The Navel Orange as a Healthy Snack

Each generation has its cross to bear. It seems that ours is an issue of self control. In the last few years, the obesity rate in the US has reached nightmare proportions. A full third of the population is officially obese, while two-thirds are overweight. This makes America the fattest nation on earth.

What can we do to reverse this troubling trend? Much has been written about the dangers of fast food. Not only are they high in fat, calories and cholesterol, but they are also perfect for snacking. And that, in our humble opinion, is the problem. It not the extra hundred calories that comes from eating a fast food meal instead of a home-cooked one. Rather, it is the extra four hundred calories fast food fanatics consistently consume between meals, which is why we want to talk about healthy snacking.

But first, let’s be honest for a second, shall we? If you enjoy snacking between meals, you probably aren’t going to give it up, no matter which diet you are on. Therefore, the only viable option is to find something that can replace those fatty snacks. In this article we will take a look at the navel orange.

First discovered in 1820, the navel orange is one of the world’s most popular oranges. And seeing as how there are over six-hundred distinct varieties, this is a rather impressive accomplishment. What sets the navel orange apart? Allow us a moment to explain.

When it comes to oranges, there are two basic types: oranges that are used for fresh fruit and those that are used for juicing. As a general rule, consumers prefer seedless oranges for fresh fruit. And because seeded- oranges are a bit cheaper they dominant the juice market. The two most popular US varieties are the Valencia and the navel orange.

The Valencia is the most abundant citrus crop in Florida, the world’s number one producer of orange juice. A sweet, seeded orange, the Valencia comprises about eighty percent of the total orange crop in the Sunshine State. And about eighty percent of that total is used to make Florida orange juice.

The Navel orange, on the other hand, is the state’s most popular fresh orange. A sweet, seedless orange with loose skin, the navel orange is one of the most revered fruits in the land. Can a fruit really be revered? Well, only if it’s doing something right. And the navel orange has been doing something right for nearly two centuries now.

It all starts with the taste. Even with hundreds of other varieties, the navel orange has been singled-out as one of the sweetest and juiciest oranges on earth. It also doesn’t hurt that it is seedless or that it can be grown more quickly than other varieties with grafting. A farmer need simply snip a budding branch from a navel orange tree and graft it onto a healthy citrus tree. The method produces fruit three times faster than growing an orange tree from seed.

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