Choose 100% apple juice if you want to count an apple drink towards carbohydrate intake; Tropicana, Copella and Sainsbury's list 14.1–17g carbohydrate per 150ml for the products discussed here. A no-added-sugar juice drink or diluted squash may suit you when carbohydrate is not the aim, but the label alone does not tell you how much fuel it provides. Neither choice should be assumed to cover a whole marathon fuelling plan.
If you want apple juice alongside food or other fuel around a long training session, choose by the carbohydrate stated per serving. A 100% juice can make a measurable contribution, but its serving size still needs to fit the rest of your plan.
If you want an apple-flavoured drink without relying on it for substantial carbohydrate, compare juice drinks and dilutable squash by their ingredients and prepared-drink nutrition. Some no-added-sugar products contain sweetener and less carbohydrate than 100% juice.
Read the full ingredient list if an ingredient matters to you, and follow any dilution directions before comparing nutrition figures. If you plan to drink something around a run, find out during training whether that particular drink suits you.
Start with carbohydrate per serving, then check what is in the drink and whether its nutrition figures describe juice, concentrate or a diluted serving.
| Priority | What to check | Your needs |
|---|---|---|
| Carbohydrate contribution | Compare grams of carbohydrate per 100ml and per portion. Tropicana and Copella list 17g and 16g respectively per 150ml; Sainsbury's lists 14.1g per 150ml for its 1.75L juice. | I want to know what a serving contributes alongside any other food or fuel, rather than treating every apple drink as interchangeable. |
| Juice and sweeteners | Read the juice percentage and ingredient list. Tesco lists 50% apple juice and sucralose in its Grower's Harvest drink; the M&S Apple & Elderflower High Juice also contains 50% fruit juice and sucralose. | If I am choosing a no-added-sugar drink, I still want to know whether I am buying 100% juice, a juice drink or a squash. |
| Serving and dilution | Check the stated portion and the basis of the nutrition table. Sainsbury's lists 21g carbohydrate per 200ml carton; M&S lists 1.0g per 100ml after dilution at one part squash to four parts water. | A fixed portion helps me count what I drink. With squash, I need to compare the prepared drink, not the undiluted concentrate. |
| Hydration and routine use | Keep hydration separate from carbohydrate planning. The NHS identifies water as the best way to replace fluid lost through sweating and, for general dietary use, advises limiting fruit juice and smoothies to 150ml a day with a meal because they are high in sugar. | After a sweaty run, I want a drink for fluid replacement; I would choose juice separately if I also want its carbohydrate contribution. General juice guidance is not an individual race-fuelling prescription. |
| Ingredients around a run | Check sweeteners, allergens and whether a drink is still or sparkling. Ocado's M&S ingredient listing includes sulphites in its Apple & Elderflower High Juice. | I want to avoid ingredients that are unsuitable for me and find out in training whether the drink itself suits me around exercise. |
Tesco lists 8.4g carbohydrate per 150ml for its Grower's Harvest apple juice drink, while Copella and Tropicana list 16g and 17g per 150ml for their apple juices. The wording on the front does not replace the carbohydrate figure.
Compare the nutrition table per serving. Choose a lower-carbohydrate drink when that is what you want, not because its label suggests it will supply the same carbohydrate as 100% juice.
A 2015 review published in Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde discusses 30–60g carbohydrate per hour for exercise lasting 1–2.5 hours. Its higher, up-to-90g figure concerns longer high-intensity exercise and a mixture of glucose and fructose; it is not a target established for every runner. A 150ml portion of the Tropicana, Copella or Sainsbury's juices discussed here supplies 14.1–17g.
Count the juice as one contribution alongside the rest of a fuelling approach you have tried in training, rather than assuming a serving covers an entire session.
M&S Apple & Elderflower High Juice lists its 1.0g carbohydrate per 100ml for the diluted drink and directs one part squash to four parts water. Its ingredient list also includes sulphites.
Follow the dilution direction when comparing servings, and check the ingredient list if sulphites are unsuitable for you.
The NHS identifies water as the best way to replace fluid lost through sweating. Apple juice also contains naturally occurring sugars, so a serving has a different purpose from plain water.
Use water as your hydration baseline and consider a measured juice serving separately if you want its carbohydrate contribution.
These product examples show why the ingredient list and serving figures matter more to this decision than the brand name alone.
Tropicana Orchard Apple is a 100% pressed, not-from-concentrate juice with nutrition stated per 100ml and 150ml serving.
Copella Cloudy Apple is pressed apple juice with ascorbic acid listed as an antioxidant.
Two Sainsbury's 100% apple juices illustrate how bottle and carton portions change the amount you count.
Grower's Harvest No Added Sugar Apple Juice Drink is a juice drink, not 100% apple juice.
M&S No Added Sugar Apple & Elderflower High Juice is a squash intended for dilution, rather than a ready-to-drink 100% apple juice.
This 100% apple-juice option is relevant if you want to count an apple drink towards carbohydrate intake. It is lightly sparkling, so consider whether that format suits the occasion.
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The six 250ml portions give you a defined serving size if you want to count apple juice alongside other fuel. Check the pack's carbohydrate figure per portion and any no-added-sugar wording if that wording matters to your choice; do not assume a sparkling drink will suit you around a run without trying it in training.
No. The wording does not tell you its carbohydrate content. Tesco lists 8.4g carbohydrate per 150ml for Grower's Harvest No Added Sugar Apple Juice Drink; the Tropicana, Copella and Sainsbury's 100% juices discussed here list 14.1–17g per 150ml. Compare both the ingredients and the serving figure.
Do not assume that it can. A 2015 review published in Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde discusses 30–60g carbohydrate per hour for exercise lasting 1–2.5 hours, with a higher figure applying only under further duration, intensity and carbohydrate-mixture conditions. The 150ml portions of the 100% juices discussed here supply 14.1–17g, so count any juice within your wider, training-tested plan.
Use water as the starting point for fluid replacement: the NHS identifies it as the best way to replace fluid lost through sweating. Choose a measured apple-juice serving separately if you also want to account for its carbohydrate.
Yes. For general dietary use, the NHS advises limiting fruit juice and smoothies to one small glass of 150ml a day and having them with a meal because they are high in sugar. That public-health advice is not an individual marathon-race fuelling prescription.
Check the dilution direction, whether nutrition is stated for the prepared drink, and the ingredient list. M&S Apple & Elderflower High Juice directs one part squash to four parts water and lists 1.0g carbohydrate per 100ml diluted; its ingredients include sucralose and sulphites.