Is orange juice good for you?

• orange juice triggers the fat storage cycle
• Cristiano Ronaldo off-the-pitch hero of Euro 2020
• my “orange juice” routine

Is orange juice good for you?

NO.

(Don’t you hate when you have to read 3 paragraphs before you get your answer?)

Orange juice isn’t good for you because all the UNNATURAL modifications made to oranges make your body react unnaturally.

Even freshly squeezed orange juice confuses your body.

Let me explain.

…And tell you what I LOVE to do instead of starting my day with a glass of OJ.

Is orange juice good for you? NO… Reason #1

Oranges are stripped of most of their fiber in the process of becoming orange juice.

And fiber is KEY to unlocking your HAPPY weight.

Why?

Fiber fills you up naturally, so you don’t eat more than you need.

Think about that last bit:

“…so you don’t eat more than you need.”

In other words:

When you mess around with what Mother Nature creates, it’s easy – so easy – to eat MORE than you need… whether you take something away, like fiber. Or add something like salt.

Like, you’re going to eat more salted peanuts than raw peanuts that come straight outta the shell.

Which is why I always say:

Especially when we’re talking about something that arrives in it’s own compostable packaging and tastes perfectly delicious, just as it is.

Like an orange.

Or a peanut.

Orange juice and other factory foods make you eat more than you need

I mean, even the Cajun Nuts website states:

Perfectly roasted peanuts encased in a crunchy shell then coated with the perfect amount of spicy Cajun seasoning. One bite will have your taste buds begging for more.

This warning (?!) is a lot like the potato chip Pringles advert:

“Once you pop, you can’t stop.”

It’s taken me a long time to learn this but…

When someone shows you who they are, believe them.

Whether it’s a person, peanut or potato chip.

And don’t worry…

You can get used to eating an orange as easily as you get used to drinking orange juice

Just like the type of peanuts you prefer simply comes down to the type of peanuts you get used to eating.

So I say poo-poo processed food like:

salted peanuts
dry roasted peanuts
Cajun peanuts
& French burnt peanuts

as often as you can.

And get used to natural food, like raw peanuts instead!

Your body will thank you.

I’m not into orange juice at all

But I used to drink OJ all the time… before I knew all the stuff I’m about to tell you.

And you’ll LOVE eating food that ISN’T processed too, when you fully understand why natural food unlocks your H 🙂 PPY weight.

So ya. Let’s get back to the PURE magic of fiber and how it helps you eat what your body actually needs.

Orange juice lacks the fiber that fills you up naturally

Here’s a sub-par picture I sketched of an orange:

The 3 commonly eaten fibrous parts of an orange are the:

• pulp
• pith
• & segment wall

And hey, if you like eating the seeds and the rind… you do you.

A little orange zest adds a lot of zing to salad dressings and baked goods, right?

The problem is that when you:

buy orange juice, like Tropicana
make orange juice from frozen concentrate
or squeeze your own OJ, freshly…

the only fiber you get is the pulp.

That is, of course, unless you’re drinking the “no pulp” kinda orange juice

Duh!

(I’ve never actually  said “Duh!” in real life—not even back in the ’80’s, when people were wearing florescent tube socks, jelly shoes, shoulder pads, side pony tails, too much blush and feathered bangs held firmly in place with hair spray… and saying “Duh!” was cool.)

The thing is, the pulp, pith and segment walls of an orange take up space in your stomach, which fills you up naturally.

And extracting the energy and nutrients from fibrous food, like a whole orange, takes TIME, baby.

That’s a lot of work for your body to do!

But it also means that the energy and nutrients are absorbed into your blood stream slowly.

Which means you stay full loooooooooooooger.

The result?

Say it with me:

You don’t eat more than you need!

That’s right.

An orange eaten exactly as nature intended fills you up naturally and keeps you full longer.

Here’s a cute orange I cut open this morning to show you what I was trying to draw:

Oranges are bursting with fresh juice and are full of fiber that’s satisfying to chew. Yum!

Plus the pith (part between the skin and the fruit) actually has as much Vitamin C as the fruit itself.

Fiber face-off: an orange V orange juice

Fiber has no calories, it just adds bulk to your food.

Which is why after eating one orange you’re probably like:

“Yah, I’m good.”

And don’t reach for another orange.

But look at the tiny amount of orange juice a single orange yields:

Alex’s parents got that little red juicer back in the ’70’s.

