While they are a great remedy to keep a cold away, a bonus for weight loss battles and work wonders in adding that extra ‘zing’ to your day, a new study has revealed that these common fruits could actually help stop diseases caused by obesity too.
Oranges and lemons are not only fully loaded with Vitamin C, they are shown to have antioxidants that prevent obesity-related heart disease, liver disease, and diabetes.
While they do not prevent obesity, people who enjoy a high fat diet but are not yet obese could also benefit by preventing diseases linked to the food they eat.
The study by Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) in Brazil suggested obesity increases the risk of developing heart disease, liver disease and diabetes because of oxidative stress and inflammation.
Eating a high-fat diet causes the fat to accumulate fat in their bodies and these fat cells produce excessive reactive oxygen species, which can damage cells in a process called oxidative stress.
Graduate student Paula Ferreira said: “Our results indicate that in the future we can use citrus flavanones, a class of antioxidants, to prevent or delay chronic diseases caused by obesity in humans. This study also suggests that consuming citrus fruits probably could have beneficial effects for people who are not obese, but have diets rich in fats, putting them at risk of developing cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance and abdominal obesity.”
Further research will look at how how best to administer these flavanones, whether in citrus juice, by consuming the fruit or developing a pill with these antioxidants.