Drink orange juice for a cheap and EASY HEALTH BOOST

We’ve been scared off fruit juice in the past few years, by well-meaning concerns about its sugar content and the fact that whole fruit is somehow better, but that’s an oversimplification.

Just one 150ml glass of orange juice a day counts as one of your five a day. It has a small amount of sugar, and is packed with vitamins and health-boosting, inflammationfighting polyphenols.

That small amount provides 84% of your vitamin C requirement, crucial for good immune health. And it provides even more polyphenols. These plant compounds are like hidden vitamins (they used to be called vitamin P), and they positively affect the health of our immune system, blood vessels and vascular function, and our brain.

Polyphenols are better absorbed in fruit juice than in the whole fruit. While a piece of fruit contains more polyphenols than juice, our bodies can’t absorb it all because even 1g difference in fibre between the two inhibits the absorption.

And if you think juicing at home is healthier – think again! You’ll get more polyphenols in a shop-bought glass of juice than you’ll get juicing at home because the commercial extraction process is really aggressive, taking the entire fruit, pith and all. Much of the polyphenol content is contained in the white of the fruit, the pith. Even the orange juice you buy at the supermarket will have more polyphenols than the orange juice you squeeze at home in your juicer.

So don’t be put off drinking a 150ml glass of orange juice a day – it’s an easy and cheap way to improve your diet. And if you’re worried about your sugar consumption, you’d be far better off cutting back on the amount of confectionery you eat — all those biscuits, cakes

and sweets.