DRINKING one glass of a popular juice could help slash your risk of seven life-threatening illnesses, research has revealed.
Key nutrients found in orange juice have been found to protect your immune system.
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Experts say you should drink no more than 150ml of fruit juice a day and this is the exact amount of orange you would need to consume for it to help quell inflammation.
Chronic inflammation can lead to crippling, often life-threatening illnesses.
These seven conditions include arthritis, lupus, bowel disease, asthma, heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and type-1 diabetes, experts say.
A new report into how hidden inflammation is harming our immune response, found that the vitamin C in orange juice can help play a protective and therapeutic role when it comes to our health.
Professor Philip Calder, co-author of the report and Professor of Nutritional Immunology at Southampton University explained its therapeutic role.
“Vitamin C affects inflammation by regulating cytokine production, and we know that too many cytokines can wreak havoc on inflammation status.
“Vitamin C also helps to increase levels of antibodies by supporting the growth of T- and B-lymphocytes, which are types of white blood cells that drive and direct our immunity response”, he said.
Vitamin C is found in a variety of foods such as citrus fruits, bell peppers and even white potatoes.
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You can also get vitamin C supplements if you think you don’t get enough from your diet.
The NHS says that adults aged 19 to 64 need 40mg of vitamin C a day.
It can’t be stored in the body so you need to make sure you add foods that contain vitamin C into your diet every day.
Dr Carrie Ruxton dietitian at the Fruit Juice Science Centre said: “Inflammation can seriously damage our immune health; a problem we’ve dubbed ‘inflammunity’.
“That’s something which doesn’t bode well for our health during the pandemic as people with chronic underlying inflammation tend to fare worse when it comes to Covid symptoms.
“It’s more important than ever that people are clued up on dietary and lifestyle changes that can help keep inflammation in check and support immune function – with a simple example being a daily glass of 100 per cent fruit juice.”
FABULOUS FLAVONOIDS
One of the main reasons as to why orange juice is beneficial, is due to flavonoids.
These are a group of polyphenols that help reduce inflammation and can also improve gut health.
Dr Ruxton explained that there are two standout flavonoids.
“These are are hesperidin and naringenin, and one benefit of juice over whole fruits is that the flavonoids are absorbed more efficiently by the body which is why a glass of juice complements whole fruits and vegetables in your diet.
“This is because the slightly higher fibre content of whole fruits (less than 1g) slows down and inhibits polyphenol absorption – so you end up with less in the blood proportionally”, she said.
A glass of orange juice provides around 78mg of hesperidin.
A study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism previously found that orange juice lowered inflammation.
It was conducted on women with metabolic syndrome, who were given 500mg of hesperidin daily for three weeks.
Medics found that this significantly lowered blood concentrations of the inflammatory marker CRP.
The report by Dr Buxton and her team found that many Brits aren’t aware of the issues chronic inflammation can cause.
A quarter said chronic inflammation affects the body’s ability to fight infection with over a third saying it can cause fatigue.
One in three also said it can lead to poor metabolic health.
Dr Ruxton added: “Focusing on upping our veg and fruit intake to 8-a-day, which can include a daily glass of orange juice, minimising stress, and staying away from inflammatory foods rich in saturated fats and refined carbs are some simple steps everyone can get started with”.
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