Hacker News Reader

Hacker News

Comment by philliphaydon | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

philliphaydon

(That’s why I said fruit juice is bad for you)

But yes, I concur.

http://www.enzafoods.co.nz/the-company/technology/fruit-suga...

What do you give kids other than water?!?

View on HN

Here in gloriously over-protective Sweden, the word "juice" can only be used to describe 100% juice, no additives are allowed.

I think concentrate can have vitamins added to bring the result back to fresh juice's levels, but that's it.

Also, (cow's) milk is popular and IMO much better than juice.

Just in case anyone is worried by the suggestion in the sibling comment that dairy products are strongly linked to cancer and the evidence is being suppressed by the industry, here's what Cancer Research UK has to say on the matter:

> Milk and dairy are good sources of calcium and protein which are needed as part of a healthy, balanced diet. Calcium is important for teeth and bone health.

> Studies looking into the link between cancer and dairy products have not given clear results. There is evidence that dairy products could reduce the risk of bowel cancer, but we cannot say for sure that this is the case. There is no strong evidence linking dairy products to any other types of cancer. We need further research to find out more about the links between dairy products and cancer risk.

> Hormones in milk

> In some countries, a hormone called bovine somatotrophin (BST) is used to speed up or increase the production of milk or meat. In the UK and the rest of Europe, farmers are banned from using this hormone, and the import of meat from countries, including the US, where this hormone is used is also banned. This ban is on animal welfare grounds and not because there is any proven effect on human health. Independent health bodies including the European Union Scientific Committee have reviewed the evidence on BST and found it does not pose any harm to human health.

Yes, this is the opinion of an independent organisation. To quote Wikipedia: "Cancer Research UK's work is almost entirely funded by the public. It raises money through donations, legacies, community fundraising, events, retail and corporate partnerships. Over 40,000 people are regular volunteers"

Don't you see the possibility here that this organisation receives money from pro-diary individuals?

Also, I wasn't alluding to BST. Milk contains growth hormones naturally, because calves half to gain an absurdly amount of weight in a short time. We don't need to grow so fast as humans.

OK, I think you are you are perilously close to tinfoil hat territory if you think the findings of the UK's largest cancer charity is being warped by big dairy.

Especially since the NHS has nothing to say on the matter either, other than the reduction in bowel cancer from drinking milk is unproven.

Milk may be better than juice, but it isn't really well suited for humans either. The hormone mixture stimulates cell growth and helps a calf double its weight in 100 days, but what else profits from fast cell growth? Cancer. You will find a lot of studies that support this thesis, and you'll find even more studies denying it - but guess who finances the latter, in most cases it's the dairy industrial complex.

In the EU (which Sweden belongs to), giving hormones to dairy animals to increase milk production is illegal, so that was not part of my reasoning. In other countries milk might be less optimal then (but perhaps you get organic milk or something with fewer additives).

I wasn't alluding to BST. Milk contains growth hormones naturally, because calves half to gain an absurdly amount of weight in a short time. We don't need to grow so fast as humans.

In the US, its 100% juice that is protected, where they are only allowed to use juice if they claim that (not sure about fortification though).

The main loophole is White Grape Juice, which is very high in sugar and has very little taste. Its pretty common to include it in juices here in the US to bring the sugar content up.

Juice has a ton of sugar. You don’t normally eat 5-8 oranges, but you can drink that very easily.

Unsugared tea! My kid drinks fruit or herbal tea with no additives once or twice a day and otherwise only water.

> What do you give kids other than water?!?

Well, for my toddler:

Milk [0]. Cold herbal tea (generally, diluted chamomile tea.) The occasional yogurt + whole fruit smoothie. (The latter as a treat—either that or a cookie but not both—on grocery shopping trips.)

[0] which includes “chocolate milk”, which is approximately a 7:1 ratio of whole milk to ultrafiltered chocolate milk.

I suppose, what you do depends on the kids’age. During the day, you don’t really - have to - give them anything else other than water... I squeeze orange juice myself a few times/month. If I buy ready-made juice it’s always without added sugar, and I dilute it with water 1:1 when I pour it in their cups.

> What do you give kids other than water?!?

Lots of kids in England drink squash (maybe called cordial elsewhere?). It's sometimes referred to as juice, but it's much less sugary than actual fruit juice. Is that not a thing elsewhere?

Squash/Ribena/'Juice' is heavily sweetened with chemical sweeteners.

Ribena didn't used to be sweetened with artificial sweeteners - it used sugar. Unfortunately, in reaction to the UK government sugar tax, it now is artificially sweetened and tastes foul.

That's a big change since I lived in England.

There used to be half a shelf of "no added sugar" squash, and half a shelf of "no artificial sweeteners".

It seems there's now much less choice of sugar-only drinks, although they still exist. Several have redesigned bottles that look more appealing to adults.

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/shelves/Squash_And_Cordials_i...

In Japan most kids drink tea, usually barely tea.

Carbonated water.

Why put sugar in water? Water is great.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com