When talking about an alkaline diet, mention orange food, and virtually everyone will think of oranges and Vitamin C, but there’s a lot more to orange food than Vitamin C! In fact, there are compounds called Liminoids that may be one of the most effective, natural ways to help prevent cancers, because they do something that no other beneficial nutrient in the body does: They persist in the body longer than any other nutrient known to prevent cancer cells from proliferating.
Two kinds of orange foods
There are two distinct kinds of orange foods: Orange citrus fruits and non-citrus orange foods. In general, citrus fruits are high in antioxidant Vitamin C, but low in antioxidant carotenoids. Non-citrus orange foods are rich in carotenoids but have little or no Vitamin C. So you need both kinds of orange foods
- Citrus fruits – Oranges, grapefruits, etc.
- Non-citrus orange foods – Carrots, pumpkin, squash, etc.
Benefits of citrus fruits: By a long shot, you get more Vitamin C from citrus fruit than you do any other food, but that’s not all! Other nutrients you get include fiber, folate, vitamin B1, pantothenic acid, copper, potassium, and calcium. Citrus fruits also contain phytonutrients and the aforementioned long-lasting antioxidant limonoids.
An orange contains over 170 different phytonutrients which help reduce your risk of stroke, heart disease, and high blood pressure significantly. Positive benefits from eating citrus fruits have been reported for the following health conditions:
- Parkinson’s disease
- Macular degeneration
- Diabetes
- Gallstones
- Multiple sclerosis
- Cholera
- Gingivitis
- Cataracts
- Ulcerative colitis
- Crohn’s Disease
Fantastic flavonoids citrus fruits also contain more than 60 flavonoids, enzymes that have potent anti inflammatory properties. Combined with the phytonutrients in citrus, flavonoids have shown a wide range of antioxidant, anti-allergenic, anti inflammatory, and anticarcinogenic properties.
Long-lasting limonoids are known cancer fighters, but it has been only recently that scientists from the USDA discovered that limonin, one of the limonoids from citrus fruits can remain in the body – fighting cancer – for a full 24 hours! Practically all natural anti-carcinogens remain active in the body for just 4 – 6 hours.
Want Limonoids? It’s easy to load your body up with cancer fighting limonoids, just have a glass of orange juice or two (or other citrus fruit) with your breakfast, and you’re all set!
Want to TRIPLE the antioxidant benefit of Vitamin C in your citrus fruit?
A great way to make an extra-healthy citrus fruit beverage is to combine the juice of your favorite citrus fruit(s) with ionized alkaline mineral water from a water ionizer. Combining citrus fruit juice and alkaline water triples the antioxidant benefit of the Vitamin C in citrus fruits!
Reduce acidity Another benefit of mixing citrus juice with alkaline water is that alkaline water reduces the acidity of fruit juices. If your stomach is sensitive to acidic juices, this can help a lot!
Orange Vegetables: The other orange foods
Carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, and cantaloupe are examples of the “other” orange foods that are loaded in alpha-carotene and beta-carotene, but pumpkin is really the star. Pumpkin is a superfood because of it’s high concentration of carotenoids. The carotenoids in orange foods are responsible for the orange color of the food, and have these health benefits:
- Decrease cancer risk
- Protects against Macular Degeneration
- Reduces risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes
- Age-fighting antioxidants support general wellness
- Reduce swelling and inflammation
Pumpkin: Not just for Halloween anymore: Many natural food experts consider pumpkin to be a key anti-aging food because it’s a potent anti-inflammatory. Pumpkin is highly recommended if you suffer from acute and or chronic inflammation.
Orange fruits are not rich in carotenoids, which is why you need to eat both types of orange food. Carotenoids are converted into Vitamin A in the body, which is why orange foods are credited with keeping your eyes healthy.
Carotenoids are fat-soluble nutrients. This means to get the benefit of the carotenoids in orange foods, you need to eat some fat at the same time. Consider roasting your veggies with some oil, or enjoy your orange veggies raw along with some avocado (my favorite way!)
Nightshade alert for Arthritis and Fibromyalgia sufferers: Orange peppers and sweet potatoes are nightshade vegetables. Nightshades are known to trigger inflammation in arthritis and Fibromyalgia sufferers. An earlier article on this blog about natural ways to fight inflammation has a complete list of nightshade vegetables to avoid.
Got Lupus? Marissa Zeppieri-Caruna, board member, Lupus Foundation of America recommends you soak your fruits and vegetables in alkaline water to remove toxins and dirt. You can really see this work! With just a few minutes of soaking, you’ll see the alkaline water turn dirty brown as it removes impurities.
How to get the most benefit out of your orange foods
Keep in mind, the nutrients in orange fruits are water-soluble, so you don’t need to eat a fat along with them. The nutrients in all other orange foods are fat-soluble, so you do need to eat a fat along with them to get the maximum nutritional benefit from them.
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