Until a few years back when I had what I call my “food conversion“, I thought that if I was giving my kids 100% fruit juice, possibly cut back with half water, then I was doing a good thing. After all, many juices have 100% of the daily requirement of vitamin C…
That must all be good, right?
No. Juice has too much sugar. If you want your kids to have some fruit juice, let them get it while they're eating a piece of fruit, which is how it comes in nature. Then all the fiber is there to slow down that insulin response, and all the other nutrients are still where God put them, too. With processed juice from the store, they're getting a straight shot of sugar, with synthetic nutrients added back in.
So you're wondering: do we ever give our kids juice?
Rarely. Only for special occasions, when we're having friends over or if we go somewhere. Of course, never the kind with high fructose corn syrup, though, we buy only organic juice if we get it at all. I still cut it way back with some water for our toddler who is young enough not to know or care, and we never give it as a breakfast drink.
So what do we give our kids to drink?
Our kids have milk, water, kefir soda, or kombucha. This doesn't mean they don't still beg for the other stuff now and then, but when the answer is always no (or if it's not here), they eventually stop asking. Besides, they know we're not Nazi's about it, they always get a special drink like juice (or even pop, but it kills me), if we're at Grandma's or somewhere else special.
UPDATE:
I need to clarify something and let you know there is one time that a little juice is totally OK in my book: when you're using it to get your kids to take their cod liver oil! Or if you're adding it 1/3 strength when making kefir soda!
LET ME HEAR FROM YOU
This is one of those things that I thought everyone knew, until reading on a forum the other day, a Mom said she hadn't heard this before. What about you? Is this one difficult for you to change your thinking on? Or have you limited your kid's juice intake for years? I'm curious, comment below!
- Be sure to read the comments at this post on soda pop dangers, where some healthier beverage alternatives are discussed.
- More ROOKIE TIPS
- Plastic water bottles/5 plastics safety tips
- School Lunches – Healthy Alternatives
- Healthy Breakfast Ideas
Kelly says
Vera,
First of all, I’ll respond to your email as soon as I can.
For those that don’t know, Vera is 16 and trying her best to eat healthy when she’s not the one that buys the groceries, what a great teen, and what a daunting task! Imagine how healthy your kids will be someday, Vera!!
OK, first of all, regarding nitrates, check out the comments here for some new insight on those: https://kellythekitchenkop.com/category/hot-dogs-healthy-version
That’s too bad about your teeth, I think you could see drastic improvements if you were able to go to a totally whole foods diet, but since that will be tricky until you’re buying your own food, for now, read this post from Ann Marie, and maybe there are smaller changes you could make. https://www.cheeseslave.com/2007/11/07/curing-cavities-with-nutrition/
Can you get some cod liver oil? Then drink the healthiest milk you can find: https://kellythekitchenkop.com/2008/02/healthy-milk.html
And try to save leftover bones from dinner and make some bone broth! You could make some chicken soup for you family and they would love it! https://kellythekitchenkop.com/2009/01/homemade-chicken-noodle-soup-a-superfood.html
Hope that helps a little!
Kelly
Vera says
Every sunday my extended family flocks to my hosue and we have bagels, eggs, and bacon. I have been trying for years to switch my mom over to the “good” eggs, but that’s another story. After finding out about sodium nitrates/nitrites, I’ve cut down the bacon to only one piece, since my mom claims to not be able to find bacon without them. And because bagels are so unneccessarily large, I only eat a half (with a generous helping of butter). We also drink orange juice, so now I’ll probably cut it down to a teensy tiny glass or have milk instead.
Concerning the cavities, I’ve had so many. And my dentist told me that my enamel is almost gone. My mom says its because I used to eat lemons straight up, but now I think it might have more to do with juices and all the processed sugar I used to have.
Anyway, this next part is a bit off topic, but my dentist wants me to get a special toothpaste, provident I think, that has more fluoride in it. From your other posts about fluoride, I’m not all that happy. Are there any alterntives that will help out my enamel?
Kelly says
Lauren,
I agree – if you’re going to serve it now and then, this sounds like a great choice!
