The juiceboxes are gone

Welcome! Wow this summer is a hot one! Cleveland has seen several days in the 90's and little to no rain. With all the heat comes the constant thirst. When you're a kid- juiceboxes are a staple.

Gone are the days of handing Nate a cup of juice or gaterade or juicebox. His buddies mom's are now handing him water instead.

 It's not always easy. When the snack person after baseball hands Nate a cold juicebox or Gaterade he feels a little bummed- but it's filled with fructose!!! Not worth it.

Even without a fructose intolerance, as healthy as juice seems, parents need to be wary of doling out too much to children, especially during the summer when kids need plenty of fluids to stay hydrated.

Unlike water and low- fat milk, fruit juices and sodas are laden with fructose, a type of naturally occurring sugar that could trigger obesity in humans, said Richard Johnson, MD., the J. Robert Cade professor of nephrology in the UF College of Medicine.

"Studies in humans have linked drinking excessive amounts of fruit juice and soft drinks with an increased risk for not only obesity, but also diabetes and high blood pressure," said Johnson, also the college's chief of nephrology, hypertension and renal transplantation. "In terms of obesity, fructose actually may set you up to not turn off your satiety response, so you will continue to eat." Look at the ingredients below. When you're fructose intolerance you'll be hit hard with juice. HFCS and the natural fructose from fruit. 

(It's funny because in my son it's the opposite- fructose makes him sick- makes him loose weight. I've never seen an article or new report on that!!)

Unlike glucose, fructose does not signal the body to produce insulin, the hormone that turns sugar into energy and lets the brain know it's time to stop eating. Fructose actually seems to do the opposite - causing resistance to insulin and blocking the "do not eat" order from making it to the brain, 

So as we all know juice isn't the best to pass out to our kids on a hot afternoon, especially with a fructose intolerance.

Yay for water!!!