Does Orange Juice Make You Poop? We Have The Answer! - Tastylicious (2024)

Nobody likes the feeling of being constipated. Aside from the struggle of pooping, long-term unmanaged constipation leads to a lot of different digestive tract disorders, and we don’t want that. But luckily for us, we have natural remedies for constipation, and orange juice is one of them.

Orange juice is probably the most famous, most accessible, and the most affordable fruit juice to purchase or make. Aside from strengthening the immune system due to its high Vitamin C content, it is also a go-to fruit juice when you’re having trouble defecating.

Oranges contain high amounts of fiber which is vital for proper digestion. This pulpy fruit offers excellent taste and is also rich in Vitamin C, beneficial for people with constipation. But there’s more to orange juice that makes you poop than just fiber and Vitamin C. If you want to know more, just stick around!

How Does Orange Juice Make You Poop?

Oranges are a mix between the pomelo and the mandarin fruit and are one of the most popular fruits in the world. Oranges, which are high in nutrients and other healthy substances, can boost your health in various ways.

Fruits are an excellent source of fiber, vitamin C, thiamine, folate, and antioxidants and make a fantastic addition to one's regular diet. Oranges provide several health advantages, including lowering blood pressure, preserving the cardiovascular system, boosting immunity, promoting bone and tooth health, and purifying the blood. But in this section, we will focus on how orange juice affects our digestive health and its effects as a natural laxative.

Orange is Rich in Fiber

Dietary Fiber Content

A medium-sized orange, whole and raw, weighing around 154 grams, has 3 grams of dietary fiber. This quantity provides 12% of the total supply in the United States. The Department of Agriculture recommended a daily amount of fiber for an adult woman and 7.8 percent of the RDA for fiber for a male adult.

Larger oranges weighing roughly 184 grams, or a 1-cup portion of peeled orange segments, both give between 4.3 and 4.4 grams. This amount of fiber would meet 17% of a woman's daily needs and 11% of a man's daily requirement.

Soluble Fiber

A small peeled orange has 1.8 grams of soluble fiber, which is roughly the same as half a sweet potato, ½ cup cooked asparagus, or four apricots with their skin. Soluble fiber swells with water in the digestive system to produce a viscous substance.

That, according to The Cancer Project, delays digestion, allowing the intestines more time to absorb nutrients from meals. A diet that is heavy in soluble fiber-rich foods, such as oranges, may help regulate blood cholesterol levels and minimize your risk of diabetes.

Insoluble Fiber

Oranges are also a rich source of insoluble fiber, with each small, 96-gram orange providing 1.1 grams. Insoluble fiber, as opposed to soluble fiber, does not dissolve in water. It travels through the digestive tract without being broken down since it is largely made up of lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose from plant cell walls.

To prevent constipation, eat sufficient insoluble fiber, which helps you have regular bowel movements. It may also reduce the risk of digestive illnesses such as hemorrhoids, irritable bowel syndrome, diverticular disease, and colon cancer.

That is the reason oranges are important to your daily diet — they provide around the same amount of insoluble fiber per serving as cooked spinach, fresh carrots, and raw blueberries.

Apparently, a low-fiber diet affects your digestion more than you expect. So, aside from drinking orange juice, you can supplement your dietary fiber intake by eating high-fiber foods like wheat bread, chia seeds, and green juice like celery.

Oranges Contain Water and Electrolytes

Increased fluid intake, in addition to ingesting more fiber, can help you achieve normal bowel movement. People who suffer from constipation are prone to dehydration. Above all, drink at least 8 glasses of water every day.

Orange juice is much more effective than water in aiding any bowel problem. To begin with, a glass of orange juice contains up to 1g of fiber. Furthermore, drinking juice replenishes the body's electrolytes. Electrolytes are minerals that must be replaced regularly.

Potassium, sodium, magnesium, and calcium are examples of electrolytes. These nutrients carry an electric charge in fluids, allowing muscles to contract and neurons to send messages. Electrolytes are required for the human body to operate properly. Without them, your heart would stop beating.

Electrolytes are lost during the day because of fluid loss, particularly perspiration. Because water does not contain electrolytes, you must restore lost electrolytes by ingesting foods that do. Drinking drinks containing water and electrolytes, such as 100% orange juice, may aid with hydration. Here are the electrolyte contents of orange juice.

Potassium

Potassium is the most abundant electrolyte in all cells. It aids in fluid equilibrium in the body due to its close association with sodium, the primary electrolyte in the blood and outside the cells.

Many people do not get enough potassium and eat too much salt. That's why drinking orange juice, which contains a lot of potassium, helps. An 8-ounce glass of 100% orange juice has 10% of the RDV for potassium, which is equivalent to a big banana.

Magnesium

Magnesium is the fourth most common mineral in the body and is required for the control of muscular contraction, cardiac excitability, blood pressure, and other critical processes.6 An 8-ounce glass of orange juice contains 6% of the necessary Daily Value for magnesium.

Calcium

Calcium can be present in calcium-fortified orange juice. This mineral performs several tasks in the body, including muscular contraction, neuronal transmission, and the contraction and relaxation of the cardiovascular system. Fortified orange juice is a great source of calcium, delivering 30% of the RDV, which is comparable to an equivalent quantity of milk.

