The Health Benefits of Oranges

The tasty juice and fruit that we are overly familiar with was traditionally used only for medicinal purposes, because of its exorbitant prices. The fruit’s rise to celebrity status came as a result of its ‘miracle’ cure to scurvy.

The uses and benefits listed have extended due to the plethora of scientific research that exists in contemporary society.

Television, radio, print advertisements, and the Internet have promoted the ‘Orange’ in such a way that it could easily be considered the most important fruit to exist.

Oranges are rich in vitamin C, which is required by the human body. Vitamin C is an antioxidant which boosts the body’s immune system and the body’s iron absorption capacity, reduces the risk of heart diseases and facilitates healing of wounds.

Oranges

Deficiency of vitamin C can lead to scurvy (bleeding of the gums) which at one time was common amongst pirates and sailors at sea. Since vitamin C is not produced by the body, its supply has to be fed into the body on a regular basis.

Besides vitamin C, oranges are also rich in fibre which helps increase the level of good cholesterol in the blood, regulates the blood sugar levels and helps in preventing colon cancer. Oranges also contain calcium, potassium, magnesium and Vitamin B6.

If taken in large amounts, oranges can help you get rid of fever, headaches, fatigue and lightheadedness.

They are also anti-infectious, they improve the immune system due to they being rich in vitamin C and they also significantly reduce the symptoms of viral infection.

One glass of orange juice taken each day can also help prevent the formation of kidney stones. If you suffer from gallstones, the doctors recommend you to drink at least one half glass of orange juice every day.

Oranges are also excellent against constipation and indigestion. One of the beneficial effects of oranges is that they can shorten bowel transit time. They can also stimulate the activity of the enzymes at the intestine level thus preventing constipation.

As it is a strong digestion catalyst, oranges have a strong effect on stimulating gastrointestinal secretions and thus the danger of indigestion is eliminated.

Due to the extensive research, no one pretends, doubts, or even denies that oranges play a vital role in our everyday diet.

They are cheap and available in almost all countries across the world. The benefits go beyond fighting cold and flu symptoms and are tasty enough for us to enjoy being healthy.

For those of us who are not already doing so, ‘take the doctor’s heed and make having orange (juice) a daily deed’.