Why it is best to avoid all brands of conventional orange juice and how to transform organic, fresh or cold-pressed juice into a healthy breakfast beverage that doesn’t skyrocket blood sugar.
There’s no doubt that a glass of orange juice is firmly entrenched in our cultural psyche as an important part of a healthy breakfast.
Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth!
Let’s debunk the myth that a glass of OJ is the Holy Grail of a healthy breakfast, shall we?
Oranges: Heavily Sprayed and Highly Processed
Most people do not realize that oranges are a high spray crop.
In addition, the processing of the oranges at the factory into juice involves toxic chemicals as well.
Neurotoxic Pesticides
Manufacturers use sprays on citrus crops called cholinesterase inhibitors and organophosphates.
Both of these are serious neurotoxins.
When the oranges are placed into a vat for squeezing (the entire orange is used), guess what ends up in the juice?
You guessed it! Conventional orange juice is loaded with these pesticide residues.
Studies of organophosphates in cow feed have been linked to degeneration of the bovine nervous system and brain. (1)
Are these residues affecting you and your children like they are affecting the cows?
Common sense would surely dictate this as very possible. Certainly not a risk I would take with my family.
A study in Hawaii found that fruit and fruit juice consumption was the number one dietary factor in the development of Alzheimer’s Disease. (2)
Researchers conducting the study speculated that pesticide residues becoming concentrated in fruit juice due to modern processing techniques is the likely reason for the link.
Acid Sprays and Solvents
As if that isn’t enough, juice manufacturers use acid sprays and solvents during processing.
These chemicals extract every drop of juice from each orange.
This includes orange oil from the skin.
There is no doubt that every glass of “healthy” supermarket OJ contains traces of these toxic residues.
Consumers are unaware of these residues as the processing chemicals almost certainly present in trace amounts (but still health altering) are not present on the label. (3)
The moral of this story is that store-bought OJ is clearly not the healthy start to the day that conventional health experts would have us believe.
OJ Shoots Blood Sugar to the Moon
How about only buying organic OJ or freshly squeezing unsprayed oranges yourself?
Fresh pressed organic orange juice retains all the beneficial enzymes, nutrient co-factors and some of the whole food Vitamin C destroyed by pasteurization.
Cold-pressed juice is not as healthy as fresh-squeezed, but still better than more pr0cessed versions.
While these options are clearly better, plain OJ is so full of sugar that it really shoots blood sugar to the moon. This risks a blood sugar crash, cravings or a headache later.
But, at least you’re avoiding the cocktail of pesticides along with the fruit juice.
What to go a step better? Keep reading!
Truly Health OJ
The easy recipe for breakfast OJ below includes the addition of healthy fat to prevent a blood sugar spike.
You may use either organic pasteurized juice from the store (acceptable) or fresh-pressed oranges (best).
Another method for the most nourishing OJ is to transform fresh-squeezed into homemade fermented orangina or healthy orange creamsicles.
Note that the recipe below is also the best method for juicing fresh veggies as well.
The addition of healthy fat not only reduces the glycemic index but also boosts mineral absorption significantly.
Breakfast OJ Recipe
Easy recipe to boost the digestibility of your morning glass of orange juice that prevents the insulin spike and sugar crash later.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces orange juice preferably fresh squeezed
- 1-3 Tbl heavy cream preferably raw
Instructions
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Stir cream into glass filled with orange juice, ideally freshly squeezed for additional enzymes and nutrients.
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Drink and enjoy! It tastes just like a drinkable orange creamsicle!
Recipe Notes
Use coconut cream instead of dairy cream if desired.
(1-3) Dirty Little Secrets of the Food Processing Industry
We use OJ sometimes in the morning to make smoothies. Mixed with organic fruit and homemade, raw milk yogurt, raw pastured egg yolks, it’s not so bad. 🙂 Fresh-squeezed would be ideal, and I have a whole box of clementines we’re not eating fast enough so I might make some to go with our brunch today!
I get unpasturized oj in the frozen section at Whole Foods. (Also grapefruit juice). We don’t drink it very fast, just to help us get our fermented Cod Liver Oil down. I have discovered that over time it ferments in the fridge further reducing the sugar content and adding in beneficial microbes.
Does the sprays penetrate the skin of the orange? I can only get store bought oranges and thought if I cut them open and squeezed the juice out it would be okay. Is this a bad theory?
HI Grandma Betty, the way you squeeze oranges at home would be much safer and better than the way its done in the factories where the entire orange is squeezed in the vat so that all the pesticides on the skin get into the juice. If you wash the oranges carefully using a pesticide removing wash or soak them for a few minutes in the kitchen sink with white vinegar, water, and hydrogen peroxide and then cut in half and squeeze that way, that would be HEAPS better and safer.
Sarah, I know this is a very old post but I was wondering if you could give more specifics on the pesticide wash. Increments of the ingredients and how long you soak the fruit/veggies would be very helpful. Thank you! I’m learning so much frequenting your blog and I’m very grateful!
I just finished drinking my fresh-squeezed OJ. Now I know how much better it is than store-bought. I live with my 85-year-old mom and have been steadily improving her diet in an effort to give her the best last years that I can. Since we moved to Texas we have had added raw milk to our mostly organic produce and mostly grass-fed, pastured meat, but finding your blog has really opened my eyes. I’ve got homemade cream cheese and sour cream in the fridge and kefir on the counter. I’m working up to attacking grains in our diet, not that easy, but your easy-going, affirmative teachings are helping me to gentle into it. Thanks, Sarah!
On The Healthy Home Economist Facebook page, there is a thread of comments going around about this blog and a few of the comments suggest that this article shames folks who can’t afford anything but store OJ. I would like to say that any sort of judgement is, of course, not the intention at all in writing this article. It is simply an attempt to shed light on a very toxic yet very popular processed food and to suggest alternatives to those who have the budget and time for better alternatives. If organic orange juice or buying oranges and squeezing them yourself is not in the budget or schedule, then the best alternative is to not buy store OJ at all. It was meant to be a very simple message! 🙂
I haven’t been able to find organic orange juice so I can’t even remember the last time I’ve actually bought OJ. Dh brought home some regular OJ last week. Sure, it tasted great, but… Normally we just eat the orange :). I like to get the ugly *real* looking local oranges. Every once in while a dc will want some OJ and go through the effort of making a glass.
Same for lemon juice – I only buy organic lemon juice for the same reason you mention. Fortunately that’s inexpensive and readily available.
I had no idea! We’re not huge orange juice drinkers (mainly because of the cost… expensive!!), but this is definitely some food for thought! Thanks for the info! =)
I read that oj is often kept in large vats for up to, and sometimes more than, a year. They have to add flavor back into it, so that it tastes “fresh”. I hadn’t heard of the link between Alzheimer’s and fruit juices, though. Scary! Thanks for the article!
Btw, OJ and cream sounds really yummy!
I am going to have to try that cream and OJ, it sounds delicious!
Very interesting! Check out our video on how most packaged ‘fresh’ orange juice is made with ‘flavor packets’ http://www.parentearth.com “How to Drink an Orange.” Happy holidays everyone.