Healthy Kitchen: Cool-Down Desserts
By Marcia Stanley
Antioxidants found in citrus fruits help reduce tissue damage and heart disease
Scoop out a tangy grapefruit. Bite into a juicy tangerine. Savor a luscious orange. Citrus fruits stimulate our taste buds and offer abundant nutrition. Packed into each fruit’s sections are vital carbohydrates for refueling as well as vitamins, minerals and disease-fighting phytonutrients (plant substances other than vitamins and minerals that act as nutrients).
Your mother probably told you to drink orange juice to prevent common colds. That claim might be exaggerated, but vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid), found in abundance in citrus fruits, does help the body fight infections and may shorten the duration of colds. It builds connective tissue to hold your body parts together, maintains your gums so they don’t bleed and keeps capillaries vigorous to prevent bruising.
Vitamin C also functions as a health-promoting compound called an antioxidant. To understand how antioxidants work, you need to know that every cell in your body uses oxygen to supply energy. When oxygen is burned, your cells form free radicals. After a while, free radicals build up in your body and contribute to heart disease, diabetes and cataracts. Antioxidants, such as vitamin C, forage for free radicals and eliminate them from your body, decreasing the risk for the associated diseases.
“The antioxidant effects of vitamin C, along with the heart-healthy benefits of folate, pectin and potassium from citrus fruits, are especially important to people who have diabetes, since they have an increased risk for heart disease,” says Beth Anderson, a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator at Liberty Medical.
Studies have shown that folate helps rid the body of homocysteine, a protein building block that’s linked to heart disease. Pectin binds to fatty substances in your body and increases their elimination, which may help lower cholesterol. And although the reasons are not fully understood, foods high in potassium, such as oranges, may lower blood pressure.
The healthful nutrients in citrus don’t stop with the juicy pulp. Even the peel contributes to a healthy diet. The phytonutrient d-limonene, which gives citrus its pucker, is found abundantly in the peels of grapefruit, lemons, oranges and limes. Studies show that d-limonene may reduce the risk of some cancers, so you might want to consider grating a little peel over your veggies or salads.
Citrus nutrient research, like much nutrition research, is ongoing. The evidence for increasing your intake of particular nutrients is not yet strong enough to recommend supplementing individual nutrients. However, the research does show promise, and it’s certainly worth including these juicy fruits in your diet.
Seafood–Citrus Salad with Creamy Ginger Dressing
Per Serving: calories: 222, 28 calories from fat total fat: 3g; saturated fat 1g, trans fat 0g cholesterol: 133mg, sodium: 725mg total carbohydrates: 29g, fiber: 4g, sugars: 10g protein: 21g; vitamins: vitamin A (40% DV), vitamin C (90% DV); minerals: calcium (15% DV), iron (15% DV) Exchanges: 1 fruit; 2 vegetable; 3 very lean meat
Substituting cooked fresh crabmeat for the imitation crabmeat in this recipe greatly reduces the sodium.
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
- 1 medium navel orange or cara cara orange
- 1 medium red grapefruit
- 1/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
- 8 ounces cooked, peeled and deveined medium shrimp, chilled
- 1 package (8 ounces) imitation chunkstyle crabmeat, broken into bitesize pieces
- 6 cups torn fresh spinach leaves
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced radishes
- Wash citrus fruits; pat dry with paper towels. Grate enough orange peel to make 2 teaspoons. Set aside. Peel and section orange and grapefruit over a bowl to catch juices. Reserve juices. Set citrus sections aside.
- In small bowl stir together sour cream, ginger, red pepper and 2 tablespoons of the reserved citrus juice.
- In medium bowl combine shrimp, crabmeat, citrus sections and sour cream mixture. Toss until combined. In another bowl toss together spinach and radishes. Arrange spinach mixture on four serving plates. Top with shrimp mixture. Sprinkle with reserved orange peel. Serve immediately.
Lime-Cinnamon Citrus Cups
Per Serving: calories: 105, 20 calories from fat total fat: 2g; saturated fat 1g, trans fat 0g cholesterol: 7mg, sodium: 56mg total carbohydrates: 20g, fiber: 5g, sugars: 15g protein: 3g; vitamins: vitamin A (10% DV), vitamin C (110% DV); minerals: calcium (10% DV), iron (0% DV) Exchanges: 1 1/2 fruit; 1/2 fat
Add a dollop of this lime-infused yogurt over your favorite combination of fresh fruits for an easy dessert.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
- 4 medium navel oranges, cara cara oranges, blood oranges or tangerines
- 1 medium pink grapefruit or red grapefruit
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 of an 8-ounce package of Neufchâtel cheese, softened
- 1/2 teaspoon grated lime peel
- 1 container (6 ounces) light vanilla yogurt with sweetener
- 1 tablespoon pomegranate seeds (optional)
- Wash citrus fruits; pat dry with paper towels. Peel and section oranges and grapefruit over a bowl to catch juices. Add citrus sections to juices. Gently stir in cinnamon. Spoon into six small dessert dishes or parfait glasses.
- In small bowl whisk together Neufchâtel cheese and lime peel. Whisk in yogurt. Spoon on top of fruit. Garnish with pomegranate seeds, if desired. Serve immediately.