In a face-off between grapefruit vs orange, which one is better? Can one help with weight loss? Is the other better for your complexion? Does it boil down to individual taste? Or, should you choose the healthier one – if there is a healthier one?
Today, we’re going to compare grapefruits and oranges side by side and let you decide.
Nutrition Facts for Grapefruits and Oranges
Let’s start by exploring some basic nutritional content of these two colorful citrus fruits. Even though they’re similar fruits, they have some pretty significant nutritional differences!
Since grapefruits are significantly larger than oranges, we will compare one large orange (about 180 grams) with one-half of a grapefruit (about 120 grams).
Orange Nutrition Facts:
- Calories: 87
- Carbohydrates: 22 grams
- Vitamin C: 98 milligrams (about 163 percent of your daily requirement)
- Vitamin A: 414 IU’s (about eight percent of your daily requirement)
Grapefruit Nutrition Facts:
- Calories: 52 calories
- Carbohydrates: 13 grams
- Vitamin C: 38 milligrams (about 64 percent of your daily requirement)
- Vitamin A: 1,415 IA’s (about 28 percent of your daily requirement)
If you just compare these four nutritional areas (calories, carbohydrates, and Vitamins A and C), you see pretty quickly that both of these fruits are super good for you, but they provide slightly different amounts of key nutrients.
As you can see, grapefruits are a low-calorie and low-carbohydrate fruit, great for low-calorie diets. And while they don’t offer quite as much Vitamin C as oranges, just one half of grapefruit gives you more than half of your daily requirement for Vitamin C. As far as Vitamin A goes, grapefruits are absolutely packed!
Oranges are a bit higher in calories and carbohydrates, but it’s a whole food source of carbohydrates that are also packed with Vitamin C, so it’s also a healthy option you can feel good about.
Health Benefits of Oranges
Deciding where to start is hard – oranges provide so many amazing health benefits. So, here are just three main benefits of oranges.
Beautiful Skin
According to Dr. James F Balch, author of “Prescription for Nutritional Healing,” the many vitamins present in oranges provide a wide range of skin benefits.
For one thing, Vitamin A is great for your skin’s outer layer. Then, the many B vitamins support circulation and skin tone.
Finally, Vitamin C, along with other antioxidants, including bioflavonoids, helps to fight free radical damage in the skin, too.
Boost Immunity
Vitamin C is known for its ability to boost immunity. And since oranges are packed with this powerful nutrient, eating oranges can help support a strong and resilient immune system, too.
Reduced Breast Cancer Risk
Oranges are cute, but they’re also powerful. Research shows that eating high amounts of citrus fruits can reduce the development of breast cancer by 10 percent.
Health Benefits of Grapefruit
Because grapefruits share many of the same nutrients as oranges, they also provide similar benefits, including healthy, glowing skin, strong immunity, and even cancer-fighting properties.
So, we’re going to focus on one of the most unique grapefruit benefits: weight loss.
Grapefruits and Weight Loss
In a study with 91 obese patients, people who were given fresh grapefruit lost significantly more weight than those individuals who were given grapefruit juice in varying amounts, or people who were given a placebo.
And when individuals ate half a grapefruit before meals, researchers observed significant weight loss along with improvements in insulin resistance.
But what makes grapefruits somewhat of a diet fruit? It depends on who you ask.
Some say grapefruits influence a digestive enzyme. Others say it’s the low-calorie, high-fiber profile of the fruit. What’s more, Vitamin C is thought to help your body burn fat.
Either way, if you’re trying to lose weight or maintain weight loss, grapefruit may help.
Orange and Grapefruit Essential Oils
Of course, the most obvious way to enjoy either oranges or grapefruits is to eat them just as they are. But you can also tap into the therapeutic benefits of these citrus fruits via essential oils.
Here are some reasons why you might want to consider using orange or grapefruit essential oils at home.
If you’re new to essential oils, it’s a good idea to use them carefully and with caution. They may look like cute little aromatic goodies, but are very powerful. When you use them correctly, you can reap many amazing benefits.
Orange Oil Benefits
You can use orange essential oil for your own health, and beauty routine, or even make housecleaning a bit more enjoyable. Here are some of the great benefits of this sweet essential oil:
- Boost your immunity
- Boost circulation
- Boost digestion
- Pain relief
- Anti-inflammatory relief
- Brighten and lift the mood
- Boost collagen production (say hello to beautiful skin and goodbye to acne!)
- Protect gums
Grapefruit Oil Benefits
Grapefruit essential oil is a wonderful natural approach to women-specific health concerns, such as candida and UTI’s, along with being a wonderful essential oil for your family, too.
- Boost weight loss
- Boost circulation
- Boost digestion
- Fight candida and UTI’s
- Natural hangover support
- A natural pick-me-up
- Improve skin
Is Grapefruit or Orange Juice Good for You?
You should eat the whole fruit whenever possible – that’s how you’ll reap orange or grapefruit benefits in full power. When you eat the whole fruit, you’ll get some much-needed fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
However, if you’re looking for a good juice option, both orange and grapefruit juices can be great options for their high Vitamin C count. Since juice doesn’t contain fiber, it’s richer in sugar, and therefore, it’s better to drink orange or grapefruit juice in moderation.
The best grapefruit or orange juice is always the one that has some pulp and hasn’t been made of concentrates. Make sure the food label refers to whole fruit and is made of freshly squeezed fruits, not concentrates.
How to Pick the Best Oranges and Grapefruits
When it comes to finding the perfect orange, look for fruits that are firm, even-colored, and have thin skin. As always, try to buy oranges when they’re in season for the freshest, most nutrient-dense fruit available.
For grapefruits, look for ones that are round and smooth. Try to avoid ones that have pointy ends, or grapefruits that are soft and puffy.
