I'd like a glass of sugar water, please.

This is what you're essentially asking when you order a glass of juice.

And I AM talking about the 100% juice, no-sugar-added types too. When fruit juice says "no sugar added" it just means no refined white table sugar or high fructose corn syrup has been added. Fruit juice is pure fruit sugar (fructose) which is just as dangerous as refined white sugar. Without the fiber, the fructose is absorbed too quickly (and released into the bloodstream) and not digested properly. Because it is pure fruit sugar, it causes insulin imbalances. When insulin is irregular, children are more susceptible to ear infections, allergies and obesity. Fruit juice is extremely dangerous for adults as well if they are overweight, have high blood pressure or high blood sugar. Any kind of fruit juice just isn't good for you at all. An 8-ounce glass of commercial fruit juice contains about 8 full teaspoons of pure fructose sugar.

A piece of real FRUIT and a big glass of pure water is so much healthier.

I had a nice wake-up call about a month ago. My little ones are homeschooled, but they do attend a language immersion school twice a week since I can't give them that experience at home. I knew the school served fruit juice so when we signed up, I made sure to say something to the owner. Unfortunately that info was never passed on to the girls' teachers and they have been drinking fruit juice since.

My 4YO is a little version of me and can talk anyone's ear off about nutrition. But she's still 4... So when I asked her weekly if she said no to fruit juice, what do you think she said? "Oh yes, I always tell them no apple juice." *sigh* And I believed her because I'm a dork and had no idea eyes that adorable could lie so convincingly. LOL Not only were they both catching colds left and right (which was unusual)... The wake-up-call happened when, for the first time EVER, both of them got ear infections! They had NEVER had them before and they were BAD infections. :-( Luckily I contacted our naturopath and both of the girls healed naturally with out the need for antibiotics... which was awesome, considering the severety of their infections.

Needless to say, after a very detailed discussion with the teachers, the girls do NOT get juice anymore.