They gave it to us (I don’t remember when) and we use it all the time to squeeze lemons.

But look at all the fiber that’s left after squeezing an orange:

I peeled the segment walls and pith out of the orange peel (not easy) and dumped the pulp, that was caught in the red juicer, onto the brown pottery plate.

(Isn’t it fun how techie we can talk, now that we’re all versed on the fiber found in an orange? If people overheard us in the school yard they’d think we were in our own secret club… Well, these terms were new to me anyways! Until I wrote this post.)

So all that remains of an orange that’s been juiced is… a whole bunch of good stuff!

I’m pretty sure every time you squeeze an orange, an angel loses her wings.

Why orange juice makes you consume more than you need

The truth is, because a glass of orange juice has had most of its fiber removed, either by you and your juicer, or in a factory, it actually takes between 3 and 5 oranges just to make one skimpy glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.

And so often a glass of orange juice goes down so well, people will raise their glass for seconds when the jug of OJ is offered ’round the table again.

(If you’re eating with real fancy people who observe formal niceties, like serving others before themselves.)

However… how often do you plop yourself down on a chair, peel one orange after the other and eat between 6 and 10 oranges in one sitting?

Full disclosure:
Before my eating was disordered I’d chain eat a few oranges at a time. What’s more refreshing than fruit? And oranges are a fabulous way to get energy after a long run—which I did often. (When I trained hard, the races were a little less stressful.) But even I couldn’t manage to eat enough oranges to make one decent glass of orange juice.

Bottom line?

Orange juice makes it harder to unlock your HAPPY weight

Check out her jean cut-off cowboy boots (pic above). Ah-mazing!

Is orange juice good for you? NO… Reason #2

One serving of orange juice has DOUBLE the concentration of sugar than the sugar found in one orange.

One orange has 12 grams of natural sugar found in it’s natural state (the sugar is embedded in fresh, natural fiber).

So as I said earlier, your body has to work to release that sugar in order to use it as energy. And releasing the sugar takes time.

Whereas one serving (250 mL) of orange juice has 23 grams of sugar—that’s not packed in fiber.

So that sugar hits your blood stream like a bat out of hell and your blood sugar spikes.

Please note:
This variety of orange juice (Tropicana), found at my local pharmacy (!) has NO added sugar… and still it has 23 grams of sugar.

Oh, and look at the label above again.

Fiber?

Zero.

I took tons of pictures. This must be a label on a “pulp-free” bottle of orange juice.

Pulp-free Orange Juice!

They even try to make it sound like a good thing.

Similar to the Condo they put up beside us that’s advertised as “Oven-free!” People rarely throw an easy meal together any more. Most of my walk with Rocky is dodging delivery bikes. I’m not joking. And when Rocky and I go out on a Saturday morning I see at least 3 people within a 5 minute walk from my home get McDonald’s dropped off at their door by a kid wearing a big, square insulated backpack. There’s a McDonald’s 2 blocks from our homes!! I guess cooking is out of the question when walking is like, such a nuisance…

Aren’t dog walkers nosy and gossipy just a wealth of information?

But, you know.

One must wonder what my neighbors think of me…

Rocky and his polka-dot tootsies certainly have better things to do than observe the behavioral patterns of urban-dwellers. He’s 15 + 3 months old and in this photo he’s shaking off a kiss… something else he doesn’t have time for. It’s a 3-legged shake-off! Not easy.

But in all honestly, choosing to put a baked potato with full-fat sour cream, a couple of carrot sticks and a salmon steak on a plate… is good for your body and also your wallet.

Just fry the salmon, chicken, tofu or whatever protein you fancy, in a little butter, olive oil, coconut oil or whichever natural fat you prefer.

The possibilities are endless!

And it’s a super-quick, all-natural balanced meal that meets ALL your nutrient needs… which makes you feel satisfied and BOOSTS your metabolism.

Your body LOVES natural food!

And if you have that 2nd glass of orange juice?

Which brings us to 500 mL in total… we’re looking at 46 grams of sugar.

Oh my!

Now we’re looking at MORE sugar than the amount found in a can of Coke (355 mL):

I’m not going to do the math to get the exact comparison of sugar in mL’s of orange juice to mL’s of Coke.

Why?

Because you’re smart.

You get what I’m on about. They both have too much fiber-free (!) sugar ready to be instantly absorbed.

And you know what happens next…

Orange juice, like Coke, triggers the Fat Storage Cycle

Remember the post I wrote before this one?

