Citrus fruits are some of the healthy foods we can eat (or drink!). They are loaded with antioxidants such as bio-flavonoids.

Breakfast Juice Recipe #1 – Breakfast Blend
2 oranges
1 red grapefruit

Breakfast Juice Recipe #2 – Citrus Juice
2 tangelos
1 orange
2 pears (with skins on)

Juicing Citrus Fruit
The highest amount of the antioxidant bio-flavonoids in citrus fruits are located in the skin and the white membranes rather than in the flesh (although the flesh still contains some). To take advantage of this fact, I always juice the white membranes at the center of citrus fruits and I also juice some of the peel. I avoid using the outer colored side of the peel as this will produce a very sour tasting  juice.  However, I do scrape off some of the white inside of the peel. This is less sour and the most bio-flavonoid dense part of the citrus fruits.

Health Benefits of Citrus Fruits
The specific bio-flavonoids in citrus fruits are called hesperidin, naringenin and tangeritin. They have been found to have effective anti-inflammatory properties that may help asthma symptoms. An asthma attack is usually the result of the immune system overreacting to an allergen. White blood cells are sent into motion delivering inflammatory agents such as histamines to the lungs to ‘fend off the invaders’. The air sacs in the lungs become restricted by the inflammation and produce the wheezing and shortness of breath that we see in an asthma attack. These bio-flavonoids found in citrus fruits have inhibiting effects upon the production of histamines and other inflammatory agents associated with asthma and can help with the symptoms. More research is going on at present into this health benefit.

The benefits of juicing citrus fruits include vitamin C. Vitamin C is one of the most powerful antioxidants for protecting us from heart disease. As an antioxidant, vitamin C protects LDL “bad” cholesterol from becoming oxidized by free radical damage. Such damage to LDL cholesterol cells is a major risk factor for the development of atherosclerosis – a condition that is the number one contributor to heart disease.

In health
George Simons

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Last Modified : February 11th, 2010 Filed under : Cooking, Health Navigate : Previous post / Next post