Fun Fact About Oranges
Fun Fact About Oranges
Amanda Hilton
March 7, 2022
(updated September 8, 2023)
A morning in our house is never uneventful. Just this morning, as my son was eating his breakfast, he turned to me and said in disgust, “what is this white stuff on my orange?” Usually, I would spend a good part of my morning removing all the white peel under the skin from his orange before I dare put it on his plate, but on this particular day, his dad made breakfast.
I took this as the perfect opportunity to pipe up in my best nutritionist voice “that’s the pith.” I had hoped to follow it up with a list of all the wonderful benefits of keeping this “white stuff” on the orange while eating it, but instantly 3 sets of eyes shot in my direction with looks of confusion. First my husband, “the what? Is that what it’s called?” followed by my son, “the piss?”, and then his little sister parroted, “the PISS!”
“NO, NO, the pith!” I say, and of course my daughter developmentally can’t get out the “th” sound yet so she just keeps saying “the piss, my orange has piss on it”. UURRGG! Lucky for me, neither my son or daughter know the meaning of their new word so it turns out to be pretty harmless, for now.
After several attempts at correcting them, I merely threw my arms up and walked away. Later that day, I’m telling my oldest daughter about the breakfast incident and she gives me a confused look too. She says, “is that what it’s really called?”
Well now, after two people have called me out on my orange peel “white stuff” word, I begin to wonder if that IS really what it is called. What if I opened a can of worms needlessly? Was my attempt to show my fruit knowledge actually an error on my part? Are my kids running around with “piss” on their oranges now, for nothing?
Now my imposter syndrome has been triggered and my only defense is to hit the books. I do my research and yes! I’m not a phoney, it IS called the pith! So, two things to end my chat about the pith of the orange:
1. Imposter Syndrome is real! I can not tell you how many times I have called myself out on something that I KNOW is true but forced myself to believe otherwise.
2. The pith of an orange, even though disgusting to children, is actually beneficial. It contains as much vitamin C as the sweet fruit itself and is full of fibre, calcium, and immune-boosting flavonoids. So, try to keep some of that goodness on your next deliciously juicy orange.
I never actually got to share that second tidbit of information with my children. I’m kind of actually hoping they totally forget the whole conversation, lol. Check out my Instagram @amandahiltonrhn for more tidbits of information about nutrition and overall health and wellness. Also, feel free to message me at services@amandahilton.ca if you would like to set up a consultation to discuss a wellness action plan.
A morning in our house is never uneventful. Just this morning, as my son was eating his breakfast, he turned to me and said in disgust, “what is this white stuff on my orange?” Usually, I would spend a good part of my morning removing all the white peel under the skin from his orange before I dare put it on his plate, but on this particular day, his dad made breakfast.
I took this as the perfect opportunity to pipe up in my best nutritionist voice “that’s the pith.” I had hoped to follow it up with a list of all the wonderful benefits of keeping this “white stuff” on the orange while eating it, but instantly 3 sets of eyes shot in my direction with looks of confusion. First my husband, “the what? Is that what it’s called?” followed by my son, “the piss?”, and then his little sister parroted, “the PISS!”
“NO, NO, the pith!” I say, and of course my daughter developmentally can’t get out the “th” sound yet so she just keeps saying “the piss, my orange has piss on it”. UURRGG! Lucky for me, neither my son or daughter know the meaning of their new word so it turns out to be pretty harmless, for now.
After several attempts at correcting them, I merely threw my arms up and walked away. Later that day, I’m telling my oldest daughter about the breakfast incident and she gives me a confused look too. She says, “is that what it’s really called?”
Well now, after two people have called me out on my orange peel “white stuff” word, I begin to wonder if that IS really what it is called. What if I opened a can of worms needlessly? Was my attempt to show my fruit knowledge actually an error on my part? Are my kids running around with “piss” on their oranges now, for nothing?
Now my imposter syndrome has been triggered and my only defense is to hit the books. I do my research and yes! I’m not a phoney, it IS called the pith! So, two things to end my chat about the pith of the orange:
1. Imposter Syndrome is real! I can not tell you how many times I have called myself out on something that I KNOW is true but forced myself to believe otherwise.
2. The pith of an orange, even though disgusting to children, is actually beneficial. It contains as much vitamin C as the sweet fruit itself and is full of fibre, calcium, and immune-boosting flavonoids. So, try to keep some of that goodness on your next deliciously juicy orange.
I never actually got to share that second tidbit of information with my children. I’m kind of actually hoping they totally forget the whole conversation, lol. Check out my Instagram @amandahiltonrhn for more tidbits of information about nutrition and overall health and wellness. Also, feel free to message me at services@amandahilton.ca if you would like to set up a consultation to discuss a wellness action plan.
