So, you always hear that fruit juice is pretty much the same as a soda since it has a lot of sugar. But I LOVE orange juice in the morning and when I lost weight a few years ago, I was drinking OJ. Personally, I think it's ok if a)I keep it in moderation, to one a day or less and b)I stay within my calorie allotment. It has more nutrients and vitamins than soda, but I still feel guilty for having orange juice in the morning sometimes. Is orange juice ok if I stay in the guidelines I mentioned above or should I give it up?

I say everything is ok in moderation if you have the ability to keep it in moderation. I don't restrict myself from anything and have been fine. I'm a coffee person but nothing wrong with OJ.

I love orange juice, too! Used to have a jug of it in the fridge most of the time, though I didn't drink it every single day. I've had some to drink with both of my "free meals" since I started trying to lose weight a couple of weeks ago. Glad you're losing weight just fine while drinking it My doctor specifically said I should avoid eating sugar, except for sugar in fruit. She did not specifically tell me not to drink juice, but I kind of don't think she'd count orange juice to be a fruit. Tomorrow night I plan to pick up some oranges to enjoy

I'd give it up in a heartbeat, knowing what I do about insulin spikes and blood sugar stability. Juice in the morning would be hunger in three hours and cravings for starch and sugar all day.

If you like it, then I'd say keep it. I never got into the juice thing so I never drank juice on a regular basis. Whenever I have drank juice, I like to water it down because I find it too sweet. If you mix drinking juice with eating, you can help regulate the insulin spikes.

Of course anyone can drink anything they please, at breakfast or any other time of day and, if they are restricting their calories enough, they will loose weight. However, orange juice is pretty bad for you. When you eat an orange, as well as the juice, you are ingesting a load of fibre which slows down the absorption of the sugar, making considerably less work for the pancreas, so lowering the chances of someone predisposed to type II diabetes becoming a type II diabetic.

Folks kid themselves (or having been kidded by the processed food industry) that OJ is natural and therefore good but it's not in the least 'natural' to process any fruit or other food to that extent; sugar beets are 'natural' but that doesn't make table sugar good for you. Additionally, it's really easy to drink six or eight oranges in the form of juice and no one who didn't want a more intimate relationship with their bathroom would do that.

If it works for you and you LOVE it, I say ROCK ON with your bad self and your OJ. You can always experiment with other things (like an orange instead, or whatever), but if the OJ makes your day without any ill effects, then keep it.

While it is much better to eat an orange for the fiber, I think you are OK drinking the OJ because you are limiting it to once a day, and you are keeping it in your calorie allotment. I think this is the way it's supposed to be. We should be able to eat the things we like, but in moderation. We get in trouble when something becomes a trigger food and we over indulge daily. It also depends on what you're eating with that OJ. Are you getting some protein? Now, if you are diabetic or prediabetic, this theory goes right out the window. In that case, OJ will send you BS through the roof.

I'm not crazy about orange juice (or any juice really) but if you wanted to cut half of the calories and still have juice, you could try Trop50 by Tropicana.

I LOVE orange juice. I grew up drinking it every morning and I was a thin kid. Now, however, I save it for cheat days because I'm on a low-carb diet. Does anyone remember the little tiny juice glasses from the 1950's-60's? They were not much bigger than a double shot! Now you never see those unless you go to a thrift shop. Juice might not be considered such a diet no-no if people were still drinking it out of those tiny little juice glasses for breakfast.

Jacqui, I drink my occasional OJ out of a tiny juice glass like that, it even has an orange on it!

I personally think every food is OK in moderation. My mother used to get up every morning to fresh-squeeze orange juice for me and my brother. Today we buy the fresh-squeezed stuff. Yum.

F.

A real orange has the same taste, the fiber and pulp are intact and it will fill you up. Juice has no place in a healthy diet.

Is anything more refreshing than morning OJ? Yes a big glass of cold water followed by hot coffee!!! Sorry just had to answer that question.

I agree with posts above that all in moderation if it works for you. I would consider trying freshly squeezed over processed. Another tip I see people do is cutting their OJ with water.

Enjoy either way.

Well OJ is nice in the morning, but then I have to ask myself if I feel like having heartburn and giant cravings approximately two hours later.

But that's just me. :P