Calorie counter: fruit vs. fruit juice

There’s been some debate whether fruit juice should count among your daily recommended servings of fruit and vegetables. Experts agree that, while pure fruit juice does contain a lot of vitamins, a whole piece of fresh fruit is almost always the better choice — since juice is packed with the fruit’s natural sugars. Here’s how some popular fruits stack up against their liquid counterparts.

• ORANGES
  One 8-oz. glass of orange juice has close to 2.5 times the sugar and just one-third the fiber of a typical piece of fruit. The stats from caloriecounter.com: the small juice contains 112 calories, 0.1 g dietary fiber, and 20.8 g sugar, while the fruit has 45 calories, 2.3 g dietary fiber, and 9 g sugar.
• APPLES
  An 8-oz. apple juice has roughly twice the sugar but less than one-tenth the fiber of a medium-sized apple. The stats: juice has 120 calories, 0.3 g dietary fiber, and 27.2 g sugar; the fruit has 72 calories, 3.3 g dietary fiber, and 14.3 g sugar.
• GRAPES
  A glass of grape juice contains — once again — about 2.5 times as much sugar as the same volume of fruit (one cup of grapes), although with about half as much fiber. The stats: juice has 154 calories, 0.3 g dietary fiber, and 37.6 g sugar; a cup of grapes has 62 calories, 0.8 g dietary fiber, and 15 g sugar.
• PINEAPPLES
  An 8-oz. juice has not quite twice the sugar contained in the same volume of fruit (one cup of diced pineapple), with roughly one quarter the fiber . The stats: juice has 140 calories, 0.5 g dietary fiber, and 34 g sugar; a cup of fruit has 74 calories, 2.2 g dietary fiber, and 14.4 g sugar.

Verdict: If you’re not getting enough fruit and veg otherwise, juice is certainly better than nothing, since it does contain many vitamins and nutrients. But if you have the choice, go for a piece of fruit and (if you’re thirsty) a glass of water.