I just watched a documentary where Lustig said sugar in fruit is fine because the fibre in the fruit means you absorb the sugar over a period of time, meaning the liver doesn't get one big hit.

No citation available, but I see far more people drinking fruit juice than I do eating fruit with the skin/fibre still intact.

Roughly 25 years ago when I was a kid, I remember drinking orange juice out of small 4" glasses with oranges on the side at diners and in homes. These glasses hold about 6 oz of juice, which is about 85 calories.

These glasses have been replaced by much larger ones. These days a 'small' juice is 12-16 oz, or 150-200 calories, which is just as bad as pop.

Portion sizes are growing with the collective waistline of America.

Fruit juice is no better than soda pop.

At least fruit juice has some nutritional value. You're right though that it still isn't a "healthy" choice.

The recommendation is about added sugars, which means sugars that are processed to remove all the fiber and everything else. Fruit is not added sugar.

I thought the fiber was good because it made you feel fuller and you don't eat as much, not that you somehow interacted with sugar to "disable" it. What's the connection?