Want to stay healthy this cold and flu season — and look good doing it?
There’s a budget-friendly fruit in season right now that’s bursting with nutrients, low in calories and might just be the secret weapon your immune system and skin need this winter.
An added bonus: Your brain will also get a boost.
Clementines, better known by their brand names Cuties or Halos, are like the smaller, sweeter cousins of the orange.
These tiny citrus fruits are easy to peel, usually seedless and hit peak season from October through January.
But don’t let their small size fool you: One clementine clocks in at just 35 calories but delivers 36.1 mg of vitamin C — nearly 40% of what you need daily for optimal health.
Vitamin C is essential nutrient, meaning your body can’t make it on its own so you need to get it from your diet. It’s a powerhouse for your immune system, helping to destroy infectious microbes while keeping your tissues safe from damage.
Research shows that getting enough vitamin C on a regular basis can help reduce the severity and duration of cold and flu symptoms. However, there is little evidence that popping vitamin C once you are already sick will speed recovery, so consistency matters when it comes to eating clementines.
The perks don’t stop at immunity. Vitamin C is also crucial for collagen, the protein that keeps your skin firm, plump and smooth.
Maintaining adequate collagen levels can reduce fine lines, prevent sagging and even speed up wound healing.
Clementines are also packed with other antioxidants, like flavonoids, which can fight inflammation, calm redness and soothe skin conditions like acne or rosacea.
And with their high water content, these juicy snacks can help the skin stay hydrated, preventing dryness and flakiness.
But the goodness doesn’t end there. Clementines contain folate and thiamine, two B vitamins that are crucial for your body, supporting everything from cell development to a healthy metabolism.
And while a single clementine only has about 1 gram of fiber, snacking on a few throughout the day is an easy way to boost your intake, supporting digestion, gut health and weight management.
Like other citrus fruits, clementines are brain-friendly, too.
They contain bioactive compounds such as polyphenols, which have anti-inflammatory and antioxidative properties that help protect the brain from damage.
“Studies on animals have shown that supplementing the diet with citruis fruits improves deficits in learning and memory, particularly spacial memory, which helps us remember where we’ve put things and recognition memory, which is vital for facial and name recall,” Dr. David Vauzour, a senior research fellow at Norwich Medical School, told FoodNavigator.
Clementines are also a rich source of hesperidin, a bioflavonoid with antioxidant properties that may help reduce inflammation, improve blood flow in the brain and support overall brain cell health.
Research suggests that getting hesperidin in your diet can help improve cognitive functions such as attention, learning and memory, as well as psychomotor skills like movement and coordination.
In fact, studies show that eating citrus fruits like clementines daily could cut the risk of developing dementia in older adults by nearly 15%.
They might even help your mood. Last year, scientists found that people who ate a daily serving of citrus had about a 20% lower risk of being diagnosed with depression.
“The effect seems to be specific to citrus,” Raaj Mehta, the lead study author, told The Harvard Gazette. “When we look at people’s total fruit or vegetable consumption, or at other individual fruits such as apples or bananas, we don’t see any relationship between intake and risk of depression.”
But before you grab a bag and start peeling, there’s something to keep in mind about clementines.
Some research has shown that clementines contain furanocoumarins, a compound also found in grapefruit that can interfere with certain medications, including cholesterol-lowering statins, and potentially cause complications.
To be safe, experts recommend checking with your doctor or pharmacist about possible drug interactions before adding large amounts of citrus fruit to your daily diet.
