Oranges Pack Powerful Antioxidant Punch

PROVO, UtahNew research from Brigham Young University suggest eating oranges or drinking orange juice is the best way to squeeze all the antioxidants and nutrients from the tasty fruit. The best health-promoting combinations of those natural antioxidants were published in a recent issue of the Journal of Food Science.

Theres something about an orange thats better than taking a vitamin C capsule, and thats really what were trying to figure out," said Tory Parker, BYU assistant professor of nutrition, dietetics and food science. We think its the particular mixture of antioxidants in an orange that makes it so good for you."

Parker said every time we eat carbohydrates and fat, we increase the amount of free radicals in our blood. Over time, that increases our chance for hardened arteries and heart disease; however, eating fruit protects us from that effect for a few hours after every meal.

The team tested dozens of combinations of the antioxidants found in an orange at the same proportions they occur naturally. They identified several combinations of antioxidants that were the most synergisticthe compounds hesperidin and naringenin, in particular, appeared to contribute the most punch in the combinations.