Another Misleading Headline, Sigh

Here we go again. A study is reported with a headline that implies something other than what the study shows.

The headline is "New research finds drinking 100 percent fruit juice does not affect blood sugar levels." Hogwash! Everyone with diabetes knows that drinking fruit juice of any kind makes blood glucose (G) levels go up, usually a lot.

It turns out what they meant was that drinking fruit juice doesn't make the next day's fasting levels increase a lot. My what a surprise! I have a glass of orange juice for breakfast and my BG levels skyrocket, but by the next morning they're down to where they usually are.

But that's not what the headline said.

Furthermore, saying that 100% fruit juice is innocent  implies that fruit drinks with added sugar are not. No, they didn't say that, but most people would think that.

The study did find that those who drank the fruit juice had higher insulin resistance. Did that go into the headline? Of course not.


Then there's the problem that this was a meta-analysis, in which researchers combine results from many studies in order to get statistically significant results, which depend on the size of studies. Such studies have many problems, including how they select the studies for the meta-analysis.

A similar study was sponsored by Juice Products Association, which suggests even less credibility.

But the worst sin is implying that fruit juice has no effect on BG levels, whether the studies were similar or not. We all know they do.