Orange juice is acidic. Toothpaste commercials might have you believe that’s a bad thing (with their worrisome fears of acid erosion to sell high end toothpastes), but in the grand scheme of things, you really WANT the acidity that can only be found in citrus juices. Orange juice alkalizes your body.
I am not a medical professional. I’ve just done a lot of personal research on the acid and alkaline effects in your body. Please consult your physician for medical advice for your specific needs.
Acid or Alkaline Effect In Your Body
When citrus, such as oranges, lemons, limes and tangerines, enter your body and are broken down and metabolized, it creates an alkaline effect.
If you remember anything from high school chemistry, you might remember that acid and alkaline are very different from each other.
So the transformation of orange juice and other citrus fruits in your body from acid to alkaline is really, really cool.
Why should you care? Your body is healthier in an alkaline state and some research suggests that cancer cells actually can’t survive in high alkaline environments and bones are healthier in an alkaline environment.
Have I got your attention now?
Your body wants an alkaline environment to work properly. However, our modern American diet – high in animal proteins, dairy, added sugars and processed foods – produces an acidic effect inside your body. That’s not good.
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An acidic environment inside your body (keep in mind – this has nothing to do with the acidity of foods before you consume them) keeps your body from working properly.
The more acidic your insides are, the harder your body has to fight to stay healthy. That doesn’t seem fair, huh?
With too much acidity, your body can’t absorb as much minerals and nutrients, or produce energy in cells (and don’t we all need some more energy?). Your cells can’t repair themselves as well.
Even more scary, tumor cells thrive in acid environments inside your body – and no one wants that.
A lot of factors affect the very delicate acid to alkaline ratio inside your body. To recap chemistry class, pH neutral is 7.0. Anything over that is alkaline. Anything less than that is acidic.
*Did you know that you can check your body’s acidity or alkaline level at any time? Use these pH test strips to test your saliva or urine to see what’s going on inside.*
Food has a MAJOR impact on whether or not your body is acidic or alkaline. To be fair, emotional stress and toxic overloads can spin your body into an acidic environment, too. So you want to consume foods that will have an alkalizing effect on your body, even if you think you eat right already.
Citrus Fruits Alkaline Your Body
Citrus fruits with their high acidity actually alkalize your body. So drinking lemon juice, orange juice, tangerine juice and other fruits that remind you of sunny days can bring down the acid balance inside and start to put your body into a healthier pH balance.
You want only pure citrus juice though, without any added sugars, flavors or preservatives. And skip orange juice made with flavor packs, too. (Read to see what flavor packs are.) Organic is always best, too, in order to reduce your exposure to toxic chemicals, which could raise the acid count in your body.
Lemon juice is among the strongest alkalizing fruits available. Just behind lemons, though, are mango, guavas, nectarines and oranges. Beets and apples are moderately alkaline, too.
Let’s make it clear, though. As great as consuming orange juice can be for your health, the acid can still wreck havoc on your tooth enamel.
Hear are the quick fixes for reducing acid erosion on your teeth from citrus juice:
- Brush your teeth after drinking citrus juices
- Drink through a straw
- At the very minimum – swish water around your mouth after consuming citrus foods
Asiel
Saturday 4th of November 2023
Edgar Cayce was saying this in the early 1900's, took medicine 100 years to figure it out.
Mari
Thursday 13th of April 2023
I drink a glass of orange juice with my porridge, is that okay?
Tash
Wednesday 14th of July 2021
Don't brush with toothpaste after acidic foods or fruit Brush teeth with baking soda. Baking soda neutralizes the acids or wait 30 mins after eating or drinking acidic foods or fruits before brushing teeth, just swish with water and wait.
Kytriya
Monday 29th of June 2020
A dentist said that brushing your teeth within 30 minutes or less of having acids can actually produce more damage to the enamel because enamle is still soft. However, gently rinsing your mouth out with an alkaline water with high Ph should help. Blessings!
Marc
Tuesday 14th of April 2020
The citrus fruits such as lemons, oranges, limes, tangerines and etc when broken down by the body has an alkaline effect.