Juicing and sugar

Traveler120 wrote: »

Sounds low. The sugar in one medium apple is ~16g. You have 2 apples. But why worry about the sugar? Isn't that why you're adding the apples anyway? To make it taste good?

Sugar in fruits is perfectly fine, especially if you eat the whole fruit. I once did a whole week of eating only grapefruits and papayas. I lost 2 lbs that week.

But juicing is not eating the whole fruit...

jervinmel wrote: »

I have started replacing my breakfast by juicing 6 days
a week: 10 kale leaves, 1 cucumber, 4 celery sticks, 2 medium green apples, half of a lemon and 1 inch if fresh root ginger.
Thr recipe says it contains 15 grams of sugar. Is this true?

Probably. For 2 apples, that seems on the way low side, if anything.

jervinmel wrote: »

Thanks! I was thinking in replacing another meal (dinner) for another round of juicing but when I plug "fresh apple juice from 1 apple" I assume is not commercial apple juice, I get 17 grams of sugar. And that is only from just one apple! .

IMO, the problem with replacing two meals with juice isn't the sugar (4 pieces of fruit a day is more than I usually consume, but if I wanted to I think the amount of sugar from reasonably nutrient-dense sources is okay). The problem is that you are removing the fiber, so it's basically all sugar + vitamins, and you are missing out on some really important things like protein and healthy fats, as well as the fiber.

Nutrition isn't just about low calories (well, it's not about that at all, although calories are important) or micronutrients or avoiding foods you consider "bad." It's about getting in a balanced diet that gives you what you need. Juicing doesn't really do that.

I sometimes go through phases where I like a smoothie for breakfast (or occasionally to replace another meal if it's hot or I'm in a hurry), but when I do that I make sure it's balanced (kind of like ksharma is saying above). For me that means mostly vegetable based (I like zucchini or summer squash, previously cooked winter squash, cucumbers, spinach or kale, sometimes cauliflower, it just depends on the mix that seems tasty with the other ingredients I am using), some form of protein (I use protein powder or sometimes just greek yogurt, sometimes both, sometimes other dairy (I enjoy goat milk or yogurt in it, but some thing that's weird!), usually some form of fat (avocado is nice, I also like homemade nut milks, especially cashew, which has more fat than the store-bought stuff which is mostly water, and in a pinch will just include some nuts or flaxseed or hempseed, and then for flavor whatever fruit I like (usually berries but in summer I get more diverse). It IS high in sugar, but pretty balanced.

I really don't see how one could get in a balanced meal with all nutrients needed while juicing two of three meals.

As much as I love carbs, you are missing the two most important essential nutrients... protein and fats. And it suspect that if you replace one or two meals, you will largely miss out on the importance of those macronutrients.

And I eat a lot of fruit daily, and that sugar looks very low.