What are your thoughts? Orange juice vs. fresh fruit?

Nicole. · January 2011

Jake isn't that into fruit. He'll only eat raspberries and bananas (occasionally). He loves loves loves orange juice though. Can I consider that a serving of fruit??

emmyloustu · January 2011

I think fresh fruit is always preferable, but juice is better than nothing at all. Per the miminal toddler diet post below, Dr. Brazelton says either or is acceptable.

somethingchangd · January 2011

Here's what I just found:

?As a general rule, the more that happens to a fruit or vegetable between the time it is harvested and the time you eat it, the more nutrients is is likely to lose. Orange juice is a good example. Do not think for a minute that frozen orange juice is simply squeezed and then frozen. The companies that produce those little cartons extract the juice, pasteurize (flash heat) it, dehydrate it to remove most of the water, and freeze what is left ? the concentrate. When you you open the carton, you thaw the concentrate, add water, and stir . . .

Orange juice made from concentrate has somewhat less vitamin C than ?fresh squeezed? (which, unless squeezed in front of you, usually means treated with pasteurization but not much else), but a standard 8-ounce serving easily takes care of the daily requirement for this vitamin and provides ample amounts of others. The nutritional problem with juice of any kind is that it is extracted from the fruit pulp, which contains most of the fiber and the minerals (calcium, for example) and vitamins (like beta-carotene) that go with it. Overall, whole fruits are a better nutritional bet than juices, and fresh juices are better than frozen. When you see a juice labeled ?pulp free,? look for another option.?

If you are curious about how fresh fruit compares to fresh juice and juices made from concentrate, check out the numbers for an orange versus orange juice:

A fresh orange has 45 calories, 51 milligrams of Vitamin C, 2 grams of Fiber, 40 milligrams of Calcium and 70 milligrams of Beta-carotene.

Fresh orange juice (1/3 cup) has 45 calories, 50 milligrams of Vitamin C, 0.3 grams of Fiber, 11 milligrams of Calcium and 33 milligrams of Beta-carotene.

Orange juice from concentrate (one-third cup) has 45 calories, 39 milligrams of Vitamin C, 0.3 grams of Fiber, 9 milligrams of Calcium and 17 milligrams of Beta-carotene.

sommerrayne · January 2011

OJ has a lot of sugar in it. Of course they like that better! LOL Even if its 100% juice, its all of the sweetness condensed down into a liquid.

If I ever give DD juice (which is rare to begin with - just because she DOES eat fruit and I don't want to give her something to balk at), I water it down 1/2 and 1/2. Sure it makes it less appealing but that's ok with me.

Have you ever tried Clementines with him? They're seedless, SO JUICY, and small (their mouth sized). HUGE hit in our house.

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