What first comes to mind when I mention orange food? Fruits and vegetables? Candy? Cheese snacks? There are so many orange foods; fruits and vegetables are unsurprisingly the healthier categories. Right?

When it comes to fruits and vegetables, fiber is always part of the mix, but there is a lot more to them.

Oranges and their close relatives, including kumquats, mandarins, and tangelos

It is widely known that oranges are a good source of vitamin C, with one medium orange having nearly the total dose of vitamin C. Nearly. The Dietary Reference Intake for vitamin C is 75-90 mg for women and men, respectively, and a smoker needs to add 35 mg to that. The medium orange has about 70 mg (but can vary with the size of the fruit).

Mandarins and tangelos are in the same group, which will have a similar nutrient profile. However, because kumquats are smaller, you will need more to have the same amount of vitamin C.

Apricots and Peaches

While apricots and peaches are not the same fruit – they are both stone fruit. Stone fruit has a pit or “stone” in the center of the fruit and includes plums, cherries, apricots, and peaches. And nectarines are peaches, but not all peaches are nectarines.

The apricots and peaches, though different, have similar nutrients. Apricots have a good amount of potassium at 427 mg per cup, with peaches having about 319 mg per cup. For reference, one cup of sliced bananas has 537 mg. The potassium isn’t related to the orange color—just a side note.

Cantaloupe

Cantaloupe is also a good source of potassium, with 417 mg in one cup of diced. It also has folate (aka vitamin B9, but we mainly refer to it as folate).

Cantaloupes aren’t the best source of folate, but since I already addressed fiber, vitamin C, and potassium, I wanted to mention this one.

Something else that fruits and vegetables have is a lot of water. For example, cantaloupe is nearly 90% water. Have you ever seen dried cantaloupe at the grocery store? Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, including melon, helps with your daily water intake.

Carrots

Carrots have beta-carotene (converted to active vitamin A in the body) and many other nutrients. Carrots are known to help with eye health, but not in the way most people realize. For example, it won’t fix that near-sighted or far-sightedness (so you don’t need corrective lenses), but it helps with night vision. Think about walking in from coming outside on a sunny day. How long does it take for your eyes to adjust when you come inside? That is the role (in part) of beta carotene.

Bell Peppers

Most people think of green or red when it comes to bell peppers. But they also come in yellow and orange. Their flavors are a bit different. But they are the same fruit, going from green to yellow, orange, and red. So, the darker the pepper, the more beta-carotene, and vitamin C. There is nothing wrong with the green, and you don’t need to only go for the red – anyone in between is just fine.

Having these various colors provides some great color to your meals.

Persimmons

What are these? I got my first one in the internet’s infancy and had yet to learn what to do with it or how to eat it. While it may seem obvious to some people, only some are pretty sure what parts we are supposed to eat and what not to (consider that my husband ate the whole kiwi skin and all when he had his first one).

They look like funky orange-ish tomatoes, but they are a fruit. And like many fruits and veggies, they are a good source of fiber, vitamin C, and vitamin A.

And while they are not a tomato, you can eat them like one: slice them and enjoy. Skin and all.

Pumpkin

So, what about pumpkin? The gourd is forgotten until the last three months of the year. Like many previous foods, fiber, vitamin C, and A are part of the package. You also get some iron, vitamin B6, and magnesium.

I use diced pumpkin, butternut squash, and sweet potatoes interchangeably. While they are not the same thing (no one is selling pumpkin fries that I know of), their consistency in soups, stews, and oven-roasted delivers similar nutrient benefits.

Sweet Potatoes

I previously posted about sweet potatoes and yams so I will refer you to that article. These are not necessarily healthier than white potatoes, just different.

And, as I said above, I use these interchangeably with diced pumpkin or butternut squash. One year for Christmas, I was preparing the sweet potatoes only to learn that about a third of them were moldy. I had a couple of bags of frozen butternut squash, so I just cooked them all together, and voila, no one knew the difference.

Cheddar Cheese

And you thought this would be all about the fruits and veggies. One cannot overlook cheese! Ever.

The nutrient profile of cheese varies, but I look at the protein and calcium. Not that cheddar is superior in nutrients to other cheese (this isn’t a cheese post), but it is one of those cheeses I always have in my fridge – shredded, sliced, and often in individual packets for a snack.

Sodium can add up, but I am not too concerned since I don’t have much in other parts of my diet (sodium).

And then, there are these…

Candy Corn and Circus Peanuts

When I polled my household for orange-colored foods, this is what came up. What can I say? Candy is what comes to mind.

There are no nutritional benefits to these “foods” other than being nearly all sugar. And, I am not sure what else – I am afraid to look it up.

These often have nostalgia over nutrition.