Supercharge Your Day With Orange Juice for Breakfast

Have you ever wondered why OJ is a staple in the American breakfast? Well, yeah...it's delicious, but that's not really the reason. Surprisingly there's actually scientific rationale to back up the ancient tradition (in America anyway). Also, this only applies to 100% natural orange juice/fruit juice. Orange juice with added sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and other artificial sweeteners is not a healthy option.

First a little chemistry. Orange Juice, and all fruit/fruit-derived products, is a carbohydrate that primarily breaks down into fructose when digested in the body (a type of monosaccharide sugar). All other carbs are broken down into a combination of glucose and other types of sugar (lactose, sucrose, maltose, etc.). When carbs are broken down in the bloodstream they get shuttled by insulin into either a) muscle cells or b) fat cells or c) the liver and are eventually stored in the body as substance known as glycogen. Stored glycogen acts as one of the body's sources of energy for exercise, brainpower, and pretty much everything else you do.

Here's the interesting part. Research has shown that when you eat fructose it tends to replace and fill up glycogen stores in the liver, as opposed to glycogen stores in the muscles or fat. This is critical because the brain derives the majority of its energy supply from glycogen stored in the liver, which is especially low in the morning after not eating/drinking at all during a long sleep session. When you sleep you're essentially fasting for a prolonged period of time--think of how hungry you'd be after 7, 8, or even 9 hours without food...starving. During this overnight fast the body uses up the liver's stored glycogen, and leaves it empty like a car with no gas. Empty liver glycogen stores = no mental energy, alertness, and no ability to think clearly. Not good.

The solution? Drink a glass of OJ when you wake up! Bananas, apples, berries, other fruit, and even honey (which is primarily made of fructose) are also really good options to include at breakfast (I love adding berries or a banana to my oatmeal). Eating/drinking some sort of fruit product as soon as you wake up can quickly refill the liver's glycogen stores and provide a huge surge of energy to the brain--kind of like jump starting a cars dead battery. Start enhancing your breakfast with a glass of OJ. You'll wake up, think clearer, and start the day with a sweet bang.