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Healthy Home Economist / Archives / Recipes / Breakfast Recipes / Breakfast Smoothie Recipes / Healthiest Way to Drink OJ (+ recipe)

Healthiest Way to Drink OJ (+ recipe)

by Sarah Pope / Affiliate Links ✔

Jump to Recipe

Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
  • Oranges: Heavily Sprayed and Highly Processed+−
    • Neurotoxic Pesticides
    • Acid Sprays and Solvents
  • OJ Shoots Blood Sugar to the Moon
  • Truly Health OJ
  • Breakfast OJ Recipe+−
    • Ingredients
    • Instructions
    • Recipe Notes

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.

5 from 1 vote
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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.

Prep Time 1 minute
Servings 8 ounces
Author Sarah Pope

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces orange juice preferably fresh squeezed
  • 1-3 Tbl heavy cream preferably raw

Instructions

  1. Stir cream into glass filled with orange juice, ideally freshly squeezed for additional enzymes and nutrients.

  2. Drink and enjoy! It tastes just like a drinkable orange creamsicle!

Recipe Notes

Use coconut cream instead of dairy cream if desired.

References

(1-3) Dirty Little Secrets of the Food Processing Industry

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Category: Beverage Recipes, Breakfast Smoothie Recipes, Breakfast Smoothie Recipes
Sarah Pope

Sarah Pope MGA has been a Health and Nutrition Educator since 2002. She is a summa cum laude graduate in Economics from Furman University and holds a Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

She is the author of three books: Amazon #1 bestseller Get Your Fats Straight, Traditional Remedies for Modern Families, and Living Green in an Artificial World.

Her four eBooks Good Diet…Bad Diet, Real Food Fermentation, Ketonomics, and Ancestrally Inspired Dairy-Free Recipes are available for complimentary download via Healthy Home Plus.

Her mission is dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. She is a sought after lecturer around the world for conferences, summits, and podcasts.

Sarah was awarded Activist of the Year in 2010 at the International Wise Traditions Conference, subsequently serving on the Board of Directors of the nutrition nonprofit the Weston A. Price Foundation for seven years.

Her work has been covered by numerous independent and major media including USA Today, ABC, and NBC among many others.

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Reader Interactions

Comments (61)

  1. Morgaine Donohue via Facebook

    Dec 5, 2012 at 11:23 pm

    Frankly, juice isnt really that good for you anyway. You should be eating your fruit, not drinking it.

    Reply
  2. Holly Sullivan Musgrave via Facebook

    Dec 5, 2012 at 9:43 pm

    We have orange and clementine trees and really look forward to the winter months when they are in season. They are almost ripe and we are so excited. As if about 6 months ago I started the family on raw milk and always have extra cream. So glad to know about this.

    Reply
  3. Holly Sullivan Musgrave via Facebook

    Dec 5, 2012 at 9:41 pm

    Thanks Ginger

    Reply
  4. Kiki Bacaro

    Dec 5, 2012 at 10:41 pm

    Last year I sat next to a Florida Orange grower and asked her if it is true about the orange juice sitting in vats for over a year and then “natural” flavors added and she said absolutely true!

    Reply
  5. Linda McNary via Facebook

    Dec 5, 2012 at 10:29 pm

    I can not drink OJ from the store. It makes me very sick. I can juice a orange and thats ok but being diabetic I perfer just to eat the orange.

    Reply
  6. Holly Sullivan Musgrave via Facebook

    Dec 5, 2012 at 9:15 pm

    My mom buys her dandelion tea on-line and its called Dandy Blend I think.

    Reply
  7. Holly Sullivan Musgrave via Facebook

    Dec 5, 2012 at 9:13 pm

    Sorry, OJ…

    Reply
  8. Holly Sullivan Musgrave via Facebook

    Dec 5, 2012 at 9:13 pm

    I’m sure everyone else knows, but what does the cream do to the IJ to keep your blood sugar from spiking??

    Reply
  9. Adam Brushaber via Facebook

    Dec 5, 2012 at 10:11 pm

    Ray Peat has something different to say.

    Reply
  10. Larry Johnson via Facebook

    Dec 5, 2012 at 9:53 pm

    Orange juice is not healthy for diabetics.

    Reply
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