Your body weight may decide how orange juice works on you, study reveals gene-level differences

A new study finds orange juice affects genes differently based on body weight, influencing fat processing in overweight people.

A glass of orange juice per day could be doing something totally different in your body compared to other people. This is what scientists have found out in a recent study that focused on changes in genes that are connected to blood-pressure regulation, according to Study Finds.

Orange juice doesn’t act the same for everyone, body weight plays a key role, says study(Unsplash)

What to know?

As many as 20 healthy adults in their 20s and 30s were hired by a team of researchers at the University of São Paulo. All they were required to do was to consume two cups of orange juice on a daily basis for two months.

To analyse changes in their body, the scientists first took their blood samples at the start of the study and later at the end. Post that, they looked at which genes the favourite morning drink changed in the immune cells of the participants. The study has been published in Molecular Nutrition & Food Research.

Key findings

The researchers found out that orange juice altered activity in over 1,700 genes, making proteins as well as dozens of other genetic regulators.

Overall, these changes affected the way our body manages blood pressure, handles inflammation, processes fats, and sends signals between cells, Study Finds reported.

Overweight participants: In this category, the drink appeared to wake up genes that are involved in the creation and breaking down of fat cells in the body. Changes in the activity of genes like GSK3B and GRK6 were also witnessed only in this group. Further, there were changes to microRNAs that, according to the study, connect to fat cell development and how our body processes fats.

In people with excess weight, orange juice appeared to shift the gene activity in fat processing.

Normal weights: Here a totally different findings were noted by the researchers. The gene changes were mainly focused on inflammation, especially the family of signalling molecules called interleukins. The scientists saw different genes changing in this group, such as STAT3, MAPK1, and BCL2.

It further appeared to slow down key inflammation pathways. NF-κB, which is the body's master inflammation controller, was found to be less active, while multiple genes controlled by it appeared to drop their activity levels.

Overall, the researchers found that orange juice had different health changes in people with a healthy weight compared to the other category. Also, there were some genes that were affected in the same way among all participants. Among these were blood pressure genes.

A gene, called SGK1, caught the major attention. It could help in preventing rising blood pressure when this gene has lower activity. In both categories, orange juice decreased SGK1.

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.