Is Orange Juice Healthy?

What could be better than a glass of orange juice at breakfast? We have been led to believe for many years that orange juice is one of the foundations of health in our daily diets and this popular beverage is served in many environments to be included with a "healthy breakfast". Did you know that not only is orange juice really just sugar in disguise, but unless it comes from an organic source that in many cases it also contains toxins that cause illness and disease? Let's find out why.

The following excerpt is from the annual conference of Consumer Health of Canada, 2002. At this conference, Sally Fallon, well-known author and educator gave a lecture about the food processing industry. Ms. Fallon is also known for her work with the Weston A. Price Foundation, a non-profit group whose mission is to "disseminate the research of nutrition pioneer Dr. Weston Price, whose studies of isolated non-industrialized peoples established the parameters of human health and determined the optimum characteristics of human diets" through education, research, and activism.

"In the processing, the whole orange is put into the machine. Enzymes are added to get as much oil as possible out of the skin. Oranges are a very heavily sprayed crop. These sprays are cholinesterase inhibitors, which are real neurotoxins. When they put the oranges in the vats and squeeze them, all those pesticides go into the juice.

What about the orange peel used for cattle feed? The dried left-over citrus peel is processed into cakes which are still loaded with cholinesterase inhibitors and organophosphates. Mark Purdey in England has shown these neurotoxins are correlated with "Mad Cow Disease" (Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis or BSE). The use of organophosphates either as a spray on the cows or in their feed is one of the causes of the degeneration of the brain and nervous system in the cow and if these components are doing this to the nervous system of the cow, there's a possibility they are doing this to you also. In fact, a study carried out in Hawaii found that consumption of fruit and fruit juices was the number one dietary factor for the development of Alzheimer's disease. The researchers speculated that the real culprit was the pesticides used in fruit—and concentrated in the juices due to modern processing techniques."

Still think orange juice is healthy? Consider this: because the majority of orange juice on the market comes from conventional sources that rely heavily on chemical processes and pesticides, you are much more likely to encounter this variety of juice than the pure type from organic sources. Even if you do drink organic orange juice regularly, just contemplate the empty calories going into your body and the sky-high amounts of sugar your pancreas must deal with - and remember, it takes an average of 10 oranges to make an 8 ounce glass of juice. You are getting all of the sugar and none of the fiber, pulp or nutrients (or in the case of juice with "pulp", you are not getting very much). How many people do you know who will sit down and eat 10 oranges at a time? Next time instead of drinking the juice, opt for a whole, organically-grown orange. Your body will thank you.