Is This the Health-Relevant Substance in OJ?

Everyone knows that orange juice – or OJ – is good for you, apart from its vitamin C content.  But what’s the other component or components that improve cardiovascular health?  One of the candidates is hesperidin, a flavonoid; flavonoids in foods such as chocolate and tea have shown cardioprotective effects.  A new study reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition examines the effects of OJ and hesperidin in the biological reactions of small blood vessels, blood pressure, and cardiovascular risk blood markers in volunteers.   

French researchers gave orange juice, or a control drink containing hesperidin, or one containing a placebo, in rotation, to 24 overweight men aged 50 – 65.  Over different 4-week periods they consumed 500 mL OJ, 500 mL hesperidin-drink, or 500 mL placebo drink, once a day.  Cardiovascular tests were done at the start and end of each period.

Diastolic blood pressures were significantly lower after the OJ and hesperidin drink periods than after the placebo.  Moreover, the reactivity of small arteries after a meal was significantly increased with OJ and hesperidin, compared with placebo. 

The researchers state that these findings “suggest that hesperidin could be causally linked to the beneficial effect of orange juice.”  Well, that’s what they set out to discover.  Maybe we’ll see hesperidin medications soon?  I’d rather take a glass of OJ.