Is fruit that is juiced or blended better than no fruit at all? Or, is it better to avoid any juiced fruit?
I like the flavour of fruit but not the texture, because of this I avoid all fruit and am pretty close minded on trying anything new due to price and waste.
I recently debated buying baby blended fruit pouches to add vitamins into my diet; is this something that will be better than avoiding fruit all together?
Thank you for any comments in advance!
Edit: Thank you all so much for your replies, and as well for the suggestions and advice!
In: 10
Juice is not as good for you as whole fruit because the juice discards the pulp, and therefore most of the fiber in the fruit (and fiber is good for your digestion). Fruit juice also contains a lot of sugar. All that sugar was already in the fruit of course, but in fruit juice you’re getting it in a more concentrated form that is easy to consume quickly. You can down a glass of OJ a lot faster than you can eat a whole orange, and you digest the juice faster as well.
Blended fruit is broadly as good for you as whole fruit, as it still has all of the same stuff in it. However, it is still easier to consume a lot of blended fruit, for instance in the form of a smoothie, in a short timespan, compared to eating whole fruit. And it is important not to be fooled into thinking that smoothies are *always* healthy (and that more = better). Sometimes they will contain added sugar, and they may also have added fat that contributes to your calorie intake (even if they are healthy fats). Even for smoothies or fruit blends that are just fruit and nothing else, most experts these days recommend eating some fruit every day but not too much, because of the high sugar content (beyond the recommended intake, it’s better to eat more vegetables than more fruit). So you have to be mindful of how many portions of fruit are in a smoothie, which is easy to underestimate.
If you dislike fruit, then blended fruits may be a good option. However, personally I would encourage you to keep trying different fruits as your life will be enriched and made easier by the ability to enjoy whole fruits (which are easier and cheaper to obtain than blended fruit). Tastes can be acquired and aversions can be overcome with experience. Maybe start with something like a crisp apple or some grapes, which (to my mind anyway) have a pretty approachable texture (as opposed to, say, a peach).
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