Don’t drink orange juice when you can eat an orange, same goes for all fruit drinks.
When you are trying to start and maintain a healthy food regimen and diet you need to be conscious of what you are putting into your system. You not only have to be aware of whole foods that you are ingesting but you also have to be aware of the drinks that you are consuming. A common misconception is that drinking calories is better than eating whole foods. It can be far more damaging to your diet to choose drinking calories over whole foods. Another mistake that is made is that fruit drinks are preferred over whole fruits. You should never consume a fruit or vegetable drink whenever you can get your hands on whole fruits and vegetables. There are far more health benefits when it comes to eating whole fruits as opposed to drinking fruit juices. One thing you need to keep in mind when you are considering drinking fruit juices is that whole fruit is as close to nature as you can get. Fruit drinks are processed and have a lot more empty calories that can hamper your body’s health and performance.
Drinking calories is also known as drinking empty calories. You are consuming a lot more calories than essential vitamins and nutrients. You will be taking in more unnecessary calories than necessary ones. It is not beneficial to think that you can be able to just ingest juice drinks and be able to replace your whole fruits and foods. Orange juice, for instance is not fresh. It is squeezed, packaged and frozen before it is shipped out. The longer it takes from harvesting the fruit from the tree to the time it takes you to consume it, the less nutrients it has beneficial to your body. When orange juice is processed and ready to ship out, there are additives that are included in the juice to help make the juice expiration date last a lot longer. If you pick an orange from a tree, will it last as long as the expiration dates on a carton of orange juice? A simply way to help remember eating a whole fruit as opposed to fruit juice is the expiration date of the item.
Whole foods contain many more nutrients and vitamins naturally than any vitamin drinks or fruit drinks. It is important that you be aware of how many ingredients are contained in the foods you are consuming. It is far more beneficial to your body and health regimen that you eat single ingredient foods. You need to be sure to keep in mind that the more ingredients that are included in your foods that you are consuming the more additives that it contains. The more additives that are included the more hampering it is to your body’s health. Processed foods contain fewer vitamins and nutrients and more calories and fat than whole single ingredient foods. When your body consumes more fat and calories, the harder it is for your body to digest and break down the components. Keeping your health regimen in mind you need to be sure to do your best and eliminate foods that contain more than two ingredients to help give your body the competitive edge.
Why are oranges better than orange juice? For that matter, why are fruits more beneficial and better than fruit juices? Very simply, juice is not nearly as natural as the fruit that is freshly picked from the tree. When you pick a fruit directly from a tree, or buy freshly picked fruits from the local market it is the closest to nature you can get! A fresh orange contains a lot of vitamin C, and other essential vitamins and nutrients for your body. Yes, orange juice also contains vitamin C and other vitamins, but it is a more concentrated version. Due to the fact that additives are included in the juice to help make the expiration date on the drink last longer than the actual fruit, the less nutrients and vitamins are actually included in the drink. When additives are included in fruit drinks, the more vitamins and other essential nutrients for your body are lost in the process. You will be doing your body a disservice by drinking orange juice (or any other fruit juice) over the actual fruit.
As a fitness professional or if you are just trying to get and KEEP your body in peak performance and shape you need to be conscious of the foods that you are consuming. A detail that is usually overlooked is the drinks and liquids that you are consuming as well. Yes, most people do cut out sugar drinks like soda. But some people make the mistake of trying to consume drinks as opposed to whole foods. This is a HUGE mistake. Drinks that are made to replace whole foods contain a lot more additives and supplements that are not beneficial to your body in any substantial way. However, a drink that is made to supplement a meal or a snack might help you curb your appetite, but other than that it does nothing to help your health regimen or your diet. The best way to stay on top of your diet and to keep your body in tip top shape is to eat whole foods. Whole foods contain the most nutrients and vitamins that are essential to your body and your body’s diet. The same rule applies with fruits. You should never drink fruit juices when you are able to eat the whole fruit. Remember, the higher the expiration date on the drink, the farther it is from nature and the more additives that are included. Whenever you can have an orange over orange juice you need to choose the fruit!
