Keen Cuisine: Juiced!

There's a reason orange juice is a breakfast staple. Oranges are rich in vitamin C and full of other antioxidants that help protect the body from illness. One orange alone supplies about 120 percent of the recommended daily amount of vitamin C, in addition to being a good source of fiber and the B supervitamin folate. Yet oranges have plenty of other goodies, including more than 60 flavonoid antioxidants. Best known may be hesperidin, but more important may be herperidin, which is found especially in the pith and skin of oranges. From countering diabetes to combatting the blood vessel inflammation that follows consumption of a fatty meal, oranges might be the ultimate superfruits. New studies continue to discover the benefits of whole oranges and their juice, courtesy of the synergistic mix of antioxidants in them.

• Insulin Booster The flavanoid antioxidants in oranges preserve the body's sensitivity to insulin and help prevent diabetes. Among the most significant is hesperidin, known to protect blood vessels, a special target in diabetes. Researchers now tracking insulin reactivity in overweight women consuming orange juice point out that preventing Type 2 diabetes protects more than the body; it spares the brain, too. Diabetes is linked to mental disorders such as schizophrenia.
• Inflammation Fighter Meals high in fat and carbohydrates—yup, that burger and fries—not only make you sleepy but put your blood vessels at risk. They unleash free radicals of oxygen that cause inflammation in the lining of arteries, increasing susceptibility to blood clots and heart attacks. Among healthy adults fed a high-fat, high-carb breakfast (sausage, home fries), those who drank OJ had the smallest increase in free radicals, compared to those downing water or a sugary drink.
• Pressure Points It's not just one but the rich array of polyphenol antioxidants in OJ working together that combats cardiovascular disease. While purified hesperidin significantly decreased blood pressure in healthy adults after four weeks, OJ had an even bigger effect, French scientists found. The drop in blood pressure not only protects the heart but the mind, preserving cognitive function. Studies show a link between hypertension and developing dementia later in life.
• Peel Zeal High cholesterol levels? Consider adding orange juice made from concentrate to your diet. Fresh juice is good, but concentrate is produced from the entire fruit, including pith and peel, which are loaded with even more antioxidants, soluble pectin, and essential oils. Brazilian researchers found that among hypercholesterolemic adults drinking 750 mL of concentrated OJ daily for two months, levels of low-density lipoprotein (bad) cholesterol decreased significantly.
• Gym Lift Drinking OJ may also improve your workouts. Overweight women enrolled in a fitness program who drank 500 mL of orange juice experienced an improvement in exercise ability, marked by a 27 percent decrease in concentration of blood lactate, best known for the muscle aches and pains exercisers get. The juice drinkers also had an increase in high-density lipoprotein (good) cholesterol as well as a decrease in bad (LDL) cholesterol.