- A new study found that drinking about two cups of orange daily for 60 days has health benefits.
- Regularly drinking OJ may improve blood pressure, inflammation and blood sugar.
- The FDA recently lowered the natural sugar standard for pasteurized orange juice.
Orange juice has fallen on semi-hard times recently, with weather- and disease-caused crop reductions, a significant drop in U.S. consumption and the pressure of inflation on household budgets, all amid a regulatory makeover by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Florida Citrus reports that orange juice consumption has dropped by about half in the last 20 years. Causes cited include higher prices, crop damage and concerns over sugar content.
But folks who have stopped regularly drinking this particular citrus fruit beverage may be missing out on some significant health benefits.
Regularly drinking orange juice has an effect on genes inside immune cells, probably impacting blood pressure, inflammation and blood sugar, among other benefits, according to a new international study led by a team at the Food Research Center and School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of São Paulo in Brazil. The findings are published in the journal Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, which notes that orange juice consumption “modulates global gene expression.”
Oranges, per the study, are the “most widely consumed fruit worldwide, playing an important role in health promotion and in reducing the risk of developing chronic diseases.” They wrote that the study “reinforces the therapeutic potential of OJ by providing important and unprecedented insights into the molecular mechanisms behind the effects of chronic OJ consumption. It suggests that it may improve blood pressure regulation, lipid metabolism and inflammation, among other processes, by modulating gene expression, thereby contributing to cardiovascular health benefits.”
It’s worth noting, by the way, that some sources claim bananas are the most widely consumed fruit worldwide.
The researchers also said that their findings offer “valuable information for personalized dietary recommendations regarding the consumption of flavonoid-rich foods,” based on weight range. As Science Daily reported, “Researchers suspect natural citrus compounds such as hesperidin may be partly responsible. Even the gut microbiome may benefit.”
What research says about orange juice
The researchers had earlier noted that drinking 500 ml (about 2 cups) of orange juice a day for 60 days reduced blood pressure and body fat percentage. Body mass index seems to make a difference in the gene expression. Effects are stronger regarding fat metabolism in those who carry extra weight, while the impact is greater on inflammation in people whose weight falls into a normal range.
They also cited controlled trials that showed orange juice lowers insulin resistance and blood cholesterol levels, with potential effects on pre-diabetes and heart disease.
For this study, researchers tracked adults who drank that amount of pure pasteurized orange juice daily for two months, finding that genes that had been linked to high blood pressure and inflammation had become less active, including several that switch on “when the body is under stress.” One gene that was linked to how kidneys retain salt also became less active.
As David C. Gaze, a senior lecturer in chemical pathology at the University of Westminster wrote for The Conversation, “The new work shows that the drink does not simply raise blood sugar. Instead, it appears to trigger small shifts in the body’s regulatory systems that reduce inflammation and help blood vessels relax.”
Gaze included a look at a number of studies related to regularly drinking orange juice. He wrote that hesperidin in particular seems to impact how the body manages sugar and blood pressure and cholesterol. Hesperidin is a citrus flavonoid.
Per Gaze, “More clues come from studies that examine metabolites, the tiny molecules produced as the body processes food. A recent review found that orange juice influences pathways related to energy use, communication between cells and inflammation. It may also affect the gut microbiome, which is increasingly understood to play a role in heart health.”
Gaze concluded his analysis: “Altogether, the evidence challenges the idea that drinking citrus fruit juice is simply consuming sugar in a glass. Whole fruit remains the better choice because of its fiber, but a modest daily glass of pure orange juice appears to have effects that build up over time.”
FDA changes OJ standards
The FDA in July lowered the federal standard for pasteurized orange juice, a change that Newsweek described as being “aimed at giving U.S. citrus growers and juice processors more flexibility after years of crop losses tied to disease and severe weather.”
It was the first regulation change on orange juice in more than 60 years and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced the changes from Florida, renowned for its orange groves.
“President Trump is ending an outdated regulation that forced American orange juice producers to rely on foreign imports and an obsolete sugar standard,” Kennedy said. “We are cutting the red tape, saving the industry more than $50 million each year, strengthening American supply chains, and creating a level playing field for U.S. citrus growers — all while maintaining the safety, quality and taste Americans expect. That is America First policy, guided by gold-standard science.”
Under the rules, the juice will be very slightly less sweet — a difference expected to be undetectable to consumers. While the product must still be 100% orange juice, “the rule could lower some industry costs and help ease supply pressures that have contributed to soaring orange juice prices in recent years.” In the past, when orange juice was naturally less sweet, manufacturers sometimes had to import “high-sugar oranges from foreign competitors” to meet the federal standards.
Severe weather and citrus greening disease has led to oranges that are somewhat less sweet in some cases.
The rule change also slightly raises how much juice can be added from other citrus, including mandarins and tangerines — from 10% to 15%.
Per the article, “The change is expected to provide additional flexibility for growers and juice producers, as hybrid citrus varieties have generally proven more resilient to citrus greening disease than traditional sweet orange trees.”
There’s even speculation that the changes will lower the cost of orange juice.