Orange Juice Contains Vitamin C

A cup of orange juice contains 124 mg of ascorbic acid, also known as vitamin C. This amount equates to 137% of the daily required Vitamin C intake. So how important is Vitamin C in maintaining healthy bowel movement?

Vitamin C, commonly known as ascorbic acid, is a vitamin that humans require. Unfortunately, unlike other members of the animal world, humans are unable to make their own Vitamin C endogenously. It is exclusively available through nutrition, particularly through the ingestion of fruits and vegetables such as plums, bell peppers, kale, and, of course, oranges and lemons.

So, what is the significance of Vitamin C in the human body? The list could go on and on! It serves a variety of well-defined functions, the most important of which are as an enzyme cofactor and an antioxidant. It plays an important role in detoxification, is involved in nerve health, tissue healing, and improves the immune system. Its many functions and pervasiveness in human health cannot be emphasized!

Have you ever heard of the term 'Vitamin C flushing'? This method uses increasing levels of vitamin C to produce soft, loose stools whenever you’re experiencing constipation. However, it is important to note that too much synthetic Vitamin C might cause diarrhea.

And since orange juice is rich in natural Vitamin C, you can have this Vitamin C flush naturally while enjoying the sweet flavor of the juice!

When is the ideal time of day to consume orange juice?

Drinking juice correctly also necessitates knowing when to do so. As a result, experts unanimously agree that drinking orange juice 1 to 2 hours after eating is the best time. The stomach has digested all of the previous meal and is now ready to perform a new duty. Furthermore, drinking orange juice at this time helps you feel fuller for longer, resulting in less snack cravings. Avoid eating oranges while you are already full, as this might create bloating.

It is also important to mention that you should not consume orange juice before going to bed. Because there is a diuretic element in the composition of this sort of water, it will have a direct effect on your sleep.

Freshly Squeezed vs. Store-Bought Orange Juice

Orange juice from the store is not as healthy as you would imagine. It has a lot of added sugar, and the vitamin C begins to decay as soon as the fresh juice is squeezed. This implies that all of the "healthy goods" must be reintroduced into the juice to make it "healthy."

Remember that fresh orange juice is always the better option when it comes to counting benefits. Choosing fresh fruit also helps you squeeze out most of the juice.

Constipation: A Quick Guide

The information below is based on an article published by the Mayo Clinic.

Signs and symptoms of chronic constipation include:

• Fewer bowel movements
• Having lumpy or hard stools
• Straining to have bowel movements
• Feeling as though there's a blockage in your rectum that prevents bowel movements
• Feeling as though you can't completely empty the stool from your bowel tract
• Needing help to empty your rectum, such as using your hands to press on your abdomen and using a finger to remove stool from your rectum

Moreover, when left untreated or unmanaged, constipation can lead to complications like abdominal pain and stomach cramps.

Complications of chronic constipation include:

• Swollen veins in your anus (hemorrhoids). Straining to have a bowel movement may cause swelling in the veins in and around your anus.
• Torn skin in your anus (anal fissure). A large or hard stool can cause tiny tears in the anus.
• Stool that can't be expelled (fecal impaction). Chronic constipation may cause an accumulation of hardened stool that gets stuck in your intestines, causing abdominal pain or stomach cramps.
• Intestine that protrudes from the anus (rectal prolapse). Straining to have a bowel movement can cause a small amount of the rectum to stretch and protrude from the anus.

Other Benefits of Drinking Orange Juice

Stabilizes Blood Pressure

Orange juice contains a high magnesium content that helps to normalize blood pressure, making it an ideal drink for persons with high or low blood pressure.

Improves Immune System

Orange juice and citrus fruits are both high in vitamin C, which helps to boost immunity and combat flu and colds.

Cancer Prevention

Oranges include vitamin C and D-limonene, which protect against oral, colon, breast, and lung cancer.

Anti-aging

Oranges' antioxidant capabilities aid in maintaining the skin healthy and young, reducing the effects of aging. Furthermore, these antioxidants aid in successful weight loss.

Aids Prevention of Anemia

Due to its high vitamin C concentration, it aids in the absorption of iron into the blood, successfully treating anemia, preventing the use of iron supplements.

May Prevent Cardiovascular Diseases

Hesperidin in oranges effectively combats artery blockage, lowering the chance of a heart attack.

6 Other Juices That Makes You Poop

Mother Nature provides a plethora of natural therapies for common gastrointestinal ailments such as constipation. This section will look at a few liquids other than orange juice that are claimed to have anti-constipation properties.

Prune juice

Prunes are effective for relieving constipation. The prune juice is high in fiber and sorbitol, a kind of sugar alcohol, causing constipation relief.

Pineapple juice

Bromelain is an enzyme found in pineapple juice. It is supposed to alleviate constipation by hastening stomach-emptying.

Apple juice

Apples, like prunes, contain sorbitol. Because sugars like sorbitol are poorly absorbed, they help drive water into the digestive system, which aids in the production of bowel movements.

Lemon juice

Lemon juice is abundant in vitamin C, which aids in absorbing water in the digestive system.

Cucumber juice

Cucumbers are abundant in water, which aids in the prevention of constipation caused by dehydration. Cucumber seeds are also known to have a laxative effect.

Grapefruit juice

Grapefruits, just like oranges, contain a huge amount of dietary fiber and water, aiding proper digestion.

Pear juice

A powerful source of sorbitol and fiber, pear juice is recommended when you have fewer bowel movements.