I love oranges, clementines, and adore mandarins. A lot of people still do not know the difference between both a clementine and a mandarin. But one thing I can tell you is that a mandarin has some strong healthy stuff you do not want to miss out on.
What is the difference between a mandarin and clementine?
First, to avoid any mistake, Mandarin is not the Chinese language. We are speaking about the fruit here.
Now that we cleared that one, let’s see the differences.
A Mandarins belongs to a class of oranges. You can recognize them because they are flatter on both ends. They have a mild flavor and when compared to the clementines are very very easy to peel.
Funnily enough, you have clementines and also tangerines. Both of these are of the mandarins family. In other words, they effectively are mandarins. Mandarins are usually available from November until March.
I think you know this, nevertheless, let me state it. All types of mandarins can be found from November until March.
You can recognize clementines by their size. They are the smallest of the three. They are also seedless. This is why people like them. They are also easy to peel. They so glossy and deep orange that you cannot miss them on market tables. You can find them from November to late April.
Tangerines are a little less colorful. They are a bit tart too. You can find most of them over the Christmas period and sometimes they are called the Christmas orange.
If you like Tangerines, then you better put them in a fridge as they do not cope will ambient temperatures. However, they are quite powerful in fighting a cold. They contain an active agent that help you get rid of cold and is called synephrine. It is a very good decongestant. you can find these in November to late January.
Here is a video describing the difference between mandarin and orange.
What are the main benefits of mandarins?
They are so many that I decided just to list the most important ones. Here are 7 of these health benefits.
1- Reduce the risk of cancers
Experts are adamant, mandarins can reduce the risk of developing liver cancer. This is due to the fact that the fruit contains carotenoids which have a high content of Vitamin A. These properties have demonstrated to reduce the risk of liver cancer.
Of the highest importance, it is highly advisable for hepatitis C patients to drink mandarin juice. It is so important that these patients will not develop liver cancer if they consume the fruit. Experts agree that this is due to the high content of beta-cryptoxanthin as found in the fruit.
Limonene is another fantastic active anti-cancer properties of this fruit. Eating it will help you prevent breast cancer.
2- Curbs your cholesterol problems
Synephrine is a substance that curbs the production of cholesterol in the human body. And guess what mandarins are full of? Sypherine. So by eating them, you curb your cholesterol.
In addition to this, the fruit has a lot of antioxidants and these will definitely lower bad cholesterol. In fact, antioxidants will promote good cholesterol.
And here you’ll be happy to learn that mandarins will fight free radicals. These are really bad for you as they oxidize your cholesterol. This oxidation gives the means for cholesterol to stick to your artery walls. So by killing them, you are killing bad cholesterol.
And to finish this point, mandarins have soluble and insoluble fibers. They contain hemicellulose and pectin. These two fibers avoid cholesterol to be absorbed by your guts. So this fruit helps you flush bad cholesterol without working so hard.
3- Vitamin C
If you are in need of Vitamin C, then you have the right fruit for this. Vitamin C as found in mandarins will help you fight a number of ‘difficult’ molecules in your body. We spoke about these molecules in point 2 above.
These are free radicals. Because of the vitamin C and the antioxidant properties, you will get rid of these. Remember, free radicals are the cause of many infectious diseases and cancers.
4- Contribute to weight loss
Interestingly, a mandarin is full of sugar. This means that you can put on weight if you eat them excessively.
However, mandarins are a substantial source of fiber. So when you eat mandarin, and because they are rich in fiber, you’ll feel full for a longer period of time. As such, you won’t eat every five minutes and hence lose weight.
What you need to know is that experts demonstrated mandarins lower your insulin level. Therefore, they contribute to converting sugar into fuel and not to fat around your belly. This is good news for weight loss.
5- Better blood pressure
By eating mandarins, you will lower your blood pressure levels. They have lots of nutrients and minerals. For instance, they contain potassium, which is known to lower blood pressure.
This fruit promotes better blood circulation around your arteries. This leads to keeping your blood pressure and oxygen levels normal.
6- Improve your immune system
Vitamin C that you find in mandarin prevents cold and improves the functioning of your immune system.
You have some anti-microbial properties within the fruit that can help heal your wounds. These properties are really good at fighting viral, fungal and bacterial infections.
But the thing I really like in mandarins is their natural healthy mean to fight spasm in our digestive and nervous system. This prevents the build-up of cramps and vomiting.
If you want to flush your body toxins, then eat mandarin. It is a fruit that does this naturally.
7- Better skin health
Another good feature of the Vitamin C present in Mandarin is that consuming them improve your skin. You can also put the juice on your skin and leave it dry. Then rinse.
You do this a few times, and you’ll feel a change in your skin. Regular intake of mandarin juice makes the skin glow and improves the skin tone to a great extent.
The fruit helps in reducing aging signs such as wrinkles, fine lines, and blemishes. Ladies, go and eat some mandarins right away.
How to select a mandarin?
There not many ways to do this, but here are the steps I use to choose the best fruits:
- Search for unblemished fruits.
- Look if they are not too glossy when selecting – Too glossy may mean that they have been vaporized with some chemical.
- Aim for the heavy mandarins as this means more juice.
- Do not pick soft fruits as they may start decomposing.
- The best way is always ask for permission to taste the fruit you have chosen and not the one that the vendor is proposing to you.
How to store mandarins?
Again, I am sure you know this, but just in case.
- First, you need to know that you can only store the fruit for a week. So best to purchase the quantities you will consume.
- Second, do not wash before storing it. You’ll increase the potential for decomposition.
- Try to avoid buying wet mandarins as this encourages the growth of fungus.
- Put the fruit in the fridge after a few days if you have not consumed it. They will last longer.
A mandarin in a salad recipe
You can eat mandarin because they are low in calories. They also have a high content of nutrients, minerals, and vitamins. The advisable intake of mandarins is between 1 to 4.
So if you like fruits, try and make fruit salads. Doing so will boost your protein level, and make a nice refreshing taste to your dessert salad.
A healthy mandarin dessert recipe
Here are the ingredients for a nice dessert – A healthy one.
- 1 can of mandarin – peeled
- Get 1 can of pineapple chunks
- Try to find 1 jar of maraschino cherries
- This is the easy one – 1 cup of flaked coconut
- 1 cup of sour cream
Preparation for the mandarin dessert
- Drain all the canned mandarins, pineapple chunks, and the cherries.
- Keep the juice separately in a large bowl.
- Now combine all the fruits with flaked coconut.
- Next, pour the sour cream and mix slowly.
- After this, just let it chill in the refrigerator for a few hours.
- Now serve cold and offer the juice separately.
You can get flake coconut from the web. Just click on the below picture.
Conclusion
I have now provided you the reasons why I like this winter fruit. You have no excuse not to eat mandarin. They are tasty, nice orange looking, full of healthy features, that you’ll want to eat them forever.
Try to make the mandarin salad I gave you. it is just fantastic and will impress your friends.
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