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The typical breakfast often includes toast, fruit, eggs, bacon, coffee, and a glass of orange juice. Sounds perfect, doesn’t it? You have a refreshing glass of OJ to start the day, crunchy toast, savory bacon and eggs, caffeine from coffee to wake you up, and nutritious fruit to end the meal.
This sounds healthier than a combo meal from the nearest fast food joint, but health experts warn that it may be better to save the orange juice for later when your stomach has settled.
Data from an animal study has found that enjoying juice on an empty stomach can overwhelm the digestive system and harm the “good” bacteria residing in the gut.
The scientists have determined that fruit juice contains plenty of fructose, and this sugar quickly reaches the small intestine once consumed. In the mornings, the small intestine can’t process large amounts of fructose after periods of “fasting,” which means the sugar in drinks like orange juice will go to the large intestine.
Once this happens, fructose will come into contact with “good bacteria,” which are unable to process sugar. While the results of the study couldn’t confirm if this is linked to “a negative health impact,” the researchers are under the impression that this is highly possible.
For the study, which was published in the journal Cell Metabolism, the researchers fed mice a 1:1 mixture of fructose:glucose. They then traced how the sugars were processed in the animals’ digestive tracts.
While earlier research indicates that the liver processes sugar, the findings from this recent study suggests that over 90 percent of fructose is digested in the small intestine. The results also show that the small intestine can process fructose, but only when it is consumed after a meal.
Professor Joshua Rabinowitz, a study author from Princeton University, said, “We saw that feeding mice prior to sugar exposure enhanced the small intestine’s ability to process fructose and that protected the microbiome from sugar exposure.”
The researchers concluded that the findings of the study are in line with “the most old-fashioned advice in the world,” which is to “limit sweets to moderate quantities after meals.”
The researchers then cautioned people to refrain from consuming too many sweets after meals.
To boost the good bacteria in your gut, consume more of the foods listed below:
You can read more stories about fresh fruit juice and tips on how to eat healthy at Fresh.news.
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