Kelly
Lauren Anderson says
All of these are very valid points and forgoing juice is certainly one way to go. My kids LOVE juice though, so I had to figure something out. Luckily, the market is starting to offer a few more options for healthy juice. One of these products, First Juice , actually has 50% less sugar than your typical diluted100% fruit juices made for kids. Each of the flavors also offers an excellent source of vitamins A & C, so all of us are happy! Plus, it’s organic, so I do feel better about offering it every once in a while.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Alyssa,
The tricky thing with kombucha is that it’s different every time. Sometimes it tastes like vinegar (ick) and other times it tastes like a yummy apple flavored pop. Sometimes my kids will drink it with a little water to cut the vinegar flavor some, or they just won’t drink much of one batch, but they’ll drink more of the next.
Or you could do what Julie said in the comment above, put it with some organic grape juice, although Betsy (see Kombucha posts) doesn’t recommend it.
Shauna, did you ever get an email from my new address??? If THIS email account doesn’t let me send you emails either, I’m really going to wonder what’s going on!
Michigan Mom2three says
We have kept our orange juice, but we have returned to the “miniature orange juice glass” that I remember being on my grandparents’ table. They had this tiny (4-6 oz) glass of juice, next to a BIG glass of milk and a cup of coffee. Seems reasonable to me. We’re also drinking the juice WITH a meal so that slows down the glucose. Other than that, it’s milk, water for the kids (tea for me often, or coffee). We also enjoy fresh pressed cidar made at a local farm “in season” we go through a couple gallons in a season, and it’s another one of our “seasonal treats”.
Shauna
Alyssa says
How on earth do you get your kids to drink kombucha? I have trouble drinking it sometimes, I cant get over the vinegar aftertaste. I get past it though because I know how good it is for me. I make it myself and let it go for about 14 days to get most of the sugar out. Do you have any sugestions as to make this more appealing? I use organic black tea. Thank you for any tips…
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Sue,
Have you thought about getting a juicer, and throwing whole fruits and veggies in to make a super healthy juice? I’m researching that a bit right now, and somehow I know I’ll end up wanting another new appliance soon…
Kelly
Anonymous says
What would you (or anyone out there) say to orange juice with pulp??
Sue E.
Anna says
I'm with you on the juice, Kelly, but you probably would have guessed that. I avoided juicy sugar water for about 15 or more years, after watching too many of my friend's juicy-cup toting kids get cavity after cavity. On an empty stomach, OJ gives me diabetic glucose readings in just a few minutes, so I am even careful with fresh-squeezed (yeah, I have dwarf lemon, lime, grapefruit, and Valencia orange trees). I think of bottled juice as quite similar to soda, no matter what the label says about the sugars or the fruit juice content. Many of these 100% juices have about 40 grams of carbohydrate per serving – that's ten teaspoons of sugar!
I did get a few jugs of juice at Trader Joe's for Gabriel's beach birthday party (apple, some sort of strawberry blend, and lemonade). I refused to buy individual juice packages. It's been so long since I have bought juice (last year's birthday party?) and I have been known to tote a gallon of milk even to picnic parties. I must have spent about a half hour in the juice aisle comparing labels. They're all so full of sugars, even the ones *marketed* as "100% juice" & "no added sugars". Imagine if I had reviewed the ones at the conventional supermarkets! I also provided a several gallon jug of water with a spigot and some bottles of sparkling mineral water, plus a jug of "sage water" which the moms really liked. Many of the kids drank water more than juice, and when the juice ran low, several kids were enjoying a cup of the fizzy mineral water with a splash of juice.
cheeseslave says
Oh and yes I am home. Just barely!
I’m done flying with Kate for a while. Ugh!!! 18-month-olds are a handful on planes. And our flight was delayed and took like 7 hours — horrible.
cheeseslave says
I have 3 lemon trees. Two are just regular lemon varieties — although I’m not crazy about them.
I just bought a Meyer lemon tree. Meyer lemons are the very best lemons in my opinion. It’s not giving fruit yet though — might be a while.
I have been lucky enough though to have Meyer lemon trees at two of the homes I’ve lived in in California. Which is why I bought one to plant here. I just wish it would grow faster!
I also bought a blood orange tree and a lime tree. Oh, and an avocado tree!
None are giving fruit yet, though.
My neighbor has a HUGE orange tree that gives tons of fruit.
Julie L. says
We add a little Meijer organic concord grape juice to our kombucha, which hopefully provides some yummy polyphenols as is richly dark-purple.
