Orange Peel: Benefits, Side Effects, Best Time to Take It & More

Orange Peel

(Orange Peel Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis Peel, Hesperidin)

Evidence: Very High
Possible Benefits: Reasonable
Safety: High

What is an orange peel?

Orange peel is a popular supplement used for its wide variety of health benefits. This peel can reduce inflammation, boost antioxidant defenses, improve cardiovascular health, and more. This article is about the main benefits of orange peel, its potential side effects, the best time to take it, and more.

Possible benefits

All of the potential benefits mentioned below are dose-dependent. As with other plant extracts, there is a sweet-spot dose that allows you to get most of the benefits without causing meaningful side effects or tolerance buildup in the body. We will discuss the best dosing protocol later in this article.

Major benefits

Improved blood flow – Hesperidine, the main compound in orange peels, was able to improve blood flow in people with metabolic syndrome by about 24.5% more than a placebo. The supplement can also increase microcirculation when taken with a meal or during a blood glucose spike.

Minor benefits

Antioxidant properties – The orange peel contains a wide variety of flavonoids and other beneficial compounds, many of which have strong antioxidant properties and can help reduce oxidative stress in the body.
Reduced inflammation – Many flavonoids, and polyphenols in the orange peel are proven to reduce inflammation in the body through various mechanisms.
Improved immune health – Secondary to the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, orange peel can improve innate and adaptive immune system health and function. This supplement can also reduce the symptoms of various autoimmune conditions.
Improved insulin sensitivity – People with insulin resistance may experience a slight improvement.

Possible side effects

The side effects below are dose-dependent. The risk for them increases (often linearly but sometimes exponentially) as you increase the dose. Some of the side effects only apply to very high doses.

Allergic reaction – While an allergy to orange peel is rare, some people may experience an allergic reaction after ingesting the peel. If you experience allergic symptoms like itching or swelling of the mouth, coughing, sneezing, rash, or other skin reactions because of the supplement, it is probably best to stay away from it.
Diarrhea – This unpleasant effect is relatively common with orange peel, especially as one starts consuming them. It is usually nothing to worry about.
Toxicity – Many flavonoids and other bioactive compounds in the orange peel have adaptogenic properties and act as mild stressors on the body. That is usually a great thing as it allows your body to adapt to specific forms of stress and become more resilient. However, stressing the body too much can be counter-productive and cause multiple side effects, including mild toxicity. While acute toxicity is extremely rare, taking or eating large quantities of orange peel could lead to mild chronic toxicity and cause some health problems over time. To prevent chronic toxicity or the buildup of tolerance, staying below 5 grams of orange peel or 500 mg of hesperidin in a day is best unless you have a great reason to consume more.
Contamination – If growing or storing conditions are not adequately controlled, the orange peel can be contaminated with bacteria, molds, and other potentially harmful microorganisms. Many growers also use pesticides that can be unsafe. Choose the brand you get orange peel and other fruit supplements and powders from wisely. It is often best to use websites like Amazon, where thousands of users have reviewed and rated the products. You are less likely to buy something of lower quality there.

Who should not eat or take the orange peel?

You should probably avoid orange peel if you:

are allergic to oranges
experience a severe adverse reaction after eating the orange peel (though a mild adverse reaction is usually not a problem and can even be seen as positive as it is a sign that the adaptogenic molecules in the peel are causing a hormetic response that allows the body to adapt and become more resilient)

Who will benefit the most?

You should consider taking the peel or adding it to your diet if you:

enjoy the taste of it
wish to improve general health
have a high budget for supplements and are willing to experiment with a variety of them (assuming you don’t fall into any of the categories that should avoid the orange peel, it appears safe and is unlikely to do more harm than good for most people)

How much orange peel should you take?

Because many flavonoids and other chemicals in the orange peel are adaptogenic, they act as mild hormetic stressors on the body, which allows your body to adapt and become more resilient to certain kinds of stressors in the long term. A higher dose of these compounds isn’t necessarily better because they may put too much stress on the system.

The sweet-spot dose typically ranges between 10-50 grams of fresh peel or 1-5 grams of dry peel daily. If you buy an x:1 extract, divide the dry powder dosage by x. If you purchase an extract standardized for hesperidin, the sweet spot dose of total hesperidin is about 250-500 mg.

The higher end of this range usually provides slightly more benefits in the short term. If you plan to take or eat this peel regularly for a longer time (multiple months or years), the lower end is probably a better way to go.

While this supplement could theoretically cause acute toxicity, you’d need to take an extremely high amount that would be way beyond what even the most potent extracts contain.

Like most other plants, it is best to cycle the orange peel and take about two days off weekly to reset your tolerance to the adaptogenic compounds in it. That will allow you to keep getting the benefits in the long term.

Best time to take the orange peel

Most bioactive compounds in the orange peel are water-soluble, so you don’t need to take the peel with food to absorb them well.

Whether you take the supplement in the morning or the evening does not make much difference. Both options are fine so feel free to experiment.

Interactions

Beta-carotene
Hesperidin in orange peels increases the absorption of beta-carotene and a few other carotenoids.

Where to buy orange peel supplements?

In most countries, Amazon is the best option for ordering orange peel and other fruit powders and supplements. They offer some very affordable products backed by many positive reviews. Also, you can choose from a wide range of brands without having to search through other markets on the Internet.

Some brands display the dosage per serving instead of per pill or capsule. Therefore, you may accidentally buy something less potent than you intended. Do not fall for this marketing trick.

FAQ

As for most other plant supplements, it is best to cycle orange peel and take a break from it for about two days per week to reset your tolerance back to baseline. You can also take this supplement only during its season and take a break from it for the rest of the year. Both of these strategies will keep your body sensitive to the orange peel and allow you to keep getting the benefits in the long term.

Fresh orange peels generally have a slightly higher antioxidant content. Many micronutrients and beneficial compounds get lost during the extraction process. On the other hand, supplements and dry powders don’t expire nearly as fast as fresh peels, don’t need to be stored in perfect conditions, and are often cheaper.

Yes. This supplement will not worsen your sleep quality in any way. Whether you take it in the morning or the evening doesn’t matter much if at all.

Dry orange peels and orange peel powders and supplements can expire but not nearly as fast as fresh peels. They can also lose potency over time but very slowly if you store them well. Keep the supplement in a cold, dark, and dry place. It should remain just as potent for many months or even years there.

The peel contains a variety of adaptogenic compounds that act as mild stressors on the body. That is usually a great thing as it allows your body to adapt to specific forms of stress and become more resilient. However, stressing the body too much can