Goodmorning :)

Are you sipping a glass of orange juice? (I think it goes without saying that my morning mug is filled with coffee.)

I’m all about oranges. (Navel, not those weird Valencia ones. Who wants to deal with seeds?) My favorite grocery store Sprouts had a huge display of navel oranges this week, 3 pounds for $1. So obviously I bought as many as I could fit in my basket and have been slicing up a couple every day! They are so juicy, and citrus fruits in general just smell so fresh :)

Now that I’m overflowing with oranges I thought I’d do a little research into what these little guys are doing for me!

My go-to site for all nutrition information is nutritiondata.self.com (seriously, I look up the calorie/fat/sodium serving size info on almost every food without a label. Fun fact: a whole zucchini is only 30 calories. #goodbecauseicaneatfive)

So the COLD HARD FACTS:

A small orange is only 60 calories.

One contains about 85% of a day’s worth of Vitamin C. (Though the body can’t actually store Vit C so eating a dozen oranges won’t make you extra Vitamin C-y.)

An orange is also about 85% water.

They are naturally fat-free!

Vitamin C is an anti-oxidant. It helps repair and build tendons, ligaments, skin and blood vessels.

The vitamin also helps form scar tissue and maintain cartilage, bones and teeth.

(Source: National Health Institute)

Another fun fact (lucky you!) The city I grew up is historic orange grove territory. My high school is built right next to what’s left of an orange grove, and our school colors were even (BRIGHT) orange & green. Not ideal uniform colors. We were called “jailbirds” on more than one occasion…. clever.

Sometimes in high school when the oranges on the trees were ripe, we would pick a few to eat as a post-workout snack. Sticky hands – yes. Totally worth it – yes.

We even invented “orange grove tag” for off-season workouts. Instead of a 4-5 mile run, we would congregate on an acre of orange trees and play hide and seek until we all got hungry. <3

Don’t skimp on that Vitamin C. Your bones/teeth/skin/immune system will be extra thankful for the extra boost. Or go for the “cuties” (clementines) to get your fill of Vitamin C in an adorable fun-size fruit. I always try to peel them in one spiral piece, it’s my own competition with myself ;)

And that Hi-C or Tang crap does NOT count! Pulp is GOOD.