Fruit juice 'shouldn't count in your 5 a day': Some brands have more sugar than cola says obesity tsar

I personally find freshly squeezed orange juice much more satisfying than the bottled variety.  I have an electric citrus juicer for the purpose


Fruit juice is so high in sugar it should not count as part of a healthy five-a-day diet, the Government’s obesity tsar has warned.   The public should even start watering it down to wean themselves off it, said Oxford professor Dr Susan Jebb.

Some brands of orange juice contain as much sugar as cola and should be taxed because of their potential effect on the nation’s health, she claimed.

Experts say shoppers are now getting confusing messages about food, with a huge range of products saying they count towards a five-a-day diet. Tinned fruit, children’s drinks and even spaghetti hoops are all claiming health benefits – even though they are said to contain potentially unhealthy levels of sugar and salt.

Juice drinks have been singled out as a particular concern – lacking fibre and other nutrients as well as being high in calories. Even pure fruit juice is said to contain a large amount of naturally-occurring sugar – but people end up drinking too much of it because they do not see it as unhealthy.

Dr Jebb, a professor of diet and population health at Oxford University, said: ‘I would support taking it [fruit juice] out of the five-a-day guidance.

‘Fruit juice isn’t the same as intact fruit and it has got as much sugar as many classical sugar drinks.

‘It is also absorbed very fast, so by the time it gets to your stomach your body doesn’t know whether it’s Coca-Cola or orange juice, frankly. I have to say it is a relatively easy thing to give up.

‘Swap it and have a piece of real fruit. If you are going to drink it, you should dilute it.’

A small carton of orange juice contains about two and a half teaspoons of sugar, while a large glass has five. A whole orange has just two teaspoons, but also contains far more fibre – about 3 grams compared to none in juice.

Fruit also makes people feel fuller, helping to cut down on the need for other snacks. Dr Jebb’s comments come after health experts last week urged firms to cut the amount of sugar added to food over concerns it is becoming the ‘new tobacco’.

In 2011, researchers from Leeds University and the University of Bangor also called for fruit juice to be discounted from a healthy diet.

They said it gives the public a ‘sweet tooth’ and discourages them from eating fruit pieces that are far better for health.

The ‘five a day’ campaign was launched by the Department of Health in 2003, with the aim of encouraging Britons to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables every day. Its guidance says smoothies and juices, plus tins of fruit and veg, can count as up to two portions. Oxford researchers have claimed that following the guidelines could prevent 15,000 deaths a year from cancer, strokes and heart disease.

But surveys have found that as little as a fifth of adults and one in ten children meet the target.

A poll of 2,000 adults by the World Cancer Research Fund last year  found that an average of 22 per cent of adults in England meet the five a day target. Figures ranged from 17 per cent in the North to 26 per cent in the South.

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Viagra pill for women that costs £12 and also helps you slim: Drug could be on bedside cabinets by end of next year

A viagra for women could soon be on the market.  In a development that sounds too good to be true, scientists are testing a drug that could boost women’s desire for sex – and also help them lose weight.

The pill, which is being developed with the help of the people behind Viagra, could be on bedside cabinets by the end of next year.

And if that isn’t exciting enough, the tablet could also help men.

With four in ten women saying that their sex life has lost its sizzle at some point, and Viagra already making up to £1.5billion a year, drug companies have long tried to create a female version.

But the strong psychological base to women’s libido means they have struggled to find the right product. Mike Wyllie, one of the team who created Viagra, believes the latest drug being developed by British firm ORLIBID could succeed where others have failed.

The drug, which acts on the brain to increase desire, is a synthetic version of melatonin, a hormone usually associated with tanning.  Melatonin also has a role to play in libido – and appetite.

Drug companies have long known that melatonin affects sex drive, but have struggled to find a way to package it in a pill, not a jab.  The new tablet form is more convenient and has fewer side-effects.

The pills could cause nausea, and regulators will have to be satisfied that they are not addictive.

However, it is thought that women could actually need fewer pills as their treatment progresses.

The company plans to carry out three studies to measure the effects on women, some in Britain. If they show it to be safe and effective, the drug could be on sale in the UK by the end of 2015.

Taken 15 minutes before sex, the tablets could boost libido for more than two hours. Studies of a jab with a similar formula showed it led to satisfying sex more often. Dr Wyllie, who is advising ORLIBID but will not make any money from sales, said: ‘It will be for everyone from those where female sexual dysfunction is destroying their relationships to those just wanting to spice up their sex life.’

It is hoped that at the right dose the drug, which has the working name ORL101, will restore a flagging libido to normal levels without ‘supercharging’ it.

And while the pills are designed to increase sexual desire, they may also curb appetite.

Pricing has yet to be decided but ORL101 is likely to cost a similar amount to Viagra, which sold for up to £12 a tablet when launched.

This means that it is unlikely to be widely prescribed by a health service still struggling to find cash for the treatment of some life-threatening illnesses.

ORLIBID will also investigate whether the drug, which acts on the brain, can help impotent men for whom existing drugs, which  target the body, do not work.

Paula Hall, a sex therapist with Relate, said that while women would buy a ‘pink’ Viagra, it will not fix a low libido caused by stress, anxiety or relationship problems.

Dr John Dean, a past president of the International Society for Sexual Medicine, said a drug may help when no medical or psychological cause of problems can be found.

He added: ‘Low sexual desire is by no means a trivial problem. It affects lives, relationships, productivity and satisfaction.’

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