Spring Super Food – Oranges
By Gaye Rutherford, Dietitian

Oranges, a super food? Surely they aren’t that special, they’re just a boring old fruit whose skin has unfortunately become synonymous with wobbly upper thighs... well I’m here to tell you that oranges are indeed a powerhouse of good health! Compared to an apple, an orange actually has 10 times more vitamin C and beta-carotene (important antioxidants that help protect our cells from wear and tear), 4 times more thiamine (essential for energy production), and a whopping 40 times more folate (a B vitamin that helps prevent birth defects). Indeed, just one orange will meet your entire daily recommended vitamin C needs. As well as being packed with vitamins and minerals (did you know oranges contain small amounts of calcium and iron?!), whole oranges also contain fibre, nearly 3 g in one medium orange – that’s about the same amount as is found in 2 weet bix.

It’s better to eat an orange whole rather than drink orange juice. When you juice the orange, you lose most of the fibre and also end up consuming far more kilojoules – one small glass of orange juice packs almost twice the energy content of a whole orange. Particularly for children, too much fruit juice, orange or other flavours, is associated with higher levels of weight gain, and also tooth decay because of the high level of natural sugars found in energy-dense fruit juice. A good idea when drinking fruit juice is to dilute it with water – or better still, eat the fruit whole instead!

For good health, you should eat two pieces of fruit a day – eating a good variety is important, but choosing the humble orange at least several times a week will go a long way towards meeting your body’s nutritional needs. And as we head into spring, oranges are at their most flavoursome. Another thing in their favour, their hardy skin means they don’t bruise or damage as easily as many other fruits, making them idea for throwing into the work (or school!) lunchbox.

One last thing that makes oranges a super food is their colour of course. Orange is after all one of the colours of the Fairbrother logo!

Orange Walnut Salad recipe >>