Dietary fiber includes the portions of fruits, vegetables and grains that your body isn't able to digest. Instead, the fiber stays in your intestines to help promote normal bowel function. If you're a woman, you should incorporate 30 g of fiber from foods into your daily diet until age 50, when the requirement drops to 21 g daily. Men should eat at least 38 g of fiber daily through age 50, and at least 30 g a day after that. Children need 10 g of dietary fiber a day, plus an additional gram for each year of age. Oranges and other citrus fruits can help meet those goals.
Fiber Content
California Valencia oranges deliver 4.4 g of fiber in a 1-cup serving of fruit sections, while Florida oranges have 4.4 g of fiber in the same size serving. One cup of raw navel orange sections provides 3.6 g of fiber, while the same amount of Mandarin orange segments delivers 3.5 g of fiber. Raw orange juice has only 0.5 g of fiber in 8 oz., while orange juice from concentrate provides 0.7 g.
Benefits
Oranges and other citrus fruits offer plenty of vitamins, minerals and fiber in a low-calorie package. When you eat oranges, the fiber from the fruit helps slow the rate of food absorption from your gut. This slower absorption rate helps control blood glucose levels. Dietary fiber also combines with bile acids in your intestines, signaling your liver to produce more bile acid. The liver pulls cholesterol from its stores to make the bile acid and draws excess cholesterol from your blood to replace those stores. This process lowers your blood cholesterol and reduces your risk of developing coronary heart disease, heart failure, heart attack and stroke. Fiber fills you up and keeps you full longer, making it easier to maintain a healthy weight.
Adding Fiber
Although oranges are rich in fiber by themselves, you can boost your fiber intake by 1.9 g if you add 1 oz. of walnuts, or about 14 walnut halves, to your fruit cup. Oranges go well in a high-fiber salad that also includes chopped apples, which deliver 2.6 g of fiber in a 1-cup serving, and three small figs that bring along 3.6 g of fiber. Don't strip away the orange's fiber-rich membranes. Although most people don't eat the orange peel, a single tablespoon of the rind contains 0.6 g of fiber. You can shave orange peel onto salads or other dishes for a tasty garnish.
Warning
Orange segments, especially those with membranes and seeds intact, pose a choking hazard to young children. You can serve finely chopped bits of fresh orange to your toddler after removing those portions of the fruit.
References
- Institute of Medicine: Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein and Amino Acids
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: Fiber Facts
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: National Nutrient Database
- University of California, Davis Nutrition Department: Some Facts About Fiber
- Colorado State University Extension: Dietary Fiber
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