I’m grateful to my friend Salina and now I have a better understanding on sugar and juice!

Does sugar cause hyperactivity?  No!

Following a review of 23 studies, a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that sugar “does not affect the behavior or cognitive performance of children”.

The age-old myth that kids misbehave when they eat large amounts of candy, cookies, and other junk food, could be related to the type of events where these foods are typically served.  For example, kids are more wound-up at birthday parties and during Halloween when sweet treats tend to flow freely.

Do sugary soft drinks lead to diabetes?  Yes!

The majority of health research is stacked against sugar-sweetened soda.  A large 2004 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that women who drank one or more sugary drinks per day increased their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 83% compared to those who consumed less than one of these beverages per month.

Is drinking fruit juice as good for you as eating fruit?  No!

Calorie for calorie, whole fruit provides more nutritional benefits than drinking the pure juice of that fruit.  That’s because when you liquefy fruit, stripping away the peel and dumping the pulp, many ingredients like fiber, calcium, vitamin C, and other antioxidants are lost.  

For comparison, a five-ounce glass of orange juice that contains 69 calories has 0.3 grams of dietary fiber and 16 milligrams of calcium, whereas an orange with the same number of calories packs 3.1 grams of fiber and 60 milligrams of calcium.