Chance to win a £150 Waitrose voucher! Join a Q&A on fruit juice with nutritionist Fiona Hunter ANSWERS NOW BACK!

[AnnMumsnet]

Over the next week, we're running a Q&A about fruit juice with Fiona Hunter, a qualified independent nutritionist and member of the British Dietetic Association. You may have read a number of stories in the papers about fruit juice and have some questions about its role in the diet for you and your family. For example, can 100% juice be one of your 5 a day, what goes into juice, when is it best to drink juice and how much to help ensure my children have a balanced diet?

Fiona has a BSc (Hons) Nutrition Degree and a postgraduate diploma in Dietetics from Kings College London. She worked as a Registered Dietitian in the NHS for seven years and for the last 15 years has worked as an independent nutrition consultant, writer and broadcaster.

Post your questions to Fiona before 9am on Friday 12th December and we'll send over a selection to which she will provide answers. There is a £150 Waitrose voucher up for grabs for one lucky Mumsnetter who posts a question. We will post Fiona's answers w/c 12 January.

This Q&A is sponsored by Tropicana.

Is it better to have fruit juice before or after exercise? Can it help with recovery? Should you always dilute fresh fruit juice?

Why should we have faith in the answers given in a Q&A about fruit juice when it is sponsored by a fruit juice manufacturer ?

Are there any health benefits in concentrate?

I like fruit juice, but I really like vegetable juice. Given some of the sugar issues around fruit juice, is there a brighter future for vegetable juice? What are the comparative benefits?

I enjoy an apple & beetroot juice or a carrot and apple.

It's quite high in natural sugars though.

How often should we be having these juices? I happily would every day but I'm very wary of my sugar intake

Have two much older DCs and really think that fruit juices are less than favoured by dentists in this day and age! Should we be encouraging our children to drink veggie juices or just plain water instead given that they are likely to be less acidic on young teeth?

We've actually consciously moved away from even allowing the DCs one fruit juice a day!

I don't allow my children to have juice at all (apart from at parties) because I'm mean! I used to enjoy a glass of juice in a morning, but no longer have it, as I'd feel very hypocritical otherwise. Am I doing the right thing, or could I afford to be more relaxed about it all?

By the way, we all have plenty of sugar in other forms, but as my children enjoy eating fruit, I thought they probably get enough and therefore don't need juice as well.

Does cranberry or pomegranate juice have any medicinal properties e.g. for bladder health and alleviating cystitis or is it just a myth?

My son (age 5) does not drink juice, or in fact anything but water. (His choice) Does this have any negative implication, or is it, as I believe, probably the best plan for him anyway?

I'm concerned that the natural sugars in fruit juice will be contributing to my dd being slightly ovrtweight as she has 1:2 a cup each morning, could this be the case?

Some magazines advised that I should have been giving my DS fruit juice with every meal for vitamin C to help him absorb the iron in the meal. Is this correct?

How much goodness does the juice lose through pasteurisation? Why do you need to pasteurise it?

How much vitamin C is in a 150 mls of orange juice with 'bits' in? Or is it just better to eat a couple of oranges? Thank you for answering this.

Please can you confirm whether re nutritional information on fruit juice packaging relates to the actual product ie at the end of processing, as opposed to the raw ingredients at the beginning?

What is the best 4/5 fruits to blend together that provide good flavour and also give you a good array of important nutrients?

Thank you :)

Is it now a good idea to avoid fruit juice or not due to sugar content? Even if natural.

Which fruit juice is the healthiest?

How much juice is considered one of your five a day? and why is it that your five a day can't be made up of more than one portion of the same juice?

Do shop bought veg juices contain as much sugar as fruit ones ?

Also what is your opinion on juicing as method to weight loss or detoxing ?

When I was a child my dad used to prepare fresh orange juice from squeezed oranges and made all of us drink a glass for the vitamin C content. Does a glass of orange or another fruit from the supermarket contain the same amount of vitamins C of freshly squeezed fruit?

Question 1: Would drinking fruit juice through a straw help prevent tooth decay as an alternative to drinking it from a glass?

Question 2 : Why is most fruit free on Slimming World but fruit juice isn't?

Do 'juice drinks' (not pure juice but with added water and sugar) still count towards your 5 a day?

Is there much difference in nutrient content between cloudy "pressed" style apple juices and clear apple juice? And what is it that makes cloudy apple juice cloudy?

I'm severely allergic to banana and it seems to be just about every smoothies going (except one kiwi innocent one).

What would you advise as a thickener for a fruit smoothie without banana?