A glass of fresh orange juice in the morning – good for you … and your wallet

[24 September 2010 - 08h30]

Drinking a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice in the morning is definitely the way to start the day. But for some people, something which in fact only takes a couple of minutes, is seen as a real chore. Yet this small effort is guaranteed to get your day off to a great start!

It’s best to use oranges that are either untreated or organically cultivated. Choose firm fruit with a bright colour and smooth skin. Stored in the vegetable tray in your fridge, their juice will bring a cool, refreshing touch of colour to your morning routine.

Oranges are known for their high vitamin content – especially vitamin C. An average orange provides 70 mg of vitamin C or 60% of our recommended dietary allowance (RDA). But remember, vitamins are very sensitive to light, heat and oxidation so drink your orange juice as soon as you have squeezed it. Which means squeezing your oranges each morning, not the day before. Less well known is the fact that oranges are also a valuable source of minerals and trace elements. And they provide calcium (40 mg/100 g compared with 10 mg/100 g for most fruit).

So… orange juice with or without the pulp? For some people there’s no question about it: ‘bits’ in orange juice are totally unacceptable! But that’s also a total mistake … the value of orange pulp is not to be underestimated. It is in this part of the fruit that most of the fibre and flavonoids (known for their anti-oxidant properties) are found.

Tasty and refreshing, orange juice is good enough on its own. There’s no need to add sugar. And given the low calorie content (unlike certain carton juices) and the cheapness of oranges, there’s really no excuse for not making sure you drink a glass each morning.

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