The Orange – Medicine’s Next Fat Fighter?

154 years ago the he expression "An Apple A Day Keeps the Doctor Away" first appeared in print and of course apples do present plenty of health benefits but what about the apple's citrus sister, the orange?

Outside the obvious benefits of vitamin C, what else is going on with the orange?

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a resource for journalists and the public and their website EurekAlert  has an orange update for us health conscious consumers.

With all due respect to Yakima Valley Apples, it seems oranges contain a molecule that could reduce obesity and offer other protective health effects. The molecule is called nobiletin, and is found in sweet oranges and tangerines. 

In the study, mice fed a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet and given nobiletin were noticeably leaner and had reduced levels of insulin resistance and blood fats compared to mice fed the same diet but not the nobiletin. 

The scientists say the molecule could actually reverse the negative symptoms of obesity, and even start removing plaque build-up in the arteries. 

Despite the positive potential, scientists say they haven't been able to figure out how nobiletin works!

But the next step is to move out the mice and try it out on people.  The upside to nobiletin is, as the scientists say, "Obesity and its resulting metabolic syndromes are a huge burden to our health care system, and we have very few interventions that have been shown to work effectively."  

So have that apple a day...and then wash it down with an orange....Hey, it couldn't hurt!