Oranges are a healthy and tasty way to fill your diet with a bright citrus taste, whether you peel them into sections, cut them into slices, or cube them and sprinkle them on a salad. But it's more than just your palate that will benefit from these delicious additions to your meal plan.
Not only does a single medium orange provide a whole day's worth of vitamin C, but these delicious fruits can also improve your workouts and help lessen your chance of developing certain chronic conditions. Continue reading to learn about the little-known negative effects of eating oranges.
1. Oranges may improve your cholesterol.
If you've been struggling with high cholesterol—or want to keep your cholesterol levels in a healthy range—adding some oranges to your diet could be the simplest way to do it.
Research published in Nutrition Research revealed that consuming citrus fiber concentrate for four weeks reduced total serum cholesterol levels by 10.6%; another study published in Nutrition Research found that drinking orange juice for 60 days reduced LDL, or "bad," cholesterol levels.
2. Oranges may reduce your post-workout pain.
Would you like to recover more quickly from your workouts? Try including oranges into your daily diet. Oranges are a good source of vitamin C, which may help protect against some of exercise's less pleasant side effects. According to randomized controlled research published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, healthy adult men given either vitamin C or a placebo before performing repetitive exercises reported considerably reduced muscle soreness within the first 24 hours.
3. Oranges may reduce your risk of esophageal cancer.
4. Oranges may help regulate your digestion.
Consuming oranges can assist you in keeping your digestive system running smoothly. A medium orange includes 2.8 grams of fiber, which can help with normal digestion. A 2019 study published in Drug Intervention Today found that consuming an orange gave excellent treatment of constipation symptoms in a group of 30 study subjects.
5. Oranges may reduce your risk of a heart attack.
Adding some oranges to your diet is a smart choice for your heart, whether you have a family history of cardiovascular difficulties or wish to prevent heart health issues in the future.
Researchers found that higher vitamin C intake was associated with lower levels of cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular disease-related death in a 2017 review of research published in Nutrients. They studied a group of 13,421 participants in the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra cohort for an average of 11 years. They found that higher vitamin C intake was associated with lower cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular disease-related death levels.
6. Oranges may increase your risk of liver problems.
If you have other risk factors for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), you should reduce your orange intake. High fructose consumption has been associated with the development of NAFLD. A study published in Nutrition specifically linked raw orange eating to an increased risk of NAFLD in a group of 27,214 people studied. Indeed, those who consumed seven or more oranges per week had a 17% increased chance of developing NAFLD than the reference population.