Make orange juice! But, don’t throw out the pulp, of course.
The other day I bought a two-pound bag of navel oranges because Nick and I have been eating them like crazy. When I got home I realized I already had a two-pound bag of oranges …oops!
I quickly peeled ten oranges…….
(we put the orange peels in our compost bin by our garden)
…. and then we made orange juice!
Our ten oranges made about four cups of orange juice. This is exactly why I always tell my clients to choose the whole fruit and/or vegetable over the juice. I could have easily drunk two cups of this stuff, which would have filled me up far less than eating five whole oranges. Not to mention the effect it would have on my blood sugar, compared to that of five oranges.
Many juice labels will claim, “2 full servings of fruit in one cup!”
But what they don’t mention is that although it may contain the juice of two servings of fruit, and probably 100% of your vitamin C for the day, that doesn’t mean it contains all of the nutrients that two servings of whole fruit would provide. Half of the volume from the oranges we juiced was turned into pulp (pictured below).
The first time I posted about our juicer I talked about how delicious this pulp tastes, but I didn’t explain why it’s so important for health.
Benefits of Pulp
(Source: Superfoods Rx)
– Fiber! The reason the juice would spike my blood sugars so much faster than the actual oranges has a lot to do with the lack of fiber (specifical pectin). When you add the extra pulp to your juice, or just eat the whole orange, the pectin fiber will help blood sugars rise steadily and then fall steadily, thus keeping your energy high and your hunger at bay. Fiber is also great for weight management.
– Hesperidin, which is a type of flavonoid, helps revive vitamin C after it’s killed by free radicals. In other words, hesperidin strengthens the effect of the vitamin C found in oranges. More hesperetin is found in the pulp.
– There is twice as much vitamin C in the pulp compared to the juice
– Limonene, which is a phytonutrient found in oranges, is found mainly in the pulp and skin. Limonene may help stimulate our antioxidant detoxification system, thus helping to stop cancer before it can begin. Ummm…what more could you ask for?!
And we made popsicles with our OJ!
Stay tuned for my next post, where you will learn what we’ve been doing with the pulp.
Updates From Last Post: If you didn’t read the comment section on my last post, I urge you to. It’s filled with so many fantastic opinions and additional information on the topic of protein! I received a few comments about how it’s actually not very difficult to get plenty of protein when you are a vegetarian. I do agree with these comments, one hundred percent. These days there are so many fantastic vegetarian sources of protein, and I am certain that many vegetarians (and most vegetarians who read my blog) get plenty of protein. However, I would be willing to bet that on average most vegetarians, especially young ones with little knowledge about nutrition, do have a hard time getting enough protein. Have I done the research on this? No. I am making these assumptions based on my own personal experiences as a dietitian. I can’t help but put vegetarians in the category of people who may need more protein. But certainly this does not mean all vegetarians are lacking, and this lends more opportunity for dietitians and other nutrition experts to help out as much as possible.
Have a great weekend everyone! Any fun plans?
