It’s well over a decade since I visited my cousin Kathy and her family in Brooklyn, New York. I spent a week with Kathy, husband Toby and her 4 kids – Helen, Baruch, Reuben and Sophie. They’re now grown up, but I remember the fun we had! Especially the way they’d watch me each morning at breakfast squeezing an orange, skimming off skin from a grapefruit, leaving the pith on and cutting up the fruit into bite-sized pieces – and then adding 1–2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice into my glass of water … 

“Shirley – we have orange and apple juice in the fridge. Why don’t you just use that? This takes, like, FOR–E–VERR!!”

“It’s not fresh!”

“But it says ‘Fresh’ on the bottle?”

“Rubbish … too much sugar!” (Lots of laughter)

Teasing me for the rest of my stay every time they had a cola or a juice, they’d say, “Shirley – L–OO–K! RUBBISH!” 

Dad Toby asked me one morning: “Do you do this every day?? Even when you travel?”

“Yes – haven’t missed a day in 20 years.”

“Wow! This is your regime then!! WHAT A REGIME YOU HAVE!!”

Thanks to you, Toby, I got the word for my pre-breakfast ritual which I began in my 30s. But did you know that oranges actually have an alkaline effect on the body?

“There are few fruits whose alkaline effect on an over-acid condition of the body is so rapid.”
“When concentrated starches and sugars are included in a meal with fruits … then the fruits no longer have an alkaline reaction in the body but tend to create an acid condition.”

Walker, N.W. (1940/1970). Diet & Salad, pp.140 & 133. Norwalk Press: Summertown, Tennessee.

In Singapore, we did the exact opposite. We never had oranges on an empty stomach, believing they were too acidic. We always ate them after a meal. It turned out this was the reason for my ‘acid stomach’, which I had for years.

The pith in citrus fruit in particular, is vital for good health. It contains the soluble fibre pectin – which serves as a prebiotic for the probiotics of the gut. The pith in citrus contains Vitamin C that boosts the immune system, produces collagen, helps in iron absorption and aids wound healing and skin repair. 

Probiotics & prebiotics: what’s the difference?

Probiotics are foods or supplements that contain live microorganisms intended to maintain or improve the “good” bacteria (normal microflora) in the body [e.g. yoghurt]. Prebiotics are foods (typically high-fiber foods) that act as food for human microflora. Prebiotics are used with the intention of improving the balance of these microorganisms.

Susie Burrell, an accredited practising dietician and nutritionist, writes in The Sydney Morning Herald:

“Eating adequate amounts of dietary fibre has a protective effect on the health of the bowel. Getting enough fibre means that waste is more efficiently moved through the digestive tract leaving less time for mutant cells to grow and infiltrate.”

SMH, 2024, June 10. Why more young people are being diagnosed with bowel cancer and how to reduce your risk.

Remember that drinks and juices in cans and bottles have more sugar than fibre. A simple hand juicer – usually $3 at supermarkets – will not only keep fibre in the fruit but strengthen your wrists at the same time! But if you prefer, electric juicers are also very affordable; they do not remove the precious pulp. You can get them in Australia from $29 at BigW and $19 at Kmart (look for the ‘Anko’ brand). 

According to the NIH, experiments are now being conducted to isolate regenerator cells and inject them into chronic wounds or tissues that could help to repair and heal them. Why wait 3 or 4 years for this technology to be available?

START EATING the pith NOW, folks!!