tiny traces of reddish substance believed to be blood, that could be seen in the faeces you had excreted. Recalling the food you ate for the day, you couldn’t seem to remember any that provides clues to the existence of  the substance. However, you could feel the burning sensation and acute pain when cleaning yourself. You suspected tears around your anus. Those were the details you gave to your doctor during your visit to the clinic. One of the most common questions normally asked by the doctor would be, “do you consume fruits?” The model answer given by most people would be “yes” since everyone of us know that fruits are healthy and known for their rich anti-oxidants in fighting against deadly diseases such as cancer, preventing cell damage and anti-aging properties. But again some people may think that drinking fruit juice everyday is the same as consuming fruits. This assumption has caused misinformation and many people are confused between facts and myths. Are you one of them?

Let's briefly describe the above scenario first. This scenario is one of the more common conditions that happen when one does not consume enough fiber. Constipation will definitely happen and your body will complain about the lack of fiber in your digestive system by using pain as a warning signal when you are doing your business in the toilet.

*3 Myths and Facts

Myth #1

I drink fruit juice daily. I think i am getting enough nutrients and anti-oxidants from the juices i drink everyday. I think there is no difference between consuming fruits and drinking fruit juices.

Fact

Drinking fruit juice is definitely not the same as consuming fruits. Why? This is because most of the fruit juices on the shelves of supermarkets, if not all, are pasteurised. This will mean that they possess lesser nutrients. Any fresh product, no matter how healthy it is that gets canned or packed, will lose vitamin b and potassium. When the product is exposed to air, it will start to lose its anti-oxidant qualities after about 20 minutes. You be better off eating the physical fruit instead.

Myth #2

I heard that fruit juices are high in carbohydrates and bad for health.

Fact

This is definitely misleading. Drinking fruit juice have beneficial qualities for your health. It will depend on when you drink the juices and whether the juices contains any added sugar. For example, drinking fruit juice after your workout will aid in replenishing body fluids and blood sugar, and also providing nutrients for your body. However, be careful of when you consume them as fruits contain high levels of sugar known as fructose, fruit juices contain even higher sugar due to the addition of sugar by manufacturers. This will quickly add up the calories and also causes insulin spikes detrimental to your health and weight management due to the high sugar content present. It is a sure fire way to put on weight if you consume fruit juice before bed time.

Myth #3

Since fruits are healthy, i can take medication with fruit juices instead of water.

Fact

Taking medication with any other fluids other than water is disastrous! Fruits are healthy, so are fruit juices depending on the sugar level. However, consuming medication with fruit juices is a totally different story. Certain fruit juices such as grapefruit juice can cause normal doses of medication to become toxic overdose as it causes the rate of absorption of specific medication to be absorbed quickly, while fruit juices such as orange juice may result in decreasing the effects of certain medication wiping out the beneficial effects from them.

*What you need to know when choosing fruit juices.

After clarifying some of the myths and facts about the difference between eating fruits and drinking“juices that appeared to be healthy”, the following are what you need to know when choosing fruit juices. Look out for any added sugar. Choose 100% pasturised juices without any added sugar only as they are healthier. Juice concentrates contain a lot of sugar and it will definitely contribute to a higher probability of diabetes and obesity. A easy way to know how much sugar is present in the product is to look at the amount of sugar per serving. Compare the serving with this measurement, one teaspoon of sugar or one sugar cube is roughly 4 grams. You should now have a rough idea of how much sugar you will be consuming per serving.