Nutrients in oranges, lemons, tangerines, grapefruit and their peels have the ability to fight the nation's top killing diseases -- heart disease, cancer and obesity. Scientific studies revealing this information were presented by researchers from around the world during the two-day "Potential Health Benefits of Citrus" symposium in Philadelphia, according to the Sunkist Nutrition Bureau (www.sunkist.com). Highlights from the symposium included:
Citrus Compounds May Prevent Colon Cancer: Two recent studies provide new evidence that citrus fruits contain compounds that may help prevent colon cancer, the second-leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Jairam Vanamala and Nancy D. Turner from Texas A&M University isolated citrus bioactive compounds and fed freeze-dried grapefruit (which has similar properties to whole grapefruit) to animals with colon cancer and reported a reduced number of colon cancer lesions. Rikako Suzuki of Kanazawa Medical University in Japan found that nobiletin, a chemopreventative compound found in oranges and other citrus fruit, also helped prevent colon cancer in animal studies.