Can Citrus Help Prevent Sickness?

Staying healthy is very much on our minds these days, and apart from vaccines, lots of hand-washing, and other recommendations for staying well, you might be wondering what else you can do keep yourself and your loved ones well. Don’t dismiss those old wives’ tales out of hand – sleep really does fight illnesses of all kinds, chicken soup really can help you recover from a virus faster, ginger tea really does reduce inflammation, and citrus fruits really do help prevent colds.

Florida Citrus Fruit Can Help You Fight Off Illnesses

Perhaps it’s no accident that many orange varieties (like temple citrus oranges from Hale Groves), grapefruit, and other citrus fruits come into season during the winter months. At a time when colds and flus are most prevalent, these fruits are ready to deliver a punch of vitamin C, an essential nutrient when you’re feeling under the weather. Studies show that vitamin C actually may help prevent the common cold for people exposed to sickness-inducing environments, such as cold weather, by bolstering your immune system, and can even help lower the duration and severity of a cold.

In fact, vitamin C’s ability to speed healing leads many doctors to suggest patient facing surgery switch from multi vitamins to vitamin C supplements before the surgery is to take place and shortly after surgery. A tastier and more natural alternative is to get your vitamin C through eating whole foods – just one medium orange, for instance, provides more than 100% of your daily vitamin C needs.

Give Yourself – and Your Loved Ones – a Gift of Health!

While oranges (like our classic Grove Navel Oranges) might be the first thing that come to mind when you think of vitamin C-rich fruit, you don’t have to limit yourself to just those – citrus fruit gift baskets from Hale Groves provide a wide variety of fruits and flavors!

In addition to oranges, you should make a point of trying other C-rich Florida citrus fruit, including low-in-calories-but-big-in-flavor Ruby Red Grapefruit (don’t be fooled by grapefruit’s tart reputation – ours are quite sweet), lunchbox-friendly tangerines with their ultra-sweet flavor and easy-to-peel skins, and our famous Honeybells, a citrus hybrid with incredible flavor that’s available for only a short time each winter. When shopping for someone else, choose a citrus gift basket with a variety of Florida fruits inside – it makes a great get well/stay well gift, and they’ll appreciate the exotic flavors!

Why You Should Order Citrus Online

You might think obtaining your supply of fruit through the mail a wasted effort when there’s a grocery nearby, but there are several advantages to ordering your citrus online. For one thing, there’s the variety…you know those Honeybells we mentioned before? Due to their super-short season, they can be difficult to find in local stores. In addition to your usual favorites, Hale Groves alone offers Honeybells, Cara Cara Navel Oranges, Indian River Ruby Red Grapefruit, and our exclusive GoldenBelles™, to name just a few.

Then there’s the quality…even the more common fruit varieties (like seedless Navel Oranges) that you order from Hale Groves are far superior to what you’ll find in a local grocery, because we leave our fruit on the tree until it’s reached the peak of ripeness. You know that the fruit in the citrus box you receive every time you order can only be fresher if you had picked it yourself!

Enjoy Healthy Citrus All Winter

Eating in-season fruit is so much easier when you sign up to receive fresh fruit boxes each month! When you find out-of-season fruit in your local grocery store, it has usually been shipped from far away or “forced,” which results in less-flavorful fruit. In-season fruits have the best flavor and, according to some studies, are the healthiest for us.

If scratching your head to come up with a great gift idea this holiday season – or thinking you’d like to treat yourself and your family to the freshest, healthiest fruit all winter long – consider signing up to receive monthly fruit boxes. A fruit of the month gift is sure to be appreciated on most any occasion! A monthly fruit club subscription from Hale Groves is a thoughtful gift that keeps on giving for however long your subscription lasts, and it’s one that can be shared, so it’s always a great fit.