Friday, April 1, 2011

Diabetes and juice

Question:  I have heard I should avoid fruit juice since I have diabetes.  What about vegetable juices?  Can I have tomato juice and other vegetable juices?

Answer:  Both fruit and vegetable juices are okay to have if you have diabetes.  You need to be more careful with the portion and frequency of fruit juice because it has more carbs than the vegetable juice.  4 oz of fruit juice has ~15g carb and 8 oz. vegetable juice has ~10-15g carb.  Many vegetable juices are higher in sodium, so still be careful of the portion and frequency.  Try to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables to get all the phytochemicals, antioxidants, nutrients, and fiber they provide.

If you are going to drink fruit juice try to stick with unsweetened juices, 100% juice, or consider trying light juices which have sweeteners added to them in place of sugar to lower the carb content some.

 Always check the food label for carb content!

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