Juice

Food · Drink · Food, Typed Supps

A glass of fruit juice and a squeeze of lime are not the same kind of food, even though both are juice.

Stage by stage

Intake (No chewing required): Juicing has already removed the fibre and the structure that limited how much you would eat.
Stomach (Rapid emptying): A fibre-free liquid leaves the stomach faster than the whole fruit it came from.
Small intestine (Fast sugar absorption): Glucose absorbs quickly and fructose goes to the liver; vitamin C uses a saturable transporter.
Bloodstream (Distribution): Ascorbate, potassium and folate are distributed; excess sugar is stored.

Time to effect

Under an hour: Blood glucose rises within about 20 to 30 minutes of a glass, earlier and higher than from whole fruit.

Allergens

None of the fourteen major allergens. May contain: Sulphites. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.

Eating patterns

Fits: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher, Keto, Gluten-free. Depends on the product: Low-FODMAP.

Satiety

Not scored: the satiety index is measured on 240 kcal servings, and nobody eats a 240 kcal serving of this. The question does not apply rather than the answer being unknown.

Cost band

Cheap — roughly £2 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.

Key nutrients

Nutrition per 100g

Calories: 28
Protein: 0.8g
Carbohydrate: 1.2g
of which sugars: 1.2g
Fat: 0.1g
of which saturated: 0g
Fibre: 3.6g
Sodium: 2mg

Food vs. supplement

A glass of citrus juice already exceeds the adult vitamin C requirement, so a supplement adds little. The argument for whole fruit over juice is fibre and fullness, not the vitamin content.

Kitchen tip

Blending retains the fibre that juicing removes. For lime and lemon, add at the end of cooking — the aroma compounds are volatile and lost to prolonged heat.

Common myth

“Juice counts as fruit.” In reality: Only partly. The vitamin C, folate and potassium survive juicing; the fibre and the satiety do not, and the sugar arrives much faster. Australian guidance counts juice as no more than one fruit serve a day.