How do you get your vitamin C? Orange juice – you may say. Oranges are a good source of vitamin C, so orange juice would “naturally” be a great fit.
Many accept that statement as true and don’t question it, because it is such common knowledge. But is it? Do you know how many milligrams of vitamin C one cup of orange juice contains? Chances are you don’t.
Orange juice – hype about vitamin C
One large orange has more or less 60mg of vitamin C. When you juice two oranges (more or less this will give you a cup) you get approximately 125mg. The most common size Vitamin C pill contains 1,000mg. When you compare these numbers suddenly a cup of orange juice does not seem like such a “good source” of vitamin C after all.
Let’s say one day you become very health conscious and wish to have that daily 1,000mg vitamin C only from natural sources. To get that amount you need to drink about six cups of orange juice. Do you think that’s a healthy way of getting your required vitamin C and “naturally”? Think again. That’s like swallowing one 1,000mg vitamin C tablet together with 42 cubes of sugar. Suddenly when you have the facts straight that “common knowledge” certainly didn’t translate to common sense, but rather unhealthy nonsense.
By the time you juice and drink it the nutrients are gone
Furthermore do you really get all that much vitamin in a cup? Not even that. Most vitamins are light and oxygen sensitive. There may be 60mg of vitamin C in an intact orange, but after juicing it or in other words exposing it to light and oxygen expect a substantial loss of this nutrient. Vitamins are very unstable. Approximately half of the vitamin C of a thin orange slice is gone after being exposed to air for only 30 minutes. Be aware that cooling and storing can further promote loss of nutrients.
Breville, a high-end juicer manufacturer boasts that due to their modern technology their juicers keep maximum nutrient values. The Breville web page proudly states that their juicing process is so advanced that it can preserve 60% of vitamin C in their fresh juices. Well … I read that differently. What it really tells you is that juicing only leaves you with about half the vitamins compared to the whole fruit. So why trouble yourself with juicing? To get massive nutrient losses? And that’s a top-end Breville, what about your cheap Walmart or Target juicer?
Packaged juice scam
Did you buy your juice in the grocery store? Was it freshly squeezed this morning or it was sitting on the shelf for the last half a year? How much nutrients did it lose in that time? Oh, maybe none. If the juice was pasteurized there weren’t any nutrients to begin with. Check this link for some sobering information on how commercial juice is only a clever marketing illusion: http://nutritionresearchcenter.org/healthnews/is-pasteurized-juice-even-natural/
You’d be better off with coffee
Do you still think that a cup of orange juice is healthier than a cup of coffee? Think again! ORAC value of orange juice is about 720, a cup of coffee about 17,000. ORAC is a measure of antioxidant power. Higher numbers equal more antioxidants. So which one is healthier: orange juice or coffee? Coffee prevents cancers
If you still push orange juice as a breakfast beverage and shun your coffee what is your “health” reasoning behind it? Yes, but fruit is alkaline and coffee is acidic! Don’t you want to alkalinize? Coffee has a pH of about 5, which is moderately acidic, but orange juice pH is about 3, so strongly acidic it resembles stomach acid. I think you may start seeing things clearly now: far too much “common sense” in health nowadays is really just “nonsense”.
Why are you juicing?
I used orange juice just as an example. Nutrient loss during juicing occurs regardless whether you juice an apple, broccoli, or deep-green kale. Sugar content is not an issue with green vegetables, but they are just not palatable. So, again, why are you juicing? For nutrients? For health? For taste? Or to keep up with the Joneses?
Next part will delve further into the health value of juicing and juicers.
Go to juicing for health – part 6
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Yep, I agree!