Citrus fruits with essential nutritional properties for health

Posted on February 23, 2014 by john in Benefits of fruit

Citrus fruits with essential nutritional properties for health. Lemons, mandarins, oranges or grapefruit, for example, are citrus fruits that we all know and in the winter most abundantly consumed. Also, we are very useful in recipes we make for our daily menus, either in the form of flavoring for sauces, vinaigrettes, as decoration for salads or simply for you to flavor and aroma oils or prepared pastries and desserts. Today we will focus on the great benefits they provide to our health.

Citrus fruits are characterized by combining a delicious sweetness with acid quirky counterpoint that makes these fruits are unique to our palate. Now we are in high season (winter ) and health and nutrition experts recommend us at least a piece of citrus a day because of its important functional and nutritional virtues : folate, fiber, bioflavonoids, potassium, magnesium, calcium and vitamin.

All of the above are natural compounds of citrus and experts study them separately for the potential effects in preventing certain diseases or illnesses and their therapies.

Vitamin C is one of the most abundant nutrient citrus and folic acid. We can also find high amount of fiber and minerals such as potassium, calcium and magnesium. In various health and scientific research the amount and variety of phytochemical compounds of these fruits as bioflavonoids, antioxidant which adds highlights to vitamin C.

Research on the positive effect for some cancers

There is a recent line of research that focuses on the study of a complex polysaccharide obtained from the peel and pulp of citrus. This, in turn, is rich in a type of waste compounds in laboratory cell cultures and experimental animals have received a positive response to control some types of cancers. These residues are able to block or even inhibit the amount of cancer cells or controlling metastasis, among others.

And although the future looks promising with the contribution they can make citrus to stop the advance of certain types of cancers, there are many stages of study to develop.

Do not take in certain circumstances

As we have explained, citrus fruits have many health and nutritional benefits than shown. But its composition, the experts advise against its consumption in certain circumstances. Consider the most relevant.

1. Fasting or digestive discomfort. The orange juice and in particular we get from it are two foods that if we can provoke fasting abdominal discomfort or heaviness.

Citrus fruit in general are foods having colagoga quality, ie, that stimulate gallbladder emptying, and this activates the digestion. In people with a sensitive digestive system, eating these foods can be accompanied by discomfort, especially if they do fasting.

2. Dental problems. Taking orange juice, grapefruit, lemon… between hours or isolated, while others consume no acidic foods can promote the development of dental caries. Why? Because the combination of acidic substances as in citrus sugars causes erosion called dentin, and involves an increased risk of caries. Therefore, if you have a habit of drinking citrus juices, a good recommendation is to wash your teeth before oral bacteria that find no substrate to act.

3. Grapefruit juice and its interaction with other foods. When we eat certain fruit juices we may be interfering with the action of certain drugs we are taking. For example, in the case of grapefruit juice is shown to reduce the effectiveness if we also take other drugs with certain antihistamines components, anticancer, atenolol, talinolol and celiprolol (which are beta blockers used to prevent heart attacks or to treat hypertension blood ), in the case of cyclosporine and some antibiotics ( for preventing transplant rejection).

Also, grapefruit juice may also increase the action of statins or antidepressants and, therefore, if we are taking this class of drugs would be advisable to consult your doctor before eating.