Why Peach Juice Can Give You Diarrhea

Peaches are undoubtedly one of the most sumptuous fruits in the whole entire word. They ooze flavor and have a soft, and delicate texture that can send your taste buds wild. One amazing thing that derives from this delicious fruit is peach juice. This is one of the most popular fruit juices around, behind the obvious candidates such as apple, orange and cranberry juices. Like the fruit itself, peach juice has a wealth of nutritional benefits, that make it well worth considering when it comes to making healthy dietary choices. However, one thing small drawback that can often cause a slight amount of bother is that peach juice can cause diarrhea.

Why do fruit juices cause diarrhea?

Peach juice is not alone in causing what is a notoriously frustrating condition, in fact many fruit juices if drank in larger quantities can change the dynamics of your stools. The reason for this is due to something that fruit juices contain, the culprit's name being sorbitol.

So what is sorbitol?

Sorbitol is a sugar that the body cannot digest. If you are drinking a lot of peach juice, or even other fruit juices such as apple and prune juice, your body will react by trying to dilute the sugar. This is endeavored by using water from the bloodstream and sending it to the intestine. This extra water is therefore responsible for changing the constitution of the stools, making them looser.

This is the same for people of all ages, however with babies the problem may be more troublesome as their bodies are so small. May this be a warning to anyone who feeds their infants a lot of fruit juice, the consequences could be messy!

Peach juice nutritional benefits

It you are an adult who likes to drink peach juice, don't let this put you off, as this is really only likely to occur if you drink excessive amounts. I am not trying to put you off drinking fruit juices, quite to the contrary as they are loaded with the nutrients that your body needs. They are a much better alternative to other soft drinks such as fizzy pop.

Just to be clear here I will highlight some of the peach juice benefits that are well worth taking note of.

* Peach juice is loaded with vitamin C, in fact from a regular 500 g serving of peach juice you can get over a fifth of the total vitamin C needed in an entire day.

* You get a very healthy amount of dietary fiber from peach juice, from a 500 g serving you can obtain around 14% of the total fiber your diet requires in a day.

* You can get just over 10% of the total vitamin A needed in a day with a 500 g cup of peach juice.

One drawback - Calories

Calories are one thing that we all look out for in our diet, and due to the sugar that is found in peach juice, it is something that is not exactly low in them. There are approximately 330 calories in a 500 g serving of peach juice. This is quite a lot considering if you were to go for the fruit on it's own, you would be eating considerably less. In a medium sized peach weighing around 100 g there are just 38 calories.

In comparison to other fruits, and more so to the majority of foods we all include in our diets, the calories found in peaches are hardly anything to worry even the most avid calorie counter.

There is always an alternative of course, and that could be to dilute the juice with water. Of course it is not going to reduce the calories in the peach juice, but making a 500 g serving one part water and one part peach is going to halve the calories in that serving.

More information

So there you have it, drinking a lot of fruit juices can cause an upset stomach and diarrhea due to the sorbitol that they contain. One thing to bear in mind is that it is actually from the fruit itself, not some sort of added ingredient when making a fruit juice. However, due to the concentrate of the fruit that goes into making the juice, it is more likely to cause you problems than just by eating a portion of the fruit itself.

Eating the fruit itself is not only going to reduce the chances of an upset stomach, but is also going to ensure you take on less calories. So perhaps a peach and a glass of water could be less problematic than a nice refreshing glass of peach juice. The decision is yours and down to how your body reacts to the juice, and also how concerned you are as to peach calories, or those found in the juice.

-By Steve D Wright