I just love a delicious and juicy orange at 4 p.m. as a snack. In fact, I really like eating oranges in winter. They are tasty, easy to eat and best of all provide plenty of energy.
But I really like them because they are superbly healthy and I always advise everyone I meet to eat them. Below I give you 15 health benefit facts of this fantastic fruit.
Health benefits of oranges
I have put the below 15 most important benefits of this fruit. Before you learn about these, I though I’d give you a video that shows you how to make a nice orange juice where you do not burn/kill the vitamins.
Using this recipe, you’ll definitely benefit from orange juice.
Note that the person doing this juice has never done so using the NutriBullet. That is his first time. So if he does manage to do it, you should be able to do so too.
Where to get a NutriBullet juice maker
If you do not have a NutriBullet at home, you can get it by clicking on the below picture:
1- Oranges prevent ulcers
Oranges have two main particularities that I really like. They, first, do prevent ulcers forming in our stomachs. And second, they prevent stomach cancer.
Unfortunately, most people would wait till they have a stomach ulcer that is so painful before they would take action.
For me, I always say, preventing is better than healing. I am unsure if you know this, but I have seen people with stomach ulcers, and they are agonizing sores.
They are so sore that you are not able to eat, drink, etc. These form inside your stomach and really mess up with your digestive system.
Most of the time, ulcers are somehow easy to cure. But why going through the pain while we can just eat an orange and prevent it.
Scientists have published in the highly regarded Journal of the American College of Nutrition. They studied two types of people. The ones who had a deficient diet in vitamin C and the ones with diets high in Vitamin C.
What they found was simple. If you have a diet high in Vitamin C, you are highly unlikely to get ulcers.
On the other hand, if you have a diet low in Vitamin C, then you are likely to get an ulcer.
Now the best part, an orange is full of Vitamin C. In fact, it contains up to 89% of this vitamin. So by eating them, you are simply protecting yourselves from ulcers.
If you do not like to peel oranges, just drink a glass of juice and you are done. Your stomach will thank you for this.
2- Phytochemicals prevents cancer
Orange contains a lot of phytochemicals. These are chemical compounds that plants produced naturally.
The compounds help plants to fight against predators, competitors but also against bad pathogens. It is this last characteristic of the orange phytochemical properties that is of high interest to us.
Among the phytochemicals, you’ll find the well-known vitamin C which is an antioxidant.
You’ll also find vitamin D and citrus limonoid which is great as it prevents the development of many cancers such as skin, lung, breast, oral cavity, and colon.
3- Mandarin oranges prevent liver cancer
Mandarins are nowadays many times called mandarin orange. These are great for your body.
Two Japanese studies have demonstrated that if you eat mandarins, the risk of contracting liver cancer diminishes dramatically. So if you were hesitant in eating oranges, I hope this finding convince you.
4- Oranges prevent kidney diseases
Eating oranges on a regular basis can prevent contracting kidney diseases.
In fact, the vitamins that oranges contain can dramatically reduce the risk of kidney stones.
And the good news is that you do not need to eat or drink too many oranges to benefit from this nice kidney protection.
5- Boost your heart health
If you want to boost the health of your heart, then you need to consume potassium. In essence, potassium is known to be an electrolyte mineral.
Such type of natural electrolyte help your heart functioning and operating as it should.
If you want to know more, potassium is the one ingredient that you do not want to be short of for your heart. It is the ingredient that is involved in each and every heart beat.
It simply is so important to your heart as it allows your heart squeeze and then sends blood through your body. Do you really want to be short of this ingredient?
If your level of potassium gets low, you are at risk to develop an abnormal heart rhythm. This is known to scientists as an arrhythmia. I do not think you want that. A couple of oranges should do the trick.
6- Reduce your cholesterol level
The good news is that oranges do not contain any type of cholesterol. So you are safe to eat them.
But more importantly, they are full of soluble fibers. These are great as they help in reducing your cholesterol.
The one that is a potential of interest to us is hesperidin, which is a type of flavonoid found in oranges.
Hesperidin has been investigated by scientists and they found that it reduces the amount of bad cholesterol in your blood stream.
Obviously, the Vitamin C that is available in oranges also helps. At the end of the day, it is an antioxidant and its ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) is quite high. The ORAC value in oranges is 2,103.
