Flavonoids in Orange Juice Make It a Healthy Drink, Despite the SugarJuly 18, 2007BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Orange juice, despite its high caloric load of sugars, appears to be a healthy food for diabetics due to its mother lode of flavonoids, a study by endocrinologists at the University at Buffalo has shown. The study appeared in the June 2007 issue of Diabetes Care. Flavonoids suppress destructive oxygen free radicals -- also known as reactive oxygen species, or ROS. An overabundance of free radicals can damage all components of the cell, including proteins, fats and DNA, contributing to the development of many chronic diseases, including heart disease and stroke as well as diabetes.
"Many major diseases are associated with oxidative stress and inflammation in the arterial wall, so the search for foods that are least likely to cause these conditions must be pursued," said Paresh Dandona, M.D., Ph.D., head of the Diabetes-Endocrinology Center of Western New York and senior author on the study. "Our previous work has shown that 300 calories of glucose induces ROS and other proinflammatory responses," said Dandona, who is Distinguished Professor of Medicine in the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. "We hypothesized that 300 calories-worth of orange juice or of fructose would induce less oxidative stress and inflammation than caused by the same amount of calories from glucose." The resulting study involved 32 healthy participants between the ages of 20 and 40, who were of normal weight, with a body mass index of 20-25 kg/m2. Participants were assigned randomly and evenly into four groups, who would drink the equivalent of 300 calories-worth of glucose, fructose, orange juice or saccharin-sweetened water. Fasting blood samples were taken before the test and at 1, 2 and 3 hours after a 10-minute period to consume the drinks. Results showed a significant increase in ROS within 2 hours in samples from the glucose group but not in those from the fructose, orange juice or water group. "We were intrigued by the fact that there was no increase in ROS or inflammation following orange juice consumption, even though its glucose concentration was the same as in participants in the glucose group," said Dandona. "This raised the question of what in the juice was responsible for suppressing ROS generation: flavonoids and vitamin C or fructose?" An additional round of test on the samples showed that neither fructose nor vitamin C suppressed the oxygen free radicals. However the two types of flavonoids in orange juice -- hesperetin and naringenin -- inhibited ROS generation by 52 percent and 77 percent, respectively. "Our data are relevant to patients with diabetes," said Dandona, "because stress from ROS and inflammation are increased significantly in this population and may contribute to development of atherosclerosis. Clearly the choice of foods that either don't increase or actually decrease oxidative and inflammatory stress is important. "The search for safe non-inflammatory foods and diets must continue," Dandona stressed, "especially since obesity, being overweight and type 2 diabetes are associated with oxidative stress and inflammation, and more than 60 percent of U.S. population is affected by these conditions." The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, the largest and most comprehensive campus in the State University of New York. UB's more than 27,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities. The School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences is one of five schools that constitute UB's Academic Health Center. The University at Buffalo | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Related Orange Juice Current Events and Orange Juice News Articles Dietary factors appear to be associated with diabetes risk Drinking more sugar-sweetened beverages or eating fewer fruits and vegetables both may be associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, whereas eating a low-fat diet does not appear to be associated with any change in diabetes risk. First study to examine vitamin D insufficiency in pediatric patients with low bone density Vitamin D insufficiency is common in adults and is emerging in the world of pediatrics. A mild degree of vitamin D deficiency, also known as vitamin D insufficiency, causes rickets in children and can be treated with increased amount of nutritional vitamin D intake as well as increased sun exposure. A stronger heart with flavonoids A polyphenols-rich diet keeps the heart younger. This finding comes out from a study by the University of Grenoble in collaboration with the other Centres participating to the FLORA Project, a European Commission funded research studying the effects of flavonoids, a variety of polyphenols, on human health. Foods, not specific nutrients, may be key to good health In a recent academic review, a University of Minnesota professor in the School of Public Health has concluded that food, as opposed to specific nutrients, may be key to having a healthy diet. Kids still not drinking enough milk American children are drinking too little milk and what they are consuming is too high in fat, according to a Penn State study. A balanced memory network Ever wonder how much information we put in our heads" The answer: a lot. For starters, a typical vocabulary is 50,000-250,000 words. Sugary drinks, not fruit juice, may be linked to insulin Steady increases in consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages over the last several decades, as well as rates of Type 2 diabetes mellitus, led nutritional epidemiologists at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University and colleagues to explore the relationship between sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and insulin resistance, a precursor to Type 2 diabetes. Vitamin C offers little protection against colds Unless you run marathons, you probably won't get much protection from common colds by taking a daily supplemental dose of vitamin C, according to an updated review of 30 studies. Dietary calcium is better than supplements at protecting bone health Women who get most of their daily calcium from food have healthier bones than women whose calcium comes mainly from supplemental tablets. A new portable biosensor detects traces of contaminants in food more quickly and cheaply Scientists at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB), in cooperation with the CSIC, have developed a new electro-chemical biosensor which detects the presence, in food, of very small amounts of atrazine -one of the most widely used herbicides in agriculture and which also has very long lasting effects on the environment- as well as antibiotics in food. The biosensor is faster, more portable and economic than the expensive laboratory methods which are used to detect contaminants, while having a very similar sensitivity. More Orange Juice Current Events and Orange Juice News Articles |
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