The honest answer is 150ml. One small glass. That is the NHS line on fruit and vegetable juice, and it is a lot less than most people expect. Juice counts as one of your five a day, but only once, no matter how much of it you drink.
I juice most mornings and I drink about that much. Not because I measure it out, but because I worked out what I was actually taking in and pulled it back.
Why the limit is 150ml
When you juice a fruit you take the fibre out and leave the sugar behind. The NHS calls that free sugar, the same category as the sugar in a can of cola. Your body handles it quickly. You get the calories without the chewing, and without the full feeling that comes with eating an orange.
Four oranges make about 200ml of juice. Sit down and eat four oranges and you would stop after one. Drink them and it takes under a minute. That gap is the whole problem.
Fibre is the part that slows everything down, feeds your gut bacteria and keeps you regular. If you want the longer version of what juicing does and does not keep, I wrote about it in is juicing healthy.
What 150ml actually looks like
It is a small tumbler. Not the tall glass you fill from a jug. Not a pint.
Cold pressed bottles from the shop usually come in 250ml or 500ml, so a whole bottle is already one and a half to three times the daily allowance for juice. If you buy those, pour half and put the rest in the fridge with the lid tight. It keeps for about 24 hours if it was pressed and sealed properly, and less if you made it at home.
So how much is too much?
Past 150ml, the extra is not doing anything your body needs that whole fruit and vegetables could not do better. It is extra sugar and extra calories. That does not make it poison. It just stops being a health habit and starts being a treat.
My own rule is one small glass a day as a drink. If I want more than that, I eat the fruit or I make a soup. Some practical ways to keep it sensible:
- Dilute it. Half juice, half water still tastes good, and there is less sugar in the glass.
- Drink it with a meal rather than on its own, which is slower and gentler on your teeth.
- Use a straw, then rinse with water. Juice is acidic and it is not kind to enamel.
- Lean on vegetables rather than fruit. Carrot, cucumber, celery and leafy greens carry far less sugar than apple, orange or grape.
Signs you might be overdoing it
Worth checking yourself against these. Any of them and it is a good moment to cut back.
- You are drinking juice instead of eating vegetables, not as well as.
- You are hungry an hour after a big glass.
- Your teeth feel sensitive, or your mouth feels coated after drinking.
- You are putting on weight while drinking something you think of as healthy.
- You are drinking more than one glass a day without really noticing.
Frequently asked questions
Is 500ml of juice a day too much?
Yes. That is more than three times the guidance, and it carries the sugar of several pieces of fruit with none of the fibre. If you like the volume, dilute it and build the recipe mostly from vegetables. Ours are mixed that way on purpose, including the ones in the digestion juices collection.
Does juice count as one of my five a day?
Yes, but only once. A 150ml glass of unsweetened 100% juice counts as one portion. Drink a litre and it still counts as one. Whole fruit and vegetables have to do the rest of the work, which is the point of the rule. More detail in does juice count as 5 a day.
Can I drink juice instead of eating vegetables?
No, and this is the one I would push back on hardest. Juice is a top up. Vegetables give you fibre, bulk and a slower release of sugar, and they make you chew, which matters more than people think. Juice goes on top of your veg, it does not go in place of it.
Is vegetable juice better than fruit juice?
Lower in sugar, yes, which makes it easier to fit in. The 150ml total still applies to both. Carrot, beetroot and tomato juice all contain sugar. It is less, not none.
What about smoothies?
A smoothie keeps the fibre because the whole fruit goes in the blender. The sugar is still free sugar once it has been blended, so the same 150ml combined limit covers juice, smoothies and vegetable juice together. There is a fuller comparison in juicing vs smoothies.
When should I drink it?
Whenever suits you. I do mid morning, after breakfast. The idea that it has to be first thing on an empty stomach is one of those rules people repeat without much behind it. If timing matters to you, I looked at it properly in the best time to drink juice.
Where juice fits in my day
One small glass, most mornings, mostly vegetables with a bit of apple or orange to make it drinkable. Some days I skip it and just eat the fruit. That is the whole system.
If you are starting out, keep the glass small and the recipes simple. The weight loss juices are built mostly on vegetables, so they suit a smaller daily glass better than the sweeter fruit recipes. For a general starting point, is juicing healthy covers what juicing is good at and where it falls down.