Fruit juice advised to be banned from dinner table; earlier five-a-day recommendation confuses parents

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Contrary to popular five portions per day, health experts have now advised that fruit juice should be banned entirely in a kid's meal, BBC News said. The decision is made due to previous claims that parents confuse fresh fruit juice from sweetened and canned ones.

Reports on Action on Sugar said that synthesized fruit juices in large cartons contain five to six tablespoons of sugar, an amount greater than what is contained in soda and cola drinks.

"Parents do not always understand the difference between a juice drink and a fruit juice. And most cartons come in 200ml or more. Many parents are still buying fruit juices and juice drinks for their children thinking they are choosing healthy products; children should be given as little juice as possible," Nutritionist Kawther Hashem said.

As said, parents need to have a clear understanding on the amount of fruit juices they should serve to kids and may, actually, need not follow the five portions per day rule. As an example, a nutrient-filled fruit juice made of edible pulp or vegetable has the same amount of nutrients with the five-a-day serving.

Separate reports on Express UK said that the presence of fruit juices, smoothies and other sweets in a kid's diet have contributed to the development of Type 2 Diabetes among younger people in the UK. Aside from that, excessive sugar in one's diet can cause obesity and the production of bad teeth.

"Fruit juice is a useful contribution towards our five a day, however, because the process of juicing releases sugars from the fruit we recommend that you try to limit your fruit juice to 150ml a day, including that from smoothies and only consume these and other sugary drinks with meals to reduce the risk of tooth decay," Dr. Alison Tedstone, of Public Health England recommended.

As recommended, the amount of "added sugar" or sugar not coming from solid food should only account for a maximum of 10% in one's calorie-intake. This means 70g sugar per day for men and 50g sugar per day for women.

Further, the World Health Organization (WHO) has advised that, if possible, the 10% amount of "added sugar" should be cut or minimized to 5%.

With this, the safest option is to take water instead of sweetened fruit juices.

"Kids should be getting their fluid from drinking water. We need to reintroduce the habit of people putting a jug of water on the table and drinking water with their food instead of some sort of fruity beverage.

Another suggestion is to take fresh, whole fruits rather than fruit juice. Studies said that sugar in whole fruits is slower to be absorbed and thus will make one feel full for a long time. Also, fresh fruits contain fiber to aid in digestion.