Drink with ‘halo of health’ only as healthy as soda says professor

It could leave you hungry, lacking nutrients and “pumped full of sugar”, says a Cambridge University professor

A drink many think is healthy is nothing of the sort, warns a top geneticist. Professor Giles Yeo, a geneticist from Cambridge University, admitted on the Which? podcast that one of the most common questions he gets asked is ‘what’s the worst food’ to eat for your health. He explained that it’s hard to narrow that down but one group of foods is the “bane of my life”.

Surprisingly, this is fruit juices, including those made from 100% real fruit and extending to health smoothies and juicing diets. He explained that it all comes down to the misconception that these drinks are good for you.

He said: “No one thinks a soda is healthy. People think juices are healthy so they drink a lot of it. This is one of those foods that has a halo of health whereas actually, certainly from a sugar perspective, it’s no better than a soda.

“If you think ‘I’m drinking this as a health food’ and you’re mainlining it, because ‘this is healthy for me’ that’s when the problem begins. If you treat the orange juice like a soda, then everything is fine. ”

The expert noted that “within the context of a meal”, juices can be helpful. This is because you’re combining the sugars in it with carbs and fibre that can help the body digest and use it.

But if you’re drinking these juices on its own, or if you’re juicing to lose weight, it’s not great. The professor warned: “Suddenly you’re drinking a whole lot of sugar without the fibre involved. Juicing has a couple of problems.

“You’re removing whole food groups, you’re removing the fibre and you’re pumping yourself full of sugar. It’s not a win-win, it’s a lose-lose.”

Juicing diets are also known as juice cleanses or fasts. Most people on these diets will only have juice and no solid food for a specific period of time.

It usually lasts a few days and focuses on blending fruit and vegetables into a liquid to keep yourself sustained. Juicing diets often promise quick, effective weight loss and a “detoxing” effect on the body.

Nutritionist Shefalee Loth said that juicing diets can help you lose weight. But this is largely because you’re drastically restricting your calories and it likely won’t last.

She added: “They’re not gonna keep you full. You might lose weight quite quickly because you‘ve drastically reduced your calorie intake. But the moment you go back to eating normally all that weight is going to come back on.”