On the eighth day

How's everyone holding up? I hope no one is stressing too much for the holidays. I know I'm running around like crazy, both at work and out of work. However, there's a guaranteed thirty seconds of relaxation when I come home and open my front door to get a whiff of that amazing douglas fir. I hope all of you get, at least, that moment of pure relief and joy in your busy holiday schedule.

Now for our eighth day. Obviously here in Florida oranges, tangerines, and all their cousins are always in abundance. So, I had a little trouble deciding which of the species of genus Citrus I was going to choose. The winner tonight was Citrus tangerina, or tangerines!

The most well known vitamin of the genus Citrus is its high levels of Vitamin C. Vitamin C, sometimes referred to as ascorbic acid, was used in the first nutrition experiment on human beings in the year 1747. Before this, when a man decided to join the crew of a ship, he knew he only had a 50% chance of returning alive. Not because of pirates, storms, or one of Poseidon's many sea monsters, but because of a disease known as scurvy. In 1747, an English physician by the name of James Lind conducted an experiment on the British navy and discovered those sailors receiving citrus fruits quickly recovered from scurvy. Well, well, well, another fruit that can prevent death!

Besides preventing scurvy, Vitamin C is an incredibly essential part of your diet. It is required for the growth and repair of tissue in all parts of your body. Vitamin C is a very powerful antioxidant, supporting the body's immune system in the prevention of colds, cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and the improvement of eye and skin health. 

Vitamin C even plays a role in stress! During stress, our adrenal glands, which contain more Vitamin C than any other organ in the body, releases the vitamin along with hormones into the blood. Therefore, stress can cause a depletion in Vitamin C, raising our Vitamin C needs. So, I better see all of you drinking a glass of orange juice or eating a tangerine while doing your last minute holiday shopping!

Homework today for the eighth day of Fruits and Vegetables: Have a delicious citrus fruit, like tangerines, oranges, or clementines, and find at least a moment of pure relief and bliss.