The one about the FABULOUS Ron Finley!

You’ll recall that when you eat sugar that’s NOT consumed in it’s natural state… like sugar that’s found in processed foods like orange juice (vs. natural sugar wrapped in the fiber found in an orange) the FAT STORAGE CYCLE is triggered:

The sugar in processed food, like orange juice, has a simple digestive process

Once the sugar is quickly absorbed into your blood stream, the sugar rush overloads your system.

So your body quickly stores the sugar (as fat) in order to return your blood sugar to a healthy level such that your bod (!) can function properly.

Then you have a sugar crash that triggers hunger and cravings… which makes you want to eat more sugary food. And so continues the Fat Storage Cycle.

Like I said:

When you eat things that are unnatural, your body reacts unnaturally.

Like craving sugary food for long periods of time!

The whole sugar rush and crash (Fat Storage Cycle) is super tough on your body 🙁

Fun fact:
It wouldn’t be fair to talk about Coke without mentioning Pepsi. Did you know PepsiCo owns Tropicana Orange Juice?

Is orange juice good for you? NO… Reason #3

Many orange juice brands are packed with preservatives and other additives your natural body doesn’t recognize.

Many even have added sugar.

Yes, it’s true!

Where do you live?

What variety of orange juice is available at your grocery store?

When you check out the nutrition labels, they’re all slightly different.

Here’s some words you might see that you’ll want to familiarize yourself with… though if you don’t plan to drink orange juice, these words are not so important.

…Like, I don’t plan on playing Dungeons and Dragons any time soon, so I don’t need to know any of the DnD lingo.

What’s a “Tiefling”?

Who cares!

[A Tiefling is a humanoid of demonic lineage (depending on the game edition) usually with horns, sharp teeth, and orb eyes.]

However, understanding what words like pasteurizing means will really help you put a nail in the orange juice casket.

Quick glossary of orange juice terms:

for those who want to be in the know

FROM CONCENTRATE
First the juice is heated up via steam. Then most of the water is removed from the juice using evaporation and pressure. And the final step is flash cooling the juice extract. The result? The concentrated orange juice extract:

• has a longer shelf life (so it can be consumed when it’s less fresh)
• is lighter (so it’s more economical to ship)
• & takes less space to stock in the grocery store

Clearly all these choices are made with your health in mind.

PASTEURIZED
During the process of concentrating the orange juice the juice is also pasteurized, which kills off any bad bacteria and also kills vital nutrients. Hooray! Nothing like pouring yourself a tall glass chock-full of degraded and de-stabilized nutrients. (Isn’t the whole point of drinking orange juice to get the ESSENTIAL vitamins and minerals?) This is what “pasteurized” means when it’s on a milk carton too.

For example, processed orange juice has up to 26% less antioxidant*. After being stored for a month, the orange juice then contains 67% less antioxidant. Some of the juice you buy has been stored up to a year.

*Antioxidants fight radicals within the body to prevent diseases like cancer.

BTW
That means: by the way (!)
Whether or not your juice is from concentrate or not from concentrate, it’s pasteurized. Unless you freshly squeeze it.

Other processed orange juice terms

…Well, there’s lots of other terms I could list but really, after learning what “from concentrate” means and what the process of “pasteurizing” does to the food you eat… do you need more convincing?

Remember… you stay hungry until you meet your body’s nutritional needs!

So you want to eat nutrient-dense food as often as you can, and stay away from food full of empty calories, like orange juice.

Bottom line?

Is orange juice good for you? NO.

But an orange is!

If you’re ready to let orange juice bow out of your life and make room for FRESH oranges, here’s the marvelous benefits you can expect:

The Vitamin C in an orange (including the pith!):

• helps fight cancer-causing free radicals
• makes it easier for your body to absorb iron (reduces fatigue, great for pre-menopausal women & those who follow a plant diet)
• is needed for serotonin production (a hormone that stabilizes mood, a feeling of well-being and happiness & modulates sleep)
• boosts your immune system
• helps your body make collagen (heals wounds)
• protects cell damage
• lowers blood pressure & cortisol (stress hormone)

One orange provides 80% of your daily requirement of Vitamin C.

Just one orange!

Oranges also:

supply other key nutrients
(like potassium & folate)
support gut health
(that’s the fiber!)
& are antioxidant superstars that provide anti-inflammatory benefits
(lower the risk of depression and help prevent weight gain)

What I do instead of waking up to orange juice

My morning routine is a bit of a dance.

