Q: I've heard of a new prune juice that is really high in antioxidants. Is it better than orange juice and are there any other “super juices” worth trying?

A: No one juice is necessarily “better” than another. Each has various unique advantages, allowing you to tailor your choice to your needs...

Prune juice: regular digestion.

Prunes are simply dried plums, but the drying process means that the antioxidants in the fresh fruit are concentrated in the dried form. Of course, adding water, which you have to in order to make prune juice, dilutes this, but prune juice is still good for a variety of antioxidants. Prunes' best-known function relates to their ability to speed up our digestive system. The fruit and juice have this effect because they naturally provide sorbitol, the sugar alcohol that bulks up stools by getting them to absorb more water from the colon.

Pomegranate juice: reversing cholesterol build-up

It is not often that you get firm research on juices but scientists in Israel have shown that drinking only 120ml of pomegranate juice a day for one year decreased the size of fatty cholesterol build-ups in the heart arteries of patients. Researchers believe that this effect comes from the dark red pigments known as anthocyanins in pomegranates, along with tannins that boost levels of an enzyme called paraoxonase. This enzyme in turn breaks down cholesterol in the bloodstream, effectively giving your arteries a clean through.

Black grape juice: promoting good blood flow

Made from Concord grapes, this juice has a strong, sweet flavour with a deep blue-purple colour coming from a range of pigments including delphinidin, petunidin and malvidin. Concord grapes also give us catechins, plus resveratrol and many other super nutrients. These give black grape juice four times the total antioxidant power of orange juice. These antioxidants appear to help to keep arteries elastic and blood flowing well.

Orange juice: infection fighting

Oranges and fresh orange juice give us hesperetin and vitamin C. This super nutrient and vitamin work together as a team, with hesperetin converting vitamin C back into its active antioxidant form after it has dealt with and deactivated potential cancer-forming free radicals. Hesperetin has also been shown in tests to slow down the replication of several viruses, including the herpes virus that triggers cold sores and some strains of flu. Once again, heart health also comes into the equation. Tests reveal that this potent super nutrient also appears to restrict the liver's production of compounds that go on to make “bad” LDL cholesterol.

Cranberry juice: preventing cystitis

Best known for its ability to ward off cystitis, cranberry juice works because its tannins give the wall of the bladder and urethra (which carries urine out of the bladder) a non-stick coating that stops the cystitis-causing E.coli bacteria from taking a grip and setting up an infection. You need to drink 200ml of cranberry juice daily to benefit from this preventive effect. Sugar (or sweeteners) must be added to make cranberry juice palatable. Look for reduced sugar versions.

Fruitful juice: fact file

150ml of juice (the size of a small yoghurt pot) counts as one of your five fruit and vegetable portions for the day. Having more does not count as extra servings.

Most fruit juices provide around 50 calories per 100ml. Prune juice is the exception, giving us 175 calories per 100ml.

Vegetable juices can also be nutritious. Tomato juice is a great supplier of the red pigment lycopene. Good lycopene intakes have been linked with lower rates of heart disease in some populations.

Explore Food & Drink

• Gordon Ramsay

• Heston Blumenthal

• Recipes

• Wine

• Real Food

• Drinks

• Anjum Anand

• Eating Out

• Video Recipes

Times Recommends

• Top Ten most searched for recipes
• Chalet Chef 2010: the winning menus
• Gin and pomegranate jellies