Enjoy healthy eating with citrus fruits
There are few single food groups with as much to recommend them,and as many health benefits, as citrus fruits. Citrus fruits arepacked full of a number of important vitamins and minerals, aswell as fiber. In addition, citrus fruits are deli...
...cious,abundant, and usually quiet inexpensive.Citrus fruits abound in most modern grocery stores, even in thewinter months. Thanks to modern distribution networks, citrusfruits grown around the world are easily accessible in thesupermarkets of this country. Of course many people prefer locally grown citrus fruits, butwhen they are not available, shipped citrus is a goodsubstitute. There is a growing season for each kind of citrus invarious parts of the country, so it pays to familiarize yourselfwith those seasons in order to take advantage of the freshestlocally grown tomatoes, oranges, grapefruits and more.Citrus fruits are perfect for anytime of day, from a grapefruitin the morning to an orange at lunchtime to a dinner salad piledhigh with locally grown tomatoes. Citrus fruits contain so many important vitamins and mineralsthat it would be impossible to list them all. Citrus fruits area good example of why fresh fruits and vegetables are a bettersource of complete nutrition than vitamin supplements. Whilesome of the important vitamins and nutrients contained in citrusfruits have been identified and synthesized, others,particularly the many trace minerals, have not. There is simplyno pharmacological substitute for healthy eating.Vitamin C is probably the most important, and the most wellknown, nutrient provided by citrus fruits like oranges andgrapefruits. Vitamin C has been widely studied, and it isthought to play an important role in keeping us healthy. Vitamin C plays a vital role in keeping skin and gums healthy,and in protecting the cells of the body from damage by freeradicals. And since vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin, it isimportant to eat foods high in vitamin C every day. Vitamin C isnot stored in the body like fat soluble vitamins are, and anyvitamin C not used each day is excreted. Fortunately, it is easy to get the vitamin C you need each dayfrom citrus fruits. For instance, a single orange contains over150% percent of the RDA (recommended daily allowance) of vitaminC.Many people do not realize, that in addition to vitamin C,oranges, grapefruits and other citrus fruits also containsignificant amounts of fiber. Fiber plays an important role indigestion, and it is thought to have protective qualitiesagainst heart disease and some forms of cancer. In addition,fiber is thought to have the ability to lower high levels ofcholesterol in the blood.Perhaps the most important benefit of citrus fruits is thepresence of folic acid. This important vitamin is known toprevent many neural cord birth defects such as spina bifida whenconsumed early in a pregnancy, and for this reason folic acidhas been added to everything from bread to cereal. It is best,however for women and men alike to get this important nutrientfrom the foods they eat, and citrus fruits are rich in folicacid.Potassium is another important benefit of citrus fruits. Whenmany people think of potassium, they think of bananas, butbananas are not the only fruit that contains significant levelsof potassium. Many citrus fruits also contain plenty ofpotassium.Potassium levels are very important to good health, sincepotassium plays a role in maintaining proper levels of bodilyfluids, and it also affects the absorption of other nutrients.The stresses of modern life, including consumption of caffeineand alcohol, stress and dehydration, can all play havoc withpotassium levels, so it is important to eat foods rich inpotassium every day.With all these advantages, it is easy to see why citrus fruitsare so popular. Even people who do not normally eat fruits andvegetables often have a hard time saying no to a great glass oforange juice or a nice juicy grapefruit.
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