Good for you: Citrus

November/December 2023 California Bountiful magazine

Power up with citrus!

Story by Tawnie Graham

Citrus is delicious, healthy, refreshing and packed with essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Although best known for being a vitamin C powerhouse, citrus also contains fiber, calcium, potassium and B vitamins. And it’s not just the excellent growing conditions in California that make our citrus so good. It’s also the dedication of more than 5,400 farmers tending to about 263,000 acres of citrus in California who provide

the best-tasting citrus in the United States. (You can meet one of these farmers on Page 22.) As a citrus fan, my refrigerator is always stocked with navel oranges, blood oranges, lemons and mandarins, and I love Cara Cara oranges for their pink flesh and incredibly sweet citrus flavor.

Here’s how this vitamin C powerhouse helps us:

• Can support your heart health, thanks to the flavonoids.

• Keeps you hydrated, thanks to the high water content.

• May help fight inflammation, thanks to anti-inflammatory phytochemicals.

• Can help improve iron absorption.

The best place to store oranges is in the refrigerator in a mesh bag to allow airflow around them. All citrus will last longer when stored in the refrigerator, but not all citrus belongs in a mesh bag. According to recent studies, for example, lemons will last longer when stored in a sealed plastic bag as opposed to on the counter.

To incorporate more citrus into your meal planning, try my Healthy Orange Chicken or add citrus to sweet breads and desserts like my Lemon Cookies. 

Tawnie Graham is a registered dietitian nutritionist, cookbook author, owner of food blog Kroll’s Korner and a mom. Follow her on krollskorner.com and on Instagram at @krolls_korner.