Think juice is healthier than soda?

Think again.

When it comes to choosing between sodas and juices in the beverage aisle, the juice industry has long benefited from a health halo. Many people perceive juice as healthier than soda, but both beverages contain about the same amount of calories and sugar! An 8-ounce serving of juice or soda typically contains about 120 to 150 calories, primarily from sugar.

Juice comes from fruit, while soda is artificial. So it seems like the sugars in juice are more “natural” than high fructose corn syrup — the main sweetener in sodas. Most schools have gotten rid of the soda kids used to be offered, but lots of juice is still served.

Fruit juice has a fructose concentration of about 45.5 grams per liter, only a bit less than the average of 50 grams per liter for sodas.

The human body isn’t designed to process this form of sugar at such high levels. Unlike glucose, which serves as fuel for the body, fructose is processed almost entirely in the liver where it is converted to fat, which increases risk for diabetes, cardiovascular disease and liver disease. So not only is fructose bad for the teeth (as is any sugar) it’s bad for the body.

However, if we’re getting fructose from whole fruit, that’s a different story. The fructose in whole fruit comes with fiber, which slows down and reduces the absorption of the sugar in the body, serving as a sort of antidote to the negative effects of fructose metabolism.

While high fructose corn syrup in soda and food has become a focal point for researchers and public health advocates in recent years, there’s been less attention on the link between fruit juice and obesity and diabetes. It’s easy to think that drinking juice rather than soda puts you the clear. But that is not the case.

So what’s a juice lover to do with so many supersweet products on the market? If your child really can’t give it up, try diluting juice you buy at the store with 50 percent water. You can also make fruit-infused waters. Cut up some citrus or add a few berries to your child’s water, they’ll probably love the novelty of it! You can let them come up with their own versions for even more fun.

Ideally, giving up juice and soda would be a great step in your child’s overall health, especially when it comes to her teeth. In today’s culture, there are more opportunities for sugar consumption, hidden as well as overt, than ever before. Switching to water can be a relatively easy way to eliminate your child’s daily sugar intake.

If you’re still not convinced, take a look at this chart and you’ll see how fruit juice can be just as bad as soda.

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