Fruit Juices for Sports Women
It is estimated that in normal temperatures, at least eight glasses of non-caffeinated, non-alcoholic beverages daily are essential for health. People who are into sports have even greater demands of fluid especially in warmer weathers. Good hydration of the body is essential for sports performance as well as individual health. Water is a common choice, but fruit drinks are also an option and have the added advantage of providing essential vitamins.
Advantages of Fruit Juices
Advantages of fruit juices include the following:
- Replace the stored muscle glycogen
- Aids in speedy recovery from the workout
- Provides carbohydrates
- Help beat the heat
- Help control high blood pressure
- Better protection against cancer and Alzheimer’s
- Boosts immune system by providing phytochemicals
- Provides antioxidants.
Unclarified and Clarified Fruit Juices
Unclarified fruit juices lack the looks of clarified ones, but they are more nutritionally rich than clarified ones. They have four times the amount of polyphenols than some types of clear apple juice. Polyphenols are natural chemical substances seen in plants and display antioxidant qualities. In the purification process for making clarify juice some of the important polyphenols are lost.
Varieties of Juices: Benefits
Orange Juice
Orange juice has a long history of being part of health diet. It is also a good source of Vitamin C. Citrus fruits like orange are rich in flavonoids, a class of phytochemicals that help control high blood pressure, boost the immune system and help in cancer prevention. Orange juice is also used to control kidney stones.
Pomegranate Juice and Prune Juice
Both pomegranate juice and prune juice belongs to that category of juices that have the highest antioxidant levels. Consumption of antioxidant-rich pomegranate juice can help prevent the onset heart disease in people and benefit those who are already facing coronary heart disease. Prune juice, provides the richest source of antioxidants among all fruit or vegetable juices.
Fruit Juices: Facts
Though fruit juices have high antioxidant levels, it is best to find antioxidants from a variety of sources. In addition, fruit juices are dense in calories. For example, a glass (eight ounces) of orange juice has about 120 calories, while prune juice has about 180 calories. Hence there should be a moderate approach towards fruit juices.
Fruit juices also lack the fiber of the actual fruits themselves. For the same reason, fruits should be a part of diet even though fruit juices are taken. Care should be taken to include a variety of fruits in the diet as in the case of fruit juices.