When people eat a lot more fruits and fruit juice for 3 months, their sugar intake goes up by 40%, which might be a hidden downside of trying to eat healthier.
Scientific Claim
Increasing daily fruit and vegetable intake from approximately 3 to 8.4 portions for 12 weeks causes a 25% increase in non-milk extrinsic sugars (NMES) and total sugar intake in healthy adults aged 39–58 with low baseline intake, reflecting unintended consequences of increased fruit and juice consumption.
Original Statement
“Total sugar and NMES intake increased in the intervention group after 12 weeks on the study (approx. 40 and 30%, respectively).”
Evidence Quality Assessment
Claim Status
appropriately stated
Study Design Support
Design supports claim
Appropriate Language Strength
definitive
Can make definitive causal claims
Assessment Explanation
The RCT design with objective dietary diaries supports causal inference. The authors report the increase accurately without minimizing its potential health implications.
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (0)
Contradicting (1)
The study looked at how eating more fruits and veggies affects vitamins in the blood, but it never measured how much sugar people consumed, so we can’t say if sugar went up like the claim says.