Is Pulp Good For You? – What You Should Know
Do you like to have your orange juice fresh squeezed or do you pick up a carton or jug from your local grocery store? Do you buy it with or without pulp?
Some people are turned off by the pulp in their juice and it makes them not want to drink juice while others really enjoy pulp.
Pulp is simply a natural element of the real fruit that was used to make the juice but sometimes it can be a nuisance if you don’t like the texture in your juice.
It’s understandable to see why people might or might not like pulp in their juice, but did you know that pulp might actually have some health benefits?
Is pulp good for you? The answer is yes! Pulp is very healthy for you. While drinking juice without pulp isn’t bad for you, you actually lose some valuable nutrients that are contained within the pulp, such as fiber, vitamin C, and flavonoids.
In this guide, we will answer the question is pulp good for you.
We will talk about what makes it good and also discuss pulp vs. no pulp so you get a clear comparison of the difference between the two. We’ve got all the details you need to know before you choose no pulp!
Keep reading to learn all about how pulp is good for you and more!
Is Pulp Good For You? A Complete Overview
Orange juice alone is good for you but the pulp also has added nutritional benefits when you drink orange juice. You can drink orange juice with no pulp and it is still good for you but you may be missing out on some specific nutrients.
When you drink orange juice with pulp, the majority of the nutrients are in the pulp rather than the juice itself so you are actually getting more out of it if you drink juice with the pulp.
While we are primarily referring to orange juice in these examples, this is really true of any type of juice that has pulp.
Benefits Of Pulp In Orange Juice
So, why is pulp good for you? It seems like something so irrelevant and if you’re drinking the juice from the same fruit aren’t you already reaping the benefits?
Don’t get us wrong. The juice is good for you. We certainly don’t want to take away from that.
However, there are added benefits in the pulp and that is actually where the majority of the nutrients are held so when you have no pulp or you remove the pulp, you lose a good portion of the natural nutrients of the fruit in question.
Now, let’s talk about the benefits of pulp and just what it contains that is so great for you. These benefits are specific to orange juice but you should be aware that there are nutritional benefits to anything with pulp.
Fiber Content
Did you know that pulp in orange juice has a lot of fiber in it? You remember how we said a lot of the nutrients are actually found in the pulp.
Fiber is one of those nutrients that you can lose when you remove the pulp completely or don’t use the pulp.
For orange juice, the majority of the fiber content is found in the pulp of the orange rather than in the juice.
If you’re at all familiar with dietary fiber, there is both soluble fiber and insoluble fiber. Both of these are good and both are known for benefitting bowel movements and digestion.
The difference between the two is that soluble fibers dissolve into liquids easily, which is where something like juice might benefit.
When soluble fiber is present, the fiber can be held even in just the juice as opposed to the pulp so if you have fresh-squeezed orange juice, it still retains soluble fiber.
On the other hand, the insoluble fiber does not work this way. It cannot be turned into juice the same way that insoluble fiber can be.
In this case, you lose the fiber when you do without the pulp because it is held inside the pulp and not extracted into the juice.
That being said, you do receive fiber in the juice alone but you also lose some of the fiber when you don’t drink or consume the pulp.
Vitamin C
When you drink orange juice without the pulp, you get a lot of Vitamin C. This is perhaps one nutrient that you don’t lose a lot of by skipping the pulp. You will get plenty of Vitamin C either way that you drink orange juice so that is a plus.
However, just know that the pulp also contains a lot more Vitamin C. So here, you aren’t necessarily missing out by not having pulp but you might get even more Vitamin C by having the pulp in your orange juice as well.
Vitamin is an essential nutrient that has a lot of health benefits, whether you get it from orange juice, pulp, or another source!
Some of the known health benefits of Vitamin C are as follows:
- Immune system booster
- Protect against cardiovascular diseases
- Beneficial for prenatal use
- Reduce or prevent eye disease
Flavonoids
Flavonoids are not something that we think about as much as a nutrient or a benefit but it really is. We often think more of vitamins or dietary additions but flavonoids are also essential.
The pulp of orange juice is loaded with all of the flavonoids. Flavonoids are primarily lost when you throw out the pulp or buy juice without pulp because it is very challenging to extract them from the pulp.
If you go without the pulp, you are most likely also going without the flavonoids, or at least the majority of flavonoids from the orange.
Flavonoids are known to be found in whole foods, they belong to the polyphenol family.
Flavonoids are primarily known for having anti-inflammatory benefits as well as being great for normalized gut health.
They are known to help reduce and restore oxidative damage and are valuable antioxidants found in a lot of healthy foods.
