“Fruit juice is more healthy than coke,” says one. “No, fruit juice contains just as much sugar as coke,” says the other. What exactly is true? Does blood sugar respond the same to both drinks or not? And how (un)healthy are these drinks exactly? We looked at our data and compared the average response to coke and fruit juice.

On average: a higher glucose peak with orange juice than with coke

If we look at the results, people get a higher glucose peak from a glass of orange juice than from a glass of coke.

The graphs below show the average difference in blood glucose – or blood sugar – in the 30 minutes before intake to 2 hours after drinking orange juice and coke.

The blood glucose difference is the change in mmol/L of the blood glucose compared to the ingestion.

A blood glucose difference of 1, as we see here with the orange juice, means that people experience an average increase of 1 mmol/L in their blood glucose after drinking orange juice. With coke, we see an increase of 0.5 mmol/L. This is therefore lower than the increase in orange juice.

Find out how you react to fruit juice or coke

The graphs above are about the average reaction to coke and orange juice. But of course you may react very differently. You can see this in your own graph, but also in the Food Score in our app.

We calculate a Food Score based on the response of your blood sugar level. This score is between 1 (poor) and 100 (good). The higher your blood sugar peaks and the longer this peak lasts, the worse your Food Score.

With a score higher than 70, there is not much to worry about. For example: if the score is 21, we will give you tips to improve your nutrition.

Is orange juice less healthy than coke?

Our results show that the average Food Score is higher for the coke than for the orange juice. Is orange juice less healthy than coke? Not necessarily, because it also contains vitamins and minerals. But orange juice also contains a lot of (fruit) sugars and little fiber. That’s why your blood sugar level rises.

How far it rises also depends on the amount. About 3 oranges are needed for a glass of orange juice. You easily drink the amount of fruit sugars of 3 oranges, while you will probably never eat 3 oranges.

So rather eat your fruit or only take a small glass of juice juice instead of half a liter of freshly squeezed juice from the supermarket. Or don’t drink sugar at all and choose for coffee, tea or water. These drinks have no effect on your blood sugar.

Is Diet Coke a good and healthy choice?

If you stand in front of the shelf in the supermarket, you will see a light version of every soft drink. These are soft drinks without sugar, but with sweeteners. These should not affect blood sugar levels.

This is also reflected in the average blood sugar values of our participants. The blood sugar level remains as good as right after drinking Diet Coke.

Is Diet Coke a good and healthy choice? For your blood sugar, it is a better choice than regular soda or juice. But don’t drink too much of this. Too many sweeteners are not good for your health and the acids in soft drinks are also bad for your teeth.

For your health it is always better to drink water, coffee and tea without sugar or honey.

Do you want to know what you should and shouldn’t eat and drink to keep your blood sugar stable? Then join Clear.bio.