When it comes to quitting sugar and when it comes to unhealthy, it's easy to think of carbonated drinks, and this doesn't need to be repeated.
But there is a category of drinks that are easy to be overlooked, or even thought to be healthy and fashionable drinks, and you can drink more at any time.
That's fruit and vegetable juices and fruity drinks
If carbonated drinks are drinks that can be quit by overcoming a little craving, then drinking fruit and vegetable juices reasonably requires a high threshold of knowledge.
Fruit and vegetable juices and fruit-flavored beverages have always been one of the most controversial beverages in the nutrition and food circles.
The main reason is that they come from fruits and vegetables, but they are not whole fruits and vegetables, they are full of most of the nutrients that should be found in fruits and vegetables, but they are missing some of the key ones.
Here, I will first talk about how to treat fruit and vegetable juices and fruit-flavored drinks in the diet mode of abstaining from sugar.
First of all, we need to understand the concept of these two drinks, fruit and vegetable juice and fruit drink are not the same thing as real fruit juice at all.
To put it simply, there are only three points that we should pay attention to when looking at fruit and vegetable juices and fruit-flavored drinks:
- How are fruits and vegetables obtained: freshly squeezed or diluted and reduced with juice concentrate?
- What is the preservation and processing method: autoclavage, pasteurization or freshly squeezed and ready to drink?
- Are there any additives other than fruits and vegetables: are there sugars, dextrins (thickeners), sweeteners, flavors, and colors?
The main purpose of asking these questions is to determine how much fruit and vegetable juices and fruit drinks are similar to real fruits and vegetables.
Theoretically speaking, only freshly squeezed fruit and vegetable juices with a concentration of 100% and no additives other than antioxidants (such as vitamin C) can be used as a substitute when occasionally eating not enough vegetables and fruits, while other fruit and vegetable juices (such as those with a concentration of only 50% and added sugar and other thickeners) can only be regarded as "sweet drinks with added fruit juices".
In particular, we should note that added sugars are very common in fruit and vegetable juices with a concentration of less than 100%. But why should 100% pure fruit juices with no added sugar, or even freshly squeezed fruit and vegetable juices that are closest to natural fruits and vegetables, only occasionally substitute for fruits and vegetables?
It depends on what they lose compared to whole fruits and vegetables.
Turning an apple into apple juice isn't just about breaking it. Freshly squeezed apple juice is easier to understand, which is to physically crush the apple and then filter out the pomace, but there is a better way to drink it - not even remove the pomace, which is closer to the apple.
However, in the process of physical whipping, after the blade chops the flesh of the apple, it will greatly increase the contact between the pulp and the air, thereby accelerating the oxidation of the apple itself and the decomposition of vitamin C, so that a part of the vitamins that are sensitive to light and oxygen will be lost.
And those that are industrially produced with a slightly longer shelf life, there is generally a step of thermal processing, which again makes the loss of vitamins and some antioxidants that are not stable to heat.
The longer the juice is stored on the shelf after thermal processing, the more nutrients are lost.
However, the loss of a small amount of nutrients is not the biggest problem after the whole fruit and vegetable are turned into juice, the biggest problem is the lack of satiety. We need to pay special attention to this issue in the process of quitting sugar.
Taking apples as an example, apples are a very filling fruit, with a dense texture, and are rich in pectin and a lot of insoluble dietary fiber, not too sweet and not too soft. Apples are so filling and solid that very few people can eat 2 apples after a full meal.
But it is completely different when it is replaced by apple juice, which not only concentrates the light taste of the apple itself into a little water at once (the juice yield of apples is low, so it is rare to remove the slag), but also takes away the firm taste of the apple itself, and it is easy to drink a glass of juice squeezed from 3 apples during a meal.
From the point of view of eating sugar, not only did you lose the satiety of 3 apples, but you also ingested the sugar of 3 apples unconsciously, and this process directly increased your calorie intake without realizing it. Many people gain weight inexplicably, and this is probably how it happens.
The deeper effects are on the stomach and intestines. When a fruit is turned into juice, not only does it taste different, but it also changes the speed and shape of its digestion in the stomach. Eating a whole apple requires the process of chewing, which gives the brain a feedback that I'm eating, so the brain will also tell the stomach and pancreas: "Ready, ready to digest and secrete!"
As apples descend to the stomach, small intestine, and large intestine, they all slowly move forward in solid form. Although there is a lot of sugar in it, it is tightly wrapped in plant cells, and in order to release it, it must be destroyed and pressed through various digestive juices, a process that is not only slow but also laborious.
Therefore, the sugar is slowly released into the bloodstream throughout the process, and the perception of energy and nutrients in the gastrointestinal tract is also gradual.
Switching to apple juice is different, and you don't need to use your teeth to drink it, so the brain gets the message, "Oh, he's drinking water." "After a glass of apple juice is in the stomach, the stomach ignores it and lets it flow quickly, and the small intestine desperately absorbs all kinds of sugars free in the liquid, because it is suddenly like a flood, and the energy receptors also feel that it is a large wave of sudden heat.
Blood sugar and other hormones are not the same feedback, and even if these differences are weak, they make up our very different health status and constitution.
Therefore, whether it is the feeling of satiety that can be felt, or the different feelings of the stomach and intestines that cannot be seen or touched, they are all reminding us that fruits and juices are two completely different foods, and we must be cautious in how to choose.
Many nutrition researchers have also discovered the relationship between fluids and satiety, so there have been many studies on satiety and "sugar" in the academic community.
Studies have found that our bodies have very different attitudes towards the two processes of drinking and eating, which in turn leads to the concept of "caloric compensation mechanisms". In short, when we eat calories in a solid way, both the body and the brain feel "eaten" and feel full and satisfied, and naturally eat less at other mealtimes.
However, if the same amount of calories is "drunk" in liquid form (e.g., sugary drinks, milk tea with fat), we rarely eat less at other mealtimes, and sometimes even suffer from negative caloric compensation mechanisms and eat more.
There is a scientific basis for repeatedly emphasizing "don't drink calories". If fruit juice is the most controversial, milk-containing beverages are a close second. And the worst reputation among milk-containing beverages is, of course, milk tea.
We'll talk about that later.
The article is selected from: "Quit Sugar: A Life-Changing Scientific Diet", only for popular science sharing, if there is any infringement, please contact to delete.