With that in mind, if you really want to enjoy the benefits of flavonoids in orange juice and other similar foods, you need the pulp to do so!
One specific flavonoid from orange pulp that we want to point out is hesperidin. This flavonoid is hard to find fruits and vegetables other than oranges so you should definitely take advantage of this in your orange pulp.
Pulp Vs. No Pulp Orange Juice
Pulp really adds a lot of nutritional value that you simply don’t get to appreciate or experience when you drink orange juice, or any other citrus juice, without the pulp.
Ultimately, you are limiting the nutrients that you consume by eliminating the pulp.
When you drink no pulp orange juice, you lose portions of fiber, you lose some of the Vitamin C, and you also lose all of the flavonoids.
While there are still many nutritional benefits of drinking orange juice with no pulp, there are even more when you consume the pulp.
If you aren’t using the pulp because you simply don’t like the chunks or the texture that it adds to your drink, there are other ways to use pulp without having to give up those nutritional benefits so don’t just do away with pulp all together.
We also want to mention that if you consume orange juice that is fresh-squeezed as opposed to orange juice from the grocery store, this may also be a healthier option.
While you still might not be getting all of the pulp and the benefits, you are getting the fresh benefits of the fruit and there will most likely be some pulp that makes its way into the orange juice as well.
We also want to point out that all of these benefits can be appreciated by eating a fresh orange as well so if the issue is that you don’t want pulp in your juice, then maybe eat an orange to still appreciate the benefits of the pulp!
If it were just fiber, we know that you could get your fiber elsewhere but when you don’t use the pulp, you lose more than just fiber.
Can You Use Pulp Without Drinking It?
If you want to reap the benefits of pulp but you don’t really want to have to choke it down in your juice or your shake or whatever it is you are having, that’s ok. The secret is to not toss out the pulp just because you don’t want to drink it.
You CAN use that pulp in other ways and it will still be beneficial to you. Some people who use juicing as part of their regimen actually use the pulp of orange juice to help offset some of the bitterness of things like kale or chard.
Of course, you still have the pulp but it might just make those things taste better.
You can eat a whole fresh orange and these do have the benefits of pulp as well. If you can’t handle pulp in your juice, just go with this and you get all of those awesome nutrients without having to worry about the juice or the pulp.
It’s just a fresh, tasty treat for you to enjoy and you don’t have to worry about the other stuff.
Another awesome option you can use if you do like to juice your oranges but don’t want to drink the pulp is to save the pulp and use it in cooking.
There are some really great dishes out there that you can spruce up with a little bit of citrus.
Save your pulp and use it for a citrus addition when you are cooking. This can be awesome for meats as well as vegetables and the flavor will be divine.
You can use the pulp as part of the spicing of your meal and the texture most likely won’t bother you as it does with the juice.
Is Orange Pulp High in Sugar?
If you’re watching your sugar intake, oranges and pulp are known to help maintain blood sugar levels. If you look up the nutritional content of an orange, it is estimated to have about 12 grams of natural sugar.
The majority of the sugar in oranges comes from the pulp so if you juice an orange and go without the pulp, you are probably losing about 12% of that sugar content from the orange.
So if someone needs to reduce their sugar intake, they might benefit from drinking juice without the pulp.
In this case, they can save the pulp for cooking and still enjoy the benefits but without the sugar content since the orange becomes cooked at that point.
On the same note, the majority of sugars in oranges are in the orange juice itself and very little sugar is actually found in the pulp.
Related Questions
We hope you find this guide to understanding whether or not pulp is good for you to be a valuable resource.
Pulp really has a lot of nutritional benefits and you can lose some of those nutrients when you avoid the pulp so find useful ways to enjoy those!
We invite you to check out the following question and answer section for some additional information that may be useful to you.
Is orange pulp safe for animals?
Pulp is safe for animals to eat and it won’t harm them. If you are going to share food with the animals, you can rely on pulp to be a good choice and a safe choice as well.
With that in mind, the American Kennel Club recommends small quantities so don’t just give them mounds of pulp to consume.
Is lemon pulp good for you?
Yes! While we focused a lot on orange here, you should know that most of this will be true of just about any citrus out there. The same is true of lemon pulp.
If you go through this article and just replace the word orange with lemon, you will find most of the details apply in a similar manner.
Is it better to eat an orange or drink orange juice?
You can benefit from either, depending on the juice that you drink. If you’re squeezing fresh orange juice or juicing, you will get benefits from that juice as long as you use the pulp.
However, if you’re purchasing orange juice that has added sugars, it may not be a great choice.
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