New Study Suggests Oranges Are the Ultimate Weight-loss Food
David Craig The golden-age movie star WC Fields used to fantasise about watering the orange trees in his garden with gin. “Then,” he said, “all I’d have to do is squeeze the juice into a glass.” The Citrus sinensis, or the humble orange, is so closely linked to everyday health and well-being – think of all those vitamin tablets given its flavour – that it’d take the kind of sabotage Fields dreamed up to ever give it a bad name.
Somehow, though, we take it for granted. From maca root to rambutan, we all too easily assume that the more exotic a food is, the more potent its health benefits will be. But don’t dismiss the ubiquitous sweet orange as a mere vitamin-C fix, or a retro mid-match refreshment: scientists have discovered that a chemical compound it contains can put the squeeze on body fat and juice up your mood.
In a recent study, researchers at the University of Western Ontario introduced nobiletin –
extracted from oranges – to the diet of morbidly overweight mice. Not only did the flavonoid reverse symptoms of obesity in test mice, but it also reduced the harmful build-up of plaque in their arteries, known as atherosclerosis.
Separate research found that the molecule binds to the proteins responsible for stabilising our circadian rhythm and regulating our metabolism, a process that helped rodents that were given a high-calorie diet over 10 weeks to stay lean, even as members of the control group gained nearly twice their bodyweight. Nobiletin has also been linked to reversals in age-related ailments, such as declines in exercise endurance and poor sleep, which can lead to feelings of anxiety and depression.
So, drop those high-priced superfoods with names you can never quite remember and unpeel a 30p orange – or at least do as Fields and Snoop Dogg did and sip on gin and juice.
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