Orange Juice - is it done?

Nice read about orange juice and its decline, include pest wiping out much of the crop.

I stopped drinking OJ long ago, way before I found out how modern “not from concentrate” OJ is made.

TL:DR - juice is squeezed, stored in large tanks with oxygen removed (up to a year), flavoring reintroduced.

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Also a good source of information: Squeezed: What You Don’t Know About Orange Juice.

I haven’t bought juice from the store in many, many years. Every morning, it’s a fresh pressed citrus combination or a blend of something through the juicer. That stuff in the cartons and bottles isn’t worth the container it’s in.

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The author of Squeezed is interviewed in the video. Good stuff.

A couple of stores around me still squeeze their own. Which I buy, with the understanding that the quality and taste will vary depending on the oranges they have.

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I have nothing against orange juice per se, but I haven’t thought to drink a glass in decades. If I do, it is fresh squeezed, or the last/least worst of the drink options at the work lunch. I still see so many different varieties of orange juices (blends, whatever) at the market, and I haven’t really thought the fact that I don’t see many people putting them in their carts. With so many drink options, nothing wrong with moving on. It is a good base though to add other juices to make different drinks.

I’ve always preferred grapefruit juice to OJ, as I find the latter too sweet, and can’t remember the last time I’ve bought any from the store. Probz as a mixer for sangria.

But it really tastes its best right after brushing your teeth :wink:

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I loved grapefruit juice. It was my preferred citrus drink. Can’t do it now; messes up BP meds.

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Ah, that’s a shame. A buddy of ours has the same issue.

When I read up on it, it appears that grapefruit juice affects a bunch of meds, not just the one I’m taking. Something blocks the metabolism of the drug, resulting in a much higher concentration of it in the bloodstream for a longer period of time.

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Well, dang! Better be safe than sorry, for sure!!!

It’s not just grapefruit juice too. Citrus juice can interfere or interact with certain allergy medications and other meds too. Something with those darn citrus! If you consume a lot of citrus and are on regular meds for something, always good to check for drug interactions.

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Components of grapefruit juice are inhibitors of Cyp3A4 which is one of the main enzymes to reduce the levels of foreign compounds in your body (including drugs). Not all citrus fruits have furanocoumarins but some like limes have some levels which can cause problems

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That’s it!! I did read a story about an elderly, poor woman who could not afford the maximum dose of a needed medication. The medication was one that interacted with Cyp3A4, so they got the medically desired dosage into her by using grapefruit juice.