Special bioflavonoids found in orange juice prevent toxic inflammatory chemicals released by eating a high-fat, high-carbohydrate meal from causing harm, says a new study from the US.
Researchers from the University at Buffalo, led by Professor Paresh Dandona, linked the benefits of orange juice to its high concentration of the flavonoids naringenin and hesperidin as reported in the April 2010 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
“Our data show, for the first time to our knowledge, that drinking orange juice with a meal high in fat and carbohydrates prevented the marked increases in reactive oxygen species and other inflammatory agents,” said the first author of the study, Husam Ghanim, PhD.
Previous studies have reported that naringenin may prevent cholesterol increases, and changes in insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism linked to metabolic syndrome (Diabetes, 2009, Vol. 58, pp. 2198-2210). Other studies focusing on hesperidin have also reported potential cardiovascular and neurological benefits.
Study details
Analysis of blood samples showed that the level of oxygen free radicals and vascular toxins increased in all groups, but orange juice prevented high-fat meal induced oxidative and inflammatory stress, including the increase in vascular toxins.
In addition, the researchers reported an increase in blood components known as toll-like receptors (TLRs) following consumption of the water and glucose drink, but not the orange juice. TLRs reportedly play an important role in the development of inflammation, atherosclerosis, obesity, insulin resistance, and injury to cardiac cells than can occur after a blocked vessel is reopened.
Dietary change, not orange juice and burgers
The researchers were quick to emphasize that regular consumption of such high-fat meals may produce permanent inflammation, and that consuming orange juice with a high-fat meal was not a ‘get out of jail free’ card for heart health.
“The choice of safe foods that are not proinflammatory may provide protection from the unending cycle of postprandial and cumulative inflammation,” said Dandona. “This choice may lower the risk of atherosclerosis and resistance to insulin.”
Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
April 2010, Vol. 91, No. 4, 940-949, doi:10.3945/ajcn.2009.28584
“Orange juice neutralizes the proinflammatory effect of a high-fat, high-carbohydrate meal and prevents endotoxin increase and Toll-like receptor expression”
Authors: H. Ghanim, C.L. Sia, M. Upadhyay, K. Korzeniewski, P. Viswanathan, S. Abuaysheh, P. Mohanty, P. Dandona