26/10/2026
Fruit juice or whole fruit?
Fruit provides valuable vitamins, minerals, fibre and protective plant compounds. Different fruits can absolutely form part of a nutritious diet that supports our overall health and our eyes.
However, fruit also contains natural sugar. This doesn’t make fruit “bad”, but the form it comes in and the amount we consume can make a difference to how it affects our blood sugar.
When we eat a piece of whole fruit, its sugar is held within the structure of the fruit and comes packaged with fibre. We also have to chew it, and it takes time to eat. This slows everything down and helps the fruit to be more filling.
When fruit is juiced, much of the fibre is removed and the structure of the fruit is broken down. The sugar is much easier to consume and can be absorbed more quickly.
It also takes several pieces of fruit to make a glass of juice. You probably wouldn’t sit down and eat three or four oranges or apples at once, but you could drink their juice within a few minutes without feeling particularly full.
This applies to freshly squeezed juice at home as well as juice from a carton. Home-made juice may be fresh and contain useful nutrients, but it still contains the sugar from several pieces of fruit without most of the fibre.
What about smoothies?
Blending is different from juicing because the fibre generally remains in the drink. However, blending breaks down the structure of the fruit, and the smoothie can be consumed much more quickly than the same ingredients eaten whole.
It is also very easy to combine several portions of fruit in one drink. Although every ingredient may appear healthy on its own, together they can add up to a substantial amount of sugar in a form that is very easy to consume.
My advice:
• Be mindful of how many portions of fruit go into a smoothie or home made juice.
• Use water, unsweetened milk or natural yoghurt rather than fruit juice as the liquid base in a smoothie.
• Include protein and natural fat, such as Greek yoghurt, nuts, seeds or nut butter to slow the absorption of the fruit’s sugar.
• Treat fruit juice as an occasional drink rather than your main source of fruit or main source of hydration. Remember it’s a sugary drink!
For most of us, most of the time, whole fruit is the better choice. However, it still contains natural sugar, so be mindful of the amount you eat. Eating fruit as part of or after a balanced meal, or alongside some protein or natural fat, may also help to reduce its effect on blood sugar.
Follow my Nutrition For AMD page for more practical nutrition and lifestyle advice to help you support your eye health.