ORAC is a measure of the antioxidant levels with cardiovascular benefits. In other words, the vitamin C you find in oranges will neutralize most of the free radicals that oxidize cholesterol. By doing so, it prevents bad cholesterol to stick to the artery walls.
7- Good to relieve constipation
As mentioned above, oranges are full of fiber. By eating them, you increase your fiber level, which in turn will stimulate your digestive system.
By doing so, you’ll relieve constipation and have a good, well-performing digestions in the future.
8- Eat oranges to fight viral infections
Researchers have demonstrated that polyphenols in oranges are responsible for protecting you against dangerous viral infections. Just drinking some orange juice can help you against some of the worse infections without needing any medicine.
9- Reduce high blood pressure
Oranges contain flavonoid hesperidin. It is this compound that helps regulate and lower your high blood pressure.
Of interest, it may be the hesperidin that helps you reduce your high blood pressure, but it is the magnesium in oranges that will help you maintain a normal blood pressure.
So here you are, you have the solution to your high blood pressure and how to maintain it to its normal level.
Note that if I were you, I would not drink orange juice to reduce my blood pressure.
Instead, I would peel oranges and eat them. The reason? Most of the Hesperidin is located in the white pulpy part of the orange. You know, the beat between the orange flesh and the outer skin. You cannot miss it, it is white.
10- Improve your eye health
Carotenoid is a compound that you find in oranges and mandarins. When you eat oranges, these carotenoid are converted to vitamin A.
And guess what, vitamin A helps reduce macular degeneration. If you want a better eyesight, then eat oranges and mandarins.
11- Oranges protect your skin
If you are an orange lover, then you’ll be pleased to know that these are really good for your skin.
Oranges contain a lot of beta-carotene.
Beta-carotene is an antioxidant that is extremely powerful. Basically, its job is to protect your body cells from damage.
The antioxidant that is in this fruit is known to protect your epidermis (your skin). It fights against free radicals that are the cause behind the aging process.
Eat oranges and you’ll keep young. By the way, eating oranges will also help your skin look nicer and shiny. This is a nice recipe for looking healthy and younger.
12- Oranges reduce high blood sugar spikes
Do not get this wrong. Oranges have sugars in them. They are like any other fruit.
However, they have a subtle difference in that they have a glycemic index of 40.
Scientists consider that a glycemic index under 55 is low.
So if you have issues with sugar, and under the condition, you do not eat oranges excessively, you should not end up with a spike in your blood sugar.
As such you may enjoy all of the benefits of oranges, without causing issues with insulin or weight gain.
13 – Lower the risk of diseases and stronger immune system
Of course, the culprit is vitamin C. This vitamin is great for your body. It stimulates the production of white blood cells. And as white blood cells are responsible for fighting diseases, then you lower the risks of contracting illnesses.
In addition, by absorbing oranges, your strengthen your immune system.
Moreover, vitamin C neutralizes free radicals in your body. We all know that free radicals are the cause of cancer. Neutralizing them helps to keep cancer at bay.
14- Oranges alkalize your body
Oranges are acidic which is good and bad. It is good if you do not eat too much of them, and bad if you consume a lot of them. So a good balance is a must.
What is of interest is that eating oranges increase your level of alkaline minerals.
These minerals help to balance out your body.
So, oranges are really good as we really need to alkalize our body.
15- Prevents inflammation and develop your brain
This fruit has unique anti-inflammatory properties. If you have muscles and stiff joints pain, then you should consider eating oranges.
At the same time, this fruit is full of folate. This compound is known to nourishing our brain.
As such, if you want to improve your brain development or you want the benefits of orange in pregnancy, you just need to eat some of this fruit on a daily basis. This will help to boost your brain and best of all the brain of your baby.
Conclusion
Oranges are really healthy for you and you should consider eating them or making your own juice.
You need to know that the juice you buy in supermarkets do not provide you with orange properties that help you fight against free radicals.
So, aim to buy complete oranges and eat them in salads, as a whole, make your own juice, cakes etc.
At the end of the day, you’ll look younger, your fight aging, reduce the risk of cancer, ulcer, enhance your immune system.
There is so much you can do with an orange and your body will really thank you for this.
Note that you’ll also benefits form orange essential oil if you prefer not to eat this fruit. Just massage your skin with the oil and you’ll improve your skin color and health.
There are a lot of benefits of orange peel too. See this article that speaks about it.
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