This time of year, we also drink unpasteurized apple cider (not organic, unfortunately, but “live apples” nonetheless).
Other than that, we do raw milk and water. Only occasionally do I grab a Meijer organic orange juice–only when on sale–and then it’s not an everyday consumption, just here and there. 🙂
–Julie L.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Hi Ann Marie,
Are you home from your trip?
Your whole comment was great, but I just can’t get past this:
you have your very own lemon tree???????????? I’m so jealous!
cheeseslave says
I agree — commercial juice is bad.
One good way to drink juice is to make homemade lemonade. It’s mostly water with fresh-squeezed lemon, some raw honey, and a pinch of sea salt. We make this a lot when we have lemons on our trees.
I also love fresh-squeezed carrot juice or fresh-squeezed apple/carrot/beet/greens juice. We drink this occasionally — it’s great for detoxification.
Our former nanny grew up in a rural village in Guatemala. She has perfect teeth and bone structure — she grew up eating a WAPF diet. She said that the only time they had Coca Cola and sweets was when they were able to get to a nearby town. They didn’t have any transportation so it was very rare that they got to go there. Maybe once or twice a year (?).
They did get sugar sometimes too when their grandmother made them the traditional hot chocolate — which I think she sweetened with sugar.
Anyway my point is she did drink Coke and eat sweets very rarely. So every once in a while, very rarely, won’t hurt. Her teeth are perfectly straight and white and she has never had a cavity — and she has a very wide face.
Of course, they also ate eggs every day, and chicken livers, and lots of bone broth. And they drank raw milk straight from the cow. And they never ate white flour. Only rice and the corn tortillas they ate were made from scratch — and the corn was fermented for 1=2 weeks.
Ann Marie
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Hi Beth,
I especially like that idea to use the organic juice for freezer pops – much better than the ones at the store with artificial everything.
And you reminded me, once a year or so we also might have some OJ with a big breakfast as a treat. 🙂
Kelly
Bamboo says
Hi Kelly,
We haven’t done juice regularly for at least a year, probably longer, but if the organic juice (in glass containers) is on sale I’ll grab one for other uses. These are some ways I use fruit juice:
-To make home-made jello as a occasional treat
-To make home-made freezer pops (they especially like the banana mango blend for this)
-To flavor smoothies (just a dash for flavor because I usually include banana for sweetness plus another fruit like mango and yogurt)
-If I give it to them straight it’s “just a taste”
-I put a dash of it in my ice tea (if it’s something like cranberry/pomegrant that is high antioxidant)
-Last time I made granola I put about 1/4 cup cherry juice to give it a little different flavor
That’s all I can think of right now.
Very, very rarely I’ll get frozen O.J., just because my husband likes it, and serve it with a hearty family breakfast when he’s home (or if he’s making omelletes, mmm). However, I haven’t been able to find organic frozen OJ and I’ve read that when OJ is processed that the pesticides get squished in with everything else before it’s strained (I’m sure there’s a better way to explain that!). So, I’ve probably only gotten it once since I found that out.
Beth
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Hi Rachel, I love new commenters, thanks for sharing!
Sue, tell your stubborn husband that he & I need to chat. 🙂
Anonymous says
Kelly, we have always limited juice, but ever since I heard this very thing about 4-1/2 years ago(and that it hurts digestion because we need to chew our food for the enzymes to work properly), I cut juice out of my breakfast diet (and anytime). However, my husband will NOT give up his morning juice, and so, the two boys drink it with him (my daughter doesn’t like it, and my 15 month old has not a clue what juice is!) The boys know they don’t get it at all any time the rest of the day.
Sue E.
Rachel Keller says
I enjoy reading your blog. (This is my 1st post, by the way.) Over the past few years, I’ve been trying to change our family’s eating patterns to reflect a more healthy diet. God expects us to take care of His temple!
Anyway, I agree with you about the juice. I have 5 children, and I quit buying them juice (and soda) years ago. That’s not to say they never drink it at someone else’s house. And I did buy 100% juice once for our “birthday month” (4 birthdays). But that was only because it was on sale and I had a coupon.
We all like the taste of juice, but we know water is better for us. I actually don’t like soda anymore, instead, preferring the taste of water. I am happy to say my children love fruit, and they don’t beg me to buy soda or juice.