Seattle Forrest

This is a bit of a shame. As a general rule, I don't drink calories (except milk), but after a long hard ride when I'm dehydrated, fresh squeezed orange juice is the nectar of the gods.


The study, carried out in France, is the first substantial piece of research to find a specific association between sugar and cancer. Sugary drinks such as colas, lemonade and energy drinks have been linked to obesity, which is a cause of cancer, but the French researchers suggest there could also be other reasons sugar could trigger it.

The study, published in the BMJ, finds the association with cancer is just as strong with fruit juices as it is with colas. “When the group of sugary drinks was split into 100% fruit juices and other sugary drinks, the consumption of both beverage types was associated with a higher risk of overall cancer,” it says.

...

Those taking part had completed at least two 24-hour online validated dietary questionnaires, designed to measure their usual intake of 3,300 food and beverage items, and were followed up for a maximum of nine years. Over that time, nearly 2,200 cases of cancer were diagnosed, including 693 breast cancers. They found that a 100ml increase in sugary drink consumption was associated with an 18% increased risk of overall cancer and a 22% increased risk of breast cancer.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/...er-study-finds

justslow

So I guess my fruit smoothie is also a possible cancer contributor due to the high volume of berries. Maybe I'll make smaller smoothies as I don't want to give up my favorite post-ride refreshment. I avoid the sneaky added sugar as much as possible. Moderation in all things.

Daniel4

One 8 oz cup of orange juice uses 5 oranges. I counted them as I made myself a cup once.

I didn't think much of it at the time but if you consider it from the sugar intake persepective, that's a lot of sugar in one shot. Still probably not as much as in 8 oz of pop.

Spoonrobot 

The entire NutriNet-Santé study is a form of data-dredging. It's a massive database of questionable origin that allows use of statistical tools without intelligent, impartial review to produce blurbs for click-through ad revenue from major media outlets.

Meaningless tripe, not worth the time or consideration.

Publishing nonsense like this should be a criminal offense.

Daniel4

Like the tobacco industry and the oil industry, the food industry, especially the sugar companies use "research" from their own paid scientists and doctors to confuse the findings from independant research.

Iride01 

So what about any correlation to people that ate sugary snacks?

I don't think the fruit juice in itself is bad. I don't think a twinkie in itself it bad. It's just too much of anything has consequences. In the case of sugars, we are finding that too much of it might be ruining our overall health and our bodies own means to prevent cancer.

The one study focusing on fruit juice is just too easy to blow out of proportion when you can't see it in the context of every thing else.

79pmooney

I eat very little fruit juice but have a big bowl of freshly cut fruit, honey granola and non-dairy yogurt almost every morning. I wonder where that leaves me (other than starting my day well and with bowels that work very well, thank you).

I wonder if the making of the juices breaks down the fruit's cell walls and is an issue. (I have noted all my life that I 1) really do not like cut fruit that isn't minutes fresh and 2) never felt my best after eating it. I was taught that I should eat the fruit at buffets, food lines, etc. and always tried to get away with as little as possible. Was my body on to something? (I never liked milk either. Switching to yogurt for my cereal when I was 23 was a revelation.)

I do notice a big difference in how I feel between standard fruit juices, even ones made with no artificial ingredients or white sugar, and the really fresh, non-pasteurized ones like the Odallas. (sp) After a hard ride, the Odalla juices or equally fresh hit the spot completely. Don't buy them often - both expense and the need to refrigerate them promptly and consume them soon. The big name juices never hit the spot in the same way. Even their juices that are supposed to be "good".

Just my observations.

Ben

xroadcharlie

You make it with 5 oranges. Some make it with perhaps 1 orange for marketing purposes, a whole bunch of corn syrup, The really bad sweetener, chemicals that make it taste like orange juice, and preservatives. Sir, may I have another.

It almost make that can of Pepsi look like a better choice.

Rollfast

linnefaulk

Blended fruit is fine because you have the fiber. Fruit juice without the fiber is a problem.

Hondo Gravel

Everything is bad for you fruit juice to chronic cardio. So I just don’t care. I try to eat sensible and get regular exercise from mainly cycling and hiking.

redlude97

That wouldn't be called orange juice by any definition, rather orange drink aka tang sunny d etc

Seattle Forrest

Are you telling me this study was funded by big sugar?

Daniel4

Are you telling us that if there were two opposing reports, you wouldn't be able to tell which one was an independant study and which one was industry-funded?

No wonder fake news is such a problem these days.

berner

My guess is that some fruit juice in a smoothie would not be bad were it not that sugar is added to many products these days. I've taken to reading labels and it is surprising how high the sugar content is on some items, like 15 or 20%. We need some sugar as glucose is the brains only fuel.