It’s also boring!

But I swear I do about 50 super-quick jobs in just a few minutes… It looks like this:

scoop cat liter
turn on Alex’s computer
block Rocky from the stairs
put water in my empty 1.5 wine bottle (to drink throughout the day)
& water in the kettle (for a Breville latte), and in a pot (for steel cut oats) & Rocky’s bowl
brush teeth
give Gunther his cyclosporin (eye drops) + a treat (he has to chase)
put steel cut oats in boiling water & set timer
line up Rocky’s arthritis medications & Gunther’s other eye meds (he was caught in a house fire before we adopted him)
peel 2 oranges (one for Lx)
eat orange & 1 mg folic acid pill*
measure out Rocky, Gunther and Coco’s food for the day
feed Gunther (Gunther follows me around until this point)
around this time a very sleepy Coco appears and I put his food high on a stool so no one else eats it (b/c everyone else would)
put on Rocky’s brace and take him out to the park
& so on…

*The folic acid is to promote stronger hair & nails. It always comes in a container with 365 pills and I always wonder where I’ll be a year from when I start. (My start date is around Remembrance Day.)

I bet your morning routine is a bit of a whirl too!

But I love morning routines.

They keep the world on its axis 🙂

If I can’t do my routine… and in that exact order… well, I don’t want to even think about what could happen (!)

Everyone thrives with routine. Especially healthy eating and exercise routines!

There’s more than one way to skin an orange

Let’s remove all the obstacles between you and your daily orange.

If you don’t like peeling an orange, just cut it up into segments, slices, half moons or spearheads:

In a last ditch effort to get you to eat oranges I un-hung our hanging basket and forced it into this picture to make the orange against the purples POP! Don’t they make these oranges look even more appealing?

I love oranges!!

And now that you’re armed with this information, I hope you’ll also reach for an orange (instead of wasting time with orange juice).

Make Today Count

Choosing an orange over orange juice is a whole foods principle you can apply to any food choice.

Whether it’s apple juice, fish or french fries. Or steel cut oats (over rolled oats).

There’s always more natural alternatives to heavily processed foods! I LOVE this potato wedge recipe.

We eat it almost every Friday with fish. (I said I love routine!)

What’s one food you’re planning to eat today that you can, say, use butter instead of the more man-made margarine?

What about making your own salad dressing instead of buying one designed in a factory with a 2029 expiry date?

Building healthy eating and exercise habits. A healthy weight will follow.

Next Steps

All 3 reasons orange juice isn’t good for you come down to OJ leading you to consume more than you need. The first step to make change? Remember that you can learn to love oranges as much as orange juice. How about having 1/2 a glass of orange juice and half an orange to start? Ease into a new healthy routine!

Before you know it you’ll be craving the juicy segment of an orange and enjoy chewing your Vitamin C. All the while knowing all the work your body will be doing to extract nutrients from the fiber and all the work the fiber will be doing to keep your body healthy… without you really doing anything other than choosing an orange over orange juice.

Heck, all this magic can happen in your body while you’re Keeping up with The Kardashians (whose father defended OJ). Or if you’re exciting like me, keeping up with your neighbor’s food delivery habits.

Big thanks to Alex who found these two orange jump suits while on neighborhood watch a dog walk… which prompted this post:

I’m never wearing the one on the left again. It felt like walking around in a garbage bag on a hot day. But uncomfortably tight like an orange balloon.

Coco’s not always adept at reading the room…

…but that day he was spot on.

What about you?

Will you keep drinking orange juice?

Or are you ready to start getting used to craving a fresh orange?

Also… what’s the weirdest part of your morning routine?

 

Want a One-Day Meal Plan? It’s an example of what I eat each day These kinds of meals and snacks unlocked my HAPPY weight 21+ years ago (I lost 30 pounds without dieting!)

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Want a One-Day Meal Plan? It’s an example of what I eat each day These kinds of meals and snacks unlocked my HAPPY weight 21+ years ago (I lost 30 pounds without dieting!)

You'll also be subscribed to my newsletter. Don’t like it? Unsubscribe in one click

Want a One-Day Meal Plan?

It’s an example of what I eat  each day

These kinds of meals and snacks unlocked my HAPPY weight 21+ years ago (I lost 30 pounds without dieting!)

You'll also be subscribed to my newsletter. Don’t like it? Unsubscribe in one click