Comments on: Orange Juice is Just as Bad as Cola. Really?

By: Christel

Christel — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:43:31 +0000

““It’s pretty much the same as sugar water,” said Dr. Charles Billington, an appetite researcher at the University of Minnesota. In the modern diet, “there’s no need for any juice at all.””

>> maybe “overprocessed” OJ….Dr.Billington should be ashamed.

By: staff

staff — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:22:43 +0000

@Carmelita – sounds delicious…send us pics when you pick the first batch.

By: Carmelita Caruana

Carmelita Caruana — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:15:15 +0000

I cannot give up my fresh squeezed orange juice when we have the wonderful Tarocco blood oranges in season here in Italy, in the months of January and February. I look forward to that time every year.

I don’t drink any other OJ at any other time of year, and absolutely not packaged juice. And a couple of months is only a little over 25 Saturdays or Sundays!

By: kelly

kelly — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:00:46 +0000

It’s not so much of the calories – you could reduce a lot of calories by reducing or staying away from meat and dairy products.

Fruit juice you make at home, from non-GMO fruits, have NO ARTIFICIAL sugar – xylitol, sorbitol, splenda, aspartame, whasoever.

However, fruit juice from any fruits or combination of fruits – can be deadly to diabetics. Normal people should really drink fruit juice with 40% freshly juiced vege — this combo prevents any likelihood of becoming diabetic.

By: Jessica Roberts

Jessica Roberts — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 11:50:12 +0000

When I walk past the juice isle (yes, one half of an ENTIRE isle at my Harris Teeter is allllll juice…and it’s directly across from the cereal/oatmeal. Nice product placement, eh?) in my grocery store I tell my two year old that the stuff is toxic poison…and that “wouldn’t you love an apple instead??” She agrees. I know that’s bad, and might possibly bite me in the rearend one day, but it’s worked so far. She prefers an actual apple (with the peel, mind you) or an orange to juice. Little victories!

By: Carol

Carol — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:54:59 +0000

I agree with watering it down (half & half), which is what I’ve been doing to juices for years. You get something more interesting than water, and some vitamin C and potassium, but without so much sugar. It actually tastes better once you get used to it — less syrupy, more refreshing, like a spritzer. Add a splash of lime for more flavor (and additional vitamin C). It’s definitely better than soda this way, and so easy to do.

By: Carrie

Carrie — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:41:27 +0000

Great post, thanks for highlighting this important health topic. I can’t believe that people can’t figure this out for themselves. I grew up with nasty juice from frozen concentrate…my parents should have just let me suck on a sugar packet instead. Now I reserve freshly-squeezed orange juice as a rare treat and my pancreas thanks me for it!

By: Carolyn Thomas

Carolyn Thomas — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:22:59 +0000

Verrrrry interesting. This is a sobering assessment of the remarkable success of the powerful citrus producers lobby. In fact, they have been so successful that in many families, mine included, pouring those little glasses of orange juice every morning has become a breakfast tradition for GENERATIONS. This is a strong habit to break – like telling consumers they ought not to eat turkey at Thanksgiving!

Will we be as successful in replacing that glass of sugar-water with a piece of fruit each day?

As the book ‘Squeezed Out’ reminds us, introducing the concept of daily orange juice was an initiative of the citrus industry specifically to increase declining sales of their fruit (because it takes so many more oranges to make one glass of juice).

No doubt, the citrus lobbyists will be all over Dr. Billington and his work!

By: TwinToddlersDad

TwinToddlersDad — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:56:40 +0000

I agree, OJ is far better than soda. But we do keep an eye on the sugar. One trick we have used with our kids which limits their OJ consumption is to offer it not as juice but as a frozen “ice cream”.

http://www.littlestomaks.com/2008/12/product-review-homemade-oj-ice-cream-cup/

Freshly squeezed OJ is the best of course. We do enjoy it on weekends sometime.

By: Dr. Susan Rubin

Dr. Susan Rubin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:31:08 +0000

Check out Squeezed by Alissa Hamilton and you’ll learn the unsweetened truth about orange juice.
Like chocolate milk, juice is another drink that helps to make your dentist rich!