Seattle Forrest

I'll take that as you have no idea.

It's like saying some people who post online are Russian trolls trying to throw an election, so I can't believe anything people say in reply to this thread.

canklecat

Yeah, data dredging is a hot button issue among researchers. For better or worse it's cast doubt on a lot of studies that led to some now-dubious conventional wisdom, particularly in dietary advice, including cholesterol and heart disease.

When my doctor suggested meds for cholesterol based on a single elevated level, the first in my entire life, I said, nah, I think I ate breakfast that morning before the lab draw. Same with my blood pressure. Occasionally it spikes to 160/100, but that's due to nerve damage and impingement from injuries to my atlas/C1 and C2, in 2001 and again last year (hit by cars). When my neck is relaxed my BP is normal, usually around 110/60. When my neck aches from spasms, it'll spike. I have metoprolol and lisinopril which I take PRN only on those uncommon spike days. But I'm not going to take cholesterol and BP meds daily when there's little or no evidence of dietary connection.

One complication in trying to evaluate the link between fruit and health is that fruits we have now are vastly different from their origins. Most folks would be disappointed and even shocked by how unappetizing many early fruits were. Nowadays even raw fruit or a smoothie made from just fruit and something like unsweetened yogurt could have as much sugar as a candy bar or soda, or more.

I've modified my intake of anything containing sugar, including raw fruit. I try to regard it all as fuel for bike rides and workouts. So I eat less fruit and use little sugar on rest days.

Same with junk carbs including beer. I love beer but it doesn't love me. Well, it does... it loves to hang around my gut.

Best thing most folks could do for their health is cut sugar to a minimum, even if that means giving up favorite raw fruits.

xroadcharlie

A little research suggests you are correct. However even the 100% pure orange juice still uses a congotion of chemicals after processing the pure juice.

If you really love you store bought 100% OJ, Don't Google how many brands make it.

Better to eat a real orange IMO.

Carbonfiberboy 

To some extent this is true. The problem is not so much industry funding, which I doubt is really an issue, as it is general researcher bias. One assumes you've read many nutrition threads here and noticed that posters have nutritional biases. One shouldn't need to mention that these biases are present in researchers, also. They're trying to prove a point which agrees with their beliefs. In fact, JAMA had a meta-study recently which concluded that, as far as those researchers could tell, all nutritional studies are contaminated by researcher bias. IOW, don't trust anything that hasn't passed the scientific method test, meaning duplication and further testing by means of varying the inputs. Even then . . .

The problem of course is that doing research with one's own body is that the results won't be known until you're dead. You pays your money and takes your choice. But that's the way life works in general. One tries to make choices in a way which results in positive outcomes 20 years down the road. Sometimes you're right, sometimes you're wrong.

At 74 (and 70 for my wife and partner for 46 years), I gotta say that this data point's results have been excellent. 8 oz. of orange juice every morning. Stopped drinking fruit juice with lunch maybe 10 years ago. Tea or BCAA water with lunch now. Ovo-lacto-pisco vegetarians, sort of Med diet, almost all food organic. Lots of exercise. Little alcohol. YMMV.

wolfchild

Drinking fruit juices doesn't have the same health benefits as eating whole fruit...Personally I prefer to make smoothies from whole fruits.

KraneXL

Its the old adage "in moderation" that should apply here. Yes, anything -- even what's considered healthy and good for you -- can be bad for you in excess. Even too much exercise or exercising too frequently can do more harm than good.

I used to drink fruit juices instead of water. Sugar is and has always been my weakness. Even though my genetics protected me from obesity, that still does not mean someone is in good health. To reduce my consumption of sugar, I first cut my intake in half, then half again.

Last week I reduced it by 1/2 again. After that, I lowered my serving size by 1/2 so I'm down to 1/16 the sugar I used to consume daily. I still have a craving for sugar (mine didn't go away like some people claim), so I suspect it will always be a constant battle. Nevertheless, so Jack won't be totally dull, I give myself a treat of coffee w/sugar or a serving of fruit juice once a week.

Rollfast

Genetics have nothing to do with it. I was skinny as a rail until I was almost 13. A cheerleader carhop at the A&W got me pregnant in 1980. I ignored it because the prices were good and they had a jukebox.

And I could still outrun the entire high school football team I managed going around the gym until I hurt my foot. This was around 1981.

Rollfast

To summarize: The story goes that the first members of the Garden HOA violated the gardening clause and were kicked out. Then one brother murdered the other and the Hood was born. It was downhill from there.

Eventually we all die. Sorry to be Debbie Downer. Do what you feel is best for you but you still have no control over your final moment.

KraneXL

Rollfast

I don't have any diet root beer.

That looks like a credit or EBT card.