It may not be the fountain of youth, but eating an orange a day could be one of the secrets to living younger longer.
You probably already know that citrus fruits are rich in vitamin C and that vitamin C can provide plenty of good stuff for the body. It'll boost your immune system, promote arterial health, and help fight fatty plaque build-up in those blood pipes.
Citrus fruits have more than just vitamin C in their arsenal; they're rich in potassium, folate, carotenoid cryptoxanthin, and limonoids. Limonoids are special phytochemicals known to fight cancer and even help cut cholesterol. Oranges contain at least 170 different kinds of phytochemicals, all of them believed to contain health promoting properties. The lesser-known carotenoid cryptoxanthin in orange juice is believed to reduce lung cancer risk by 15 to 31 percent. Combine that with just one extra serving of citrus fruits each day and you can reduce the risk of mouth, larynx, and stomach cancers by as much as 50 percent.
Go one better: Pair an eight-ounce glass (more means too much sugar) of orange juice or a grapefruit with a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and your arteries will be so proud of you. Phenolic compounds in oats are antioxidants that prevent blood cells from sticking to arterial walls. The phenolic compounds in oats work synergistically with vitamin C to inhibit LDL oxidation. When oats and citrus are served together, they boost antiplaque buildup in the arteries even more.
The average orange contains about 70 milligrams of vitamin C. An optimal dose of 1200 milligrams of vitamin C each day is recommended to maximize its benefits—and that's a lot of oranges. Since vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin, your body will flush out the excess if you try to get it all in at once, so I recommend consuming vitamin C throughout the day, or about 400 milligrams three times per day. Boost your vitamin C intake with a natural supplement and other vitamin C-rich foods like strawberries, cantaloupe, papaya, bell peppers, and mangos.
