By Dorothy Foltz-Gray

Orange juice has always been a cherished part of my morning routine—and no wonder. Tossing back a glass of it jolts me out of my early morning stupor, packs antioxidants and other nutrients, and counts as one of the five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables the National Cancer Institute says I should be getting each day.

So what’s the problem? Ask any of the growing number of my friends who have stepped onto the low-carb bandwagon and are waking up (or trying to) to glasses of water instead. Who needs all that sugar, which is nothing but simple carbohydrates, the type we’ve been told to avoid?

Indeed, the popularity of low-carb diets is most likely responsible for the four percent drop in sales of refrigerated juices over the past year. Though it’s not news that juice is high in sugar and low in fiber, it may be the first time juice has been penalized for these nutritional deficits.

Many nutritionists suggest limiting your juice intake to one small glass a day, mainly because of all those sugary calories. (My morning cup of o.j. contains about 110 calories and 20 grams of sugar—as much as what you’d find in an Almond Joy!) And fruit juice raises blood sugar levels far faster than more slowly digested high-fiber foods like, say, whole fruit. Chronically high blood sugar levels are at least part of the reason for the alarming rise of insulin resistance, the precursor to Type 2 or adult onset diabetes (which is also on the rise). Some low-carb proponents also believe high blood sugar levels make it harder for you to lose weight.

Another reason to rethink my daily allegiance to juice: Some of its natural nutrients are lost during pasteurization, a heat-treatment process that destroys bacteria like salmonella and E. coli, but also knocks off fragile nutrients like vitamins C, A, and E and some B vitamins, like pantothenic and folic acid. There’s debate about how destructive the process is, but most nutritionists agree that at least some vitamins and enzymes are destroyed. “Anytime we manipulate something, as pasteurization does, it can change the bioavailability of the vitamins,” says Jan Hamilton, founder of Nutritional BioMedicine.com, a nutrition consulting firm in Aspen, Colorado.

At the same time, juices remain a whole lot healthier than some other sugary beverages so many of us drink (I cringe when I think of the sodas I used to guzzle). “They’re a delightful way to get antioxidants without taking a pill,” says Hamilton. And there are plenty of ways to maximize your nutritional gains: Buy frozen juice, for instance, which is less likely than bottled juice to lose nutrients over time. Or look for organic juice—several studies suggest organic produce is more nutritious to start with, and some manufacturers, like Naked Food-Juice and Odwalla, say they use a gentler pasteurization process in order to preserve nutrients.

But if you really want to get the most out of juice, you’ll have to make your own. And de...

Copyright 1999-2009 Natural Solutions: Vibrant Health, Balanced Living/Alternative Medicine/InnoVisi...

Click here to read more from Natural Solutions