Ask Dr. Sue

WHITE GRAPE JUICE


Dear Dr. Sue,

I’m confused about white grape juice.  I’ve been told that it is the juice to give when your baby has diarrhea.  Then just recently I was told to give it for constipation.  Does it work for both?

 

Dear Parent,

When your baby has significant diarrhea, the most important fluid to give them is a balanced electrolyte solution, like pedialyte.  As their diarrhea improves, however, clear fluids can be offered as a supplement.  Water is just fine at the point where diarrhea is nearly gone.  White grape juice is also often advised during this time, because of a study that showed that children fed apple or pear juice following a diarrheal illness produced three to four times more stool than those fed white grape juice, and were more likely to have diarrhea again if it had already stopped.  White grape juice is different than these other juices in that it contains no sorbitol, a substance which is well known to sometimes cause tummy upset and even diarrhea.  It also has an equal mix of the sugars fructose and glucose.  (Many other juices are higher in fructose.)  The higher glucose concentration allows more of the fructose in the juice to be absorbed into your child’s bloodstream, instead of staying in the intestine to ferment and cause upset or diarrhea.  For all of these reasons, I don’t think that white grape juice will help constipation much, except in the sense that any increased fluid intake is a step in the right direction in solving that problem!

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