You can find oranges in supermarkets all year round, but now, with the arrival of the colder months, it’s orange season.In fact, word has spread This is the ideal fruit to fight the colds and infections that are typical of these months. Of course, this superpower It has to do with the most distinctive ingredient in this sweet fruit: vitamin C. Now, scientists explain that while oranges are a very healthy snack, their benefits aren’t all that great.
In fact, as this article by EL ESPAÑOL explains, vitamin C has no ability to prevent infection or speed up recovery. In 2013, a research review was published in Cochrane Adhere to “regular intake of vitamin C It has no impact on the incidence of common colds in the general population. “Based on a comparison of 29 trials involving 11,306 participants.” Trials with higher doses of vitamin C were also unsuccessful.
But why should you still get vitamin C from oranges? Ascorbic acid, as this vitamin is also called, is a powerful antioxidant that helps fight oxidative damage to our body’s cells.These damages occur naturally but increase over time Exposure to tobacco, pollution or ultraviolet solar radiation. But in addition, vitamin C helps produce collagen, which promotes healing, improves iron absorption and immune system function.
Source of Antioxidants
These are benefits reported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), who also state that we should consume 90 to 75 milligrams of vitamin C daily, depending on whether we are male or female. In this sense, we already know that citrus fruits (such as oranges) are an important source of this micronutrient: specifically, Oranges provide up to 50 mg of vitamin C per 100 g This fruit we eat.
In this sense, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and Food (MAPA) calculated that a medium-sized orange provides about 82 mg of vitamin C. anyway, Vitamin C isn’t the only ingredient in oranges with antioxidant power: MAP highlights the fruit’s content of various types of carotenoids in organic acids and flavonoids. “They contain significant amounts of hydroxycinnamic acid, ferulic acid, caffeic acid, and p-coumaric acid, ranked from high to low in antioxidant activity.”
(These 3 foods have more vitamin C than fresh orange juice (and may cut fat))
The ministry recommends that we eat whole oranges rather than juice, which contains less fiber, minerals and vitamins. In fact, when we squeeze an orange, we leave out a very important part of the fruit from the drink: the albedo. But why is it so important? This is the white layer under the shell., are often difficult to remove and are often undesirable due to their texture and smell. Now, this part is the part that contains the most antioxidants.
How to take orange
In fact, blogs consumer A study by Eroski Supermarket explains that albedo Contains 15 to 20 times more phenolic compounds than a serving of orange slices. For this reason, they recommend that when we peel these fruits before eating them, we keep as much of the white layer as possible.Likewise, epidemiologist Miguel Ángel Martínez Gonzalez explains in his book Health guaranteed (Planeta, 2018) This part is very interesting.
Oranges are very low in calories: they contain only 42 calories per 100 grams, since almost 90% of their composition consists of water. Now, it is a very healthy snack that is rich in antioxidants. Although oranges cannot prevent colds, oranges can help make our diet healthy and healthy. Reduce the risk of disease, from cardiovascular disease to cancer. Therefore, including them is a very healthy choice at any time of the year. Just remember to eat them whole, fresh, and don’t over-pee them.