Oranges & Their Nutritional Value

Often thought of as a fruit good for preventing scurvy and preventing colds, oranges offer a range of nutritional value. In addition to being low in calories and fat, oranges contain quite a few vitamins and minerals. The sweet taste of this fruit can satisfy your sweet tooth as well, which may stop you from consuming higher-fat treats.

Calories and Fat

A 100-g serving of oranges -- roughly 3.5 oz. -- contains 53 calories. If you follow a low-calorie diet, eating a serving of orange can give you a quick boost of energy and ease hunger pangs. Each serving provides 0.6 g of fat. You do need fat in your diet, however, so aim to take in 20 to 35 percent of your calories from fat.

Carbohydrates and Fiber

Oranges have 10.8 g of carbohydrates per serving. The carbs in oranges do not amount to much of the recommended intake of 225 g to 325 g, but even this small amount contributes to your daily energy needs. Fiber, a type of carb that does not dissolve into your bloodstream, exists in small amounts in oranges -- each serving contains 1.6 g. The fiber in this fruit plays an important role in protecting you from the incidence of diabetes and some cancers.

Vitamin C

Eating one serving of oranges meets almost your entire daily need for vitamin C -- 88 percent of the recommended intake. The vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, in an orange promotes the health of your eyes, possibly decreasing your risk of macular degeneration as you get older as well as the chance of developing cataracts. If you smoke, you need extra vitamin C in your diet, as smoking leaches the vitamin C from your body.

Other Nutrients

Oranges are rich in B-vitamins as well as many minerals. A serving of oranges provides you with 5 percent of the vitamin B-1, 3 percent of the vitamin B-6 and 2 percent of the vitamin B-2 and B-3 your body requires each day. You also get 5 percent of the daily recommended intake of potassium and smaller amounts of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc and copper.

Benefits

Eating an orange provides more benefits than drinking orange juice, although researchers are not sure why. A study published in the August 2010 issue of the "Journal of Food Science" offered up testing of antioxidants found in oranges to look for which provided the most benefit. Researchers note that hesperidin and naringenin are the combination of antioxidants that have the most effect on your health.