From a very young age I’ve understood that oranges and other citrus fruits such as grapefruit, lemons, clementines, tangerines and satsumas are bursting with Vitamin C. And, indeed, oranges provide a very healthy 53.2mg of Vitamin C per 100g.
Unfortunately, one of the side-effects of my chemotherapy treatment is mucositis which, in my case, is exacerbated by citrus fruits.
Once I’d worked out that it was my daily orange that was making the mucositis worse, I removed all citrus fruits from my diet immediately.
But I still wanted to get some Vitamin C from my five-a-day so looked for alternatives to the oranges.
And here are my top non-citrus fruits with Vitamin C:
Mango 36.4mg per 100g
Cantaloupe Melon 36.7mg per 100g
Orange 53.2mg per 100g
Papaya 60.9mg per 100g
Kiwifruit 92.7mg per 100g
Red Pepper 127.7mg per 100g
No problem getting Vitamin C into my five-a-day but I do miss the oranges.
For over thirty years I worked in British primary education as a class teacher and then as head teacher of four different schools.
I retired early about ten years ago and have developed an interest in e-publishing as well as writing. In addition to my own books, I've published several novels written by my husband, Michael Murray. These include the best selling detective novel "A Single To Filey: a DCI Tony Forward novel".
When not writing and e-publishing I enjoy family history, reading, gardening, country walks, music, films etc. A diagnosis of advanced colorectal cancer in mid-2017 was followed by 30 months of chemotherapy and two major operations in 2020. Our wonderful NHS has put me well on the road to recovery and I'm hoping to be cancer free for many years to come. I'm everlastingly grateful to my family and friends, especially my husband Michael, for their love and support.