Do you enjoy drinking fruit juice with your breakfast? While this common morning beverage may sound healthy—and taste delicious—it turns out that sugary, store-bought varieties can have serious consequences on your health, including weight gain. Luckily, that doesn’t mean you have to kick your juice habit altogether. There’s one other tasty option that your waistline will thank you for.
To learn more about the best type of juice to drink for weight loss, we spoke to Dr. Amy Lee, board certified doctor in internal medicine, medical nutrition and obesity medicine and partner of Nucific. Dr. Lee told us your best bet is to opt for green juice over store-bought fruit juice.
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Homemade Green Juice
If you want to lose weight, it's time to swap out your orange juice, apple juice, grape juice, and any of your other store-bought fruit juices for some fresh green juice—bonus points if you can make it at home!
Dr. Lee says sugary fruit juice almost guarantees weight gain. In fact, she says that "the conventional sugary fruit juices are the worst thing you can drink." This is largely because they're "oftentimes derived from 'concentrate' which is basically packed with sugar and put you at risk for weight gain." Whatever health benefits you think the fruit offers are surely thwarted by the negative effects at hand.
However, green juice is one great, healthy alternative. "If you have a choice, the best green juice is something you make yourself with a juicer," Dr. Lee says, noting that "juice made from fresh vegetables and fruits have much more minerals and vitamins." Nice!
Additionally, when you whip up juice in your own kitchen, you have full control over what goes into it—and, ultimately, exactly what goes into your body. This is great for weight loss. "What is great about juicing it yourself is the fact that you don’t have to add more sugar and/or preservatives, which are ingredients that are typically added in store-bought," Dr. Lee explains. All of those unhealthy ingredients are added to store-brought fruit juice in order to make it taste better and last longer, but, as we know, they can take a serious toll on your health and hold you back from your weight loss goals. Luckily, you can easily keep them out of your homemade juice and stay on track.
Dr. Lee offers one final word of advice for those who want to try their hand at making their own green juice: drink it ASAP! The fresher, the better. "It is important to know that the antioxidants and phytochemicals derived from fresh juices do break down due to oxidation or its exposure to air," she says. "So it is crucial to drink it as soon as you make it." Noted!
