High orange juice consumption with or in-between three meals a day differently affects energy balance in healthy subjects

Sugar-containing beverages like orange juice can be a risk factor for obesity and type 2 diabetes although the underlying mechanisms are less clear. We aimed to investigate if intake of orange juice with or in-between meals differently affects energy balance or metabolic risk. Twenty-six healthy adults (24.7？±？3.2 y; BMI 23.2？±？3.2？kg/m2) participated in a 4-week cross-over intervention and consumed orange juice (20% of energy requirement) either together with 3 meals/d (WM) or in-between 3 meals/d (BM) at ad libitum energy intake. Basal and postprandial insulin sensitivity (primary outcome), daylong glycaemia, glucose variability and insulin secretion were assessed. Body fat mass was measured by air-displacement plethysmography. After BM-intervention, fat mass increased (+1.0？±？1.8？kg; p？<？0.05) and postprandial insulin sensitivity tended to decrease (ΔMatsudaISI: ？0.89？±？2.3; p？=？0.06). By contrast, after WM-intervention fat mass and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) decreased (？0.30？±？0.65？kg; ？2.50？±？3.94; both p？<？0.05), whereas glucose variability was higher (ΔMAGE: +0.45？±？0.59, p？<？0.05). Daylong glycaemia, insulin secretion, changes in basal insulin sensitivity, and triglycerides did not differ between WM- and BM-interventions (all p？>？0.05). In young healthy adults, a conventional 3-meal structure with orange juice consumed together with meals had a favorable impact on energy balance, whereas juice consumption in-between meals may contribute to a gain in body fat and adverse metabolic effects