Oranges have always posed a juicing problem for me. I don’t find that they mix very well with greens – not as well as apple or pear, that’s for sure. I find even the sweetest oranges probably prefer to be on their own, or mixed with carrot, lemon or another sweet fruit like mango or peach. I just don’t get orange and celery or orange and chard. And my stomach doesn’t, either.
The Macrobiotic diet is staunchly against citrus. I don’t agree with most of their philosophy, and here there’s no exception. I mean, what does some Japanese guy know about a Valencia orange, in season and in it’s own land? Nuthin.
Ayurvedic diets include seasonal fruits and orange is no exception. Again, seasonal is the key here.
I read once about a high-profile raw foodist who decided to de-bulk his muscular body and used an orange mono-diet to do so, with no ill effects. He lives in Southern California, though, so again we see “seasonal” and “local” pop up.
As a kid in Canada, I remember those wooden boxes of Christmas clementines with great fondness. My mum told me that, in Yorkshire after the War, children would be given a single orange in their Christmas stocking. And perhaps a banana. How times have changed, eh?
So, to juice or not to juice oranges? My conclusion is that OJ is best drunk solo and on an empty stomach. If you want green juice, avoid sweet fruits anyway, all but a little apple or pomegranate or pear.