A healthy diet emphasizes vegetables, lean proteins, beans, whole grains, nuts, dairy products and fruit. Get at least 2 cups of fruit per day to meet recommendations for a balanced 2000-calorie diet, according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Oranges can help you meet your recommendations, and they have plenty of potential health benefits.
Improve Nutritional Status
Oranges are rich in vitamin C, with 98 mg per large orange, or about 163 percent of the daily value for vitamin C. Vitamin C is an antioxidant that may lower your risk for cataracts and macular degeneration. Vitamin C also helps your body absorb iron from vegetarian sources, such as spinach. Oranges provide folic acid, which is essential for preventing neural tube birth defects, although women who may become pregnant should also take a folic acid supplement to ensure adequacy.
Prevent Weight Gain
Use oranges to prevent weight gain by eating them instead of higher-calorie sweets. Fresh fruit can help you decrease hunger, because it does not have many calories per serving. A large orange weighs 184 g, or about 6 oz., and it has only 86 calories, so it makes a low-calorie snack. Dietary fiber is a filling nutrient that can help you control your weight, and a large orange supplies 4.4 g of dietary fiber.
Support Healthy Blood Pressure
Oranges support a healthy blood pressure, because a large orange provides 333 mg of potassium and is sodium free. A high-sodium, low-potassium diet may lead to high blood pressure, which increases your risk for heart disease and stroke. Consume at least 4700 mg of potassium and no more than 2300 mg of sodium per day. A healthy diet is only one of several factors that contribute to your blood pressure, so talk to your doctor if you are concerned about your blood pressure.
Culinary Uses
Plain oranges can be convenient snacks, because they do not need refrigeration; you can simply peel and eat them. Use them in fruit salads or in regular salads, such as in a spinach salad with almonds. Grate the peel and use the zest to flavor custards or cakes. If you have an abundance of fresh oranges, you can make your own freshly squeezed orange juice. Oranges can be ingredients in sauces, such as a citrus salsa with tomatoes and cilantro, or in stir-fry dishes with chicken or beef.
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