Justin Lloyd

Oranges taste different.

Let me clarify. Different types of oranges taste different.

Yeah. Yeah. I know that tangerines are subtlety different to Satsumas. I know that tangerines and Satsumas are completely different to Navel oranges.

But who would have thought that Navel oranges from Southern California would taste different, detectably so, to Navel oranges from Central California?

I’ve been making and consuming a full 16oz glass of fresh orange juice on a daily basis for the past month or so since I bought my Jack Lalanne Juicer in addition to any pure fruit smoothies I’ve been consuming too. Not always able to get the same oranges from one day to the next depending on whether I visit Whole Foods or Bristol farms or Fresh & Easy I’ve been picking up whatever is available on the particular day without really giving it much thought at the time of purchase.[1]

Some oranges are way too sweet, others way too sour. When I prepare oranges for juicing I cut off all of the rind and leave as much of the pith on the orange as possible to get the nutrients out of that. I understand that it is the pith that adds much of the sour flavour but some oranges, even with marginally thin pith are just too sour to juice on their own. I am not referring to sour and sweet types of oranges but just to the sweet oranges grown in California.

The huge Navel oranges we get in California (and probably elsewhere too), have very thick rinds but they also have very thick, spongy pith too. Large California Navel oranges produce a lot of juice. Two huge Navel oranges for me produce a full 16 ounces most days but it can be cloyingly sweet. The smaller Navel oranges produce a harsh, sour juice. Mixing in half of a small orange, Satsuma or tangerine with the regular large oranges produces a very palatable drink.

I know this isn’t rocket science and I’m sure most experienced raw food eaters and fresh juice consumers are nodding their heads right now in a knowing fashion but it is a subtlety that had escaped me before.

Each one of us is born with five senses but I feel some days we switch off three or four of them for most of our lives. Switching away from processed foods to a higher percentage of raw foods, removing unnecessary sugars, removing artificial flavourings, removing the poisons and toxins that are in a lot of foods, has broadened my palate in just a few short weeks.

It’s amazing how a lot of foods taste different after just a month or so of regular juicing, some foods are more palatable and others less so. I guess this is what smokers go through when they give up smoking and reacquire their sense of taste. Prior to switching to a diet with more raw foods and pure juices I would have to say I was going through life as though my taste buds were colour blind and all of a sudden I’ve been given a whole new colour palette to taste with.

[1] There’s that whole idea of “conscious living” going out the window and me flying on auto-pilot whilst grocery shopping. And I admonish other people for doing this!

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