Put Down the Fruit Juice for Better Blood Pressure

Stop sipping juice if you want to keep your blood pressure in check.

All fruit products are not created equal, and a new study published in the journal Appetite shows that drinking sugar-filled fruit juices does a number on your blood pressure.

“Despite a common perception that fruit juice is healthy, fruit juice contains high amounts of naturally occurring sugar without the fibre content of the whole fruit,” the Australian researchers write in their study. That missing fiber helps slow your body’s absorption of the sugar in whole fruit form, which is part of the reason why eating fruit is better than drinking it.

The researchers looked at the association between juice consumption and blood pressure among 160 adults. People were asked to divulge whether they drank sugary fruit juice rarely, occasionally or daily. Those who said they drank fruit juice daily were more likely to have higher blood pressure compared to those who consumed juice occasionally or rarely. The researchers suggest that limiting juice may do the blood vessels some good.

The study size is small, so more research is needed, but don’t wait until then to consume more whole fruit—and less of its liquid form.