 If you regularly consume fruit juice with your lunch instead of a soft drink, good for you! Fruit juices are a more nutritious alternative to carbonated drinks which only ‘hype you up’ with empty sugars. The great this is that more cafes and restaurants nowadays offer fresh-fruit and 100% juice drinks kids, which makes it easy to provide your child with this healthier option. However, did you know that it is possible to give your child TOO MUCH juice? Check this out and other ‘juicy’ FAQs which you should know about.
1. I’ve heard that compared to eating fresh fruit, fruit juice is more likely to harm my child’s teeth. Is this true?
Yes. Sugars in whole fruit remain within the structure of the fruit. However, when the fruit is turned into juice, the sugars get released. These coat the teeth easily and can damage your child’s teeth, especially if your child drinks juice regularly throughout the day without brushing or drinking water in between.
2. How much fruit juice is too much for children?
Fruit juice is great but like everything else, you CAN get too much of a good thing. Fruit juice contains calories too, and too much of it can contribute to weight gain, cavities (see question 1), diarrhea and stomach upsets. These are some guidelines you could follow:
- infants up to 6 months: no juice unless recommended by the doctor (e.g. to relieve constipation)
- 6 – 12 months – up to half a cup (about 120 ml) a day
- 1 – 6 yrs – up to ¾ cup (about 180 ml) a day
- 7 yrs and above – up to 1 and a half cups (about 360 ml) a day
3. My child doesn’t like to eat fresh fruit but loves juice. That’s good too, right?
Juice is good, but fresh fruit is even better. Fresh fruit keeps vitamins and other essential nutrients ‘locked in’ until you eat them, while there is usually some loss of vitamins and other nutrients when fruits are processed into juice. Some processed juice packs have vitamins added to them to compensate, but this may also mean that other additives and extra sugars are added as well. Furthermore, fresh fruit contains more fibre, which your child needs to maintain good digestion.
4. When my kids don’t finish their juice, I put it back in the fridge. Is that ok?
Try to finish each serving of juice as the longer it is exposed to the air, the more nutrients such as Vitamin C will be lost. If you buy them in large cartons, be sure to close these tightly and store them in the fridge after pouring them out, and consume within one or two days. Where possible, buy smaller ‘single servings’ cartons for kids (just be wary of those with added sugars) as these portions are easier for them to finish.
5. I don’t always have time to make fresh fruit juice, so I often buy processed 100% fruit juice for my kids. How do I choose what’s good?
Check out the labels carefully! Look for ‘100 percent fruit juice’, and avoid those with words like ‘drink’, ‘punch’, cocktail’, ‘beverage’ and anything that ends in ‘ade’. Some sparkling drinks are made using fresh fruit juices, which, although healthier than ‘regular’ fizzy drinks, this may encourage your child to develop a liking for carbonated drinks (most carbonated drinks contain only empty calories). Another good rule is that the cloudier the juice, the more nutrients it contains. If the juice is totally clear, you may be buying mostly water.
6. Orange juice seems to be the most recommended juice for kids, but how about other juices? What kinds of nutrients are there in juices made from other fruits?
Orange juice has the highest amount of Vitamin C and potassium, and is a good source of folate and thiamin. It is also higher in protein, vitamin A, B-vitamins, vitamin C, calcium, iron and potassium than many other juices. For example, it has more than 10 times the amount of Vitamin C than apple juice! It has phytochemicals too, which help to fight cancer. Check out these other facts about other fruit juices:
- Grapefruit – next to oranges, this has the second highest levels of Vitamin C.
- Prune – This is highest in iron, zinc, fiber and niacin. It is also known to help relieve constipation : )
- White Grape – High in vitamin C, it is believed to help with digestion too.
- Apple – This is a favourite with children due to its milder flavour, but has no additional advantages compared to other fruit juices.
This week (1-8 May), 3 lucky persons will stand to win a pack of High Q+ Mix Multivitamin Chewables worth $35! To enter, answer these two simple questions:
1. Name two nutrients present in orange juice.
2. Fruit juice is better than fresh fruit. True or false?
Email your answers to
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with Herbal Pharm - Contest 3' in the subject header, and include your name, IC no, contact number and address. Closing date for this promotion is 8 May 2010; next contest will begin on 9 May 2010. All winners will be contacted by email.
See results of Herbal Pharm - Contest 2
Take part in Herbal Pharm - Contest 4
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