Tag Archives: Orange juice

19 Apr

Best Oranges For Orange Juice And How To Choose Them

Say what you will about Florida, it has continued through hurricanes and even the Great Recession to provide Americans with our delicious breakfast juice of choice; orange juice. Sticky sweet, brightly acidic, and full of vitamin-packed pulp, fresh squeezed OJ is about the closest thing to waking up on the right side of the bed that you can get to on a typical weekday morning. Of course, pre-packaged, commercialized juices like Florida’s Natural and Tropicana will always be easier to make, but will also never be tastier than juicer made fresh squeezed OJ. But what are the best oranges for juicing at home? Thankfully, there are several easily identifiable varieties of oranges that come as close to making ambrosia as humans can get.

The Best Oranges for Juicing

Valencia oranges, also known as juicing oranges, are one of the most widely consumed oranges in the world. Mostly grown in Florida and Mexico, Valencia oranges usually come with several seeds, but have also been cultivated in a juicer-friendly seedless variety. Known and prized for their very sweet, yet smooth, juice, Valencia oranges are easy to find year-round in grocery stores around the US. The easiest way to identify a Valencia orange is to look for a nice light orange exterior rind, a full circular shape and little or no indentation marking where the core of the orange is.

Much like other oranges, Valencia oranges are best juiced when ripe to slightly over-ripe, as this stage of the fruit’s life provides the most juice. The easiest way to tell if a Valencia orange is ripe is to look at and feel the skin and smell the core of the fruit. If the orange’s skin has a uniform, light-golden orange color devoid of dark spots, and the rind feels smooth to the touch, it is most likely a good fruit. If the core then also smells sweet with a slight burst of acid at the end of your prolonged sniff, it is a ripe fruit.

best oranges for juicing

Outside of the commercial United States, blood oranges are the most popular type of orange. Grown mostly in Spain and Italy, these slightly “discolored” fruits and even sweeter than Valencia oranges, and provide similar amounts of juice. Blood oranges are named and noted for their red-orange interior flesh, and their highly sweet and acidic taste. Blood oranges are easily identifiable, as their smaller shape and very rough and pitted exterior stand out among a crowd.

Of course, these characteristics make ripe blood oranges tougher to tell when they become ripe. The best way to see if your blood orange is ripe is to squeeze it first, as a ripe orange should give some, yet bounce back after being squeezed. Then, scratch the core and smell it. If it has a nice sweet smell with little bitterness to it, the blood orange is ripe and ready to put into your juicer.

11 Mar

Orange Juice Side Effects:Can You Drink Too Much Orange Juice?

Consuming too much of anything can have negative effects on the body, even something like orange juice, which is always touted as being so good for you. So many people begin their day with a glass of orange juice, but drinking too much can produce a number of orange juice side effects.

Too Much Vitamin C

Most people who drink orange juice do it for the vitamin C, which in the right quantities is very beneficial. However, 100-200 milligrams of vitamin C each day is considered to be all that the body requires and amounts of 500 mg or higher can be harmful. Too much vitamin C can cause damage to the white blood cells, which protect the body against infection.

Levels of Blood Sugar

Many orange juice products available have sugar or other sweeteners in them. Plus, the carbohydrates in a small serving of orange juice can slowly elevate blood sugar levels. So people who drink large servings of orange juice or several servings throughout the day may see their blood sugar climb rapidly. This is especially risky for people who are diabetic or pre-diabetic.

Energy Levels

Having energy levels that are inconsistent through the day is another orange juice side effect when too much is consumed. Drinking a large glass can make you feel full of energy soon after drinking it, but that energy can drop quickly as your blood sugar drops.

Weight Gain

Large glasses of orange juice that can so quickly elevate the blood sugar are big contributors to weight gain and even obesity. Since orange juice contains no fiber it is not very satisfying and causes the blood sugar to drop. This can result in craving carbohydrates and eating more.

orange juice side effects

Miscellaneous Orange Juice Side Effects

There are a number of minor side effects to drinking too much orange juice, which include:

· Indigestion
· Diarrhea
· Heartburn
· Ulcers in the mouth
· Upset stomach
· Increased stress level
· Bloating and gas
· Strong smelling urine

If you drink enough orange juice to consume over 6000 mg of vitamin C there can be some major orange juice side effects:

· Insomnia
· Back pain
· Vitamin B12 deficiency
· Cavities
· Copper Deficiency
· Jaundice

05 Feb

Health Benefits Of Orange Juice

If you had breakfast this morning, there’s a good chance you included a glass of vitamin C, antioxidants and fiber. It was all in your orange juice. Aside from being the most common fruit juice in America and an icon of the breakfast table, there are many health benefits of orange juice. Even with its popularity, these benefits are not always well understood, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service found.

Vitamin C

As most people already know, orange juice is an important source of vitamin C. But what they may not know is just how potent the juice is in delivering the essential antioxidant. Drinking two glasses of orange juice a day increases the body’s vitamin C content by up to 64 percent.

Orange juice is beneficial because of the protective effects it has on the body. A study conducted by Italian nutrition researchers found that subjects who received vitamin C through orange juice had better protection against damaging elements than those who were given a water solution fortified with vitamin C. With just one glass of orange juice providing 116.2 percent of the daily value for vitamin C, it is also an easy and cost-effective way of getting a dose of protection with breakfast.

Oranges and health benefits of orange juice

Other Orange Juice Health Benefits

Orange juice taken with a high-carbohydrate, high-fat meal—which describes the average breakfast for most Americans—has been found to be a good protection against inflammation. A study from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found a link between orange juice consumption and an improvement in diastolic blood pressure. This happens because of a certain plant pigment found in orange juice which improves activity in blood vessels. Orange juice has also been shown to reduce the levels of “bad” cholesterol in patients with high cholesterol, though the exact reason why has not been determined and more studies are being conducted.

Another health benefit comes from orange juice’s high fiber content, one of the key factors behind its ability to reduce cholesterol. Fiber also keeps blood sugar levels in control, making it a healthy choice for individuals with diabetes. It also helps keep cancer-causing chemicals from gathering in the colon, and reduces instances of constipation or diarrhea among individuals with irritable bowel syndrome.

For Americans who often perform woefully on meeting daily nutrition recommendations, orange juice can be an easy way to a healthier diet. An estimated 70 percent of Americans do not meet these requirements, but a four ounce serving of orange juice counts as a full serving of fruit.

Great for Children

Once thought to be bad for children because of its natural sugar content, which was believed to lead to obesity, orange juice has shown to be an important part of the adolescent diet. A study published in Nutrition Research in 2011 showed that for children between ages two and 18, drinking 100 percent orange juice improves diet quality and nutrient adequacy. Using data from the three-year national survey, this study found higher intake of potassium, dietary fiber, potassium and vitamins C and B6 among children who consumed percent orange juice. Of the children in this group, none tested below the Estimated Average Requirement for vitamin C, but 30 percent of children who did not drink orange juice fell below this requirement. For children who consume drinks with a high content of high fructose corn syrup, orange juice is a healthy and delicious alternative.

This study also discounted the idea that orange juice leads to higher risk of overweight and obesity among children. In fact, these children had lower levels of cholesterol than those who did not drink orange juice. Because orange juice also meets many of the goals of the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans, published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2010, you can feel good about making it a part of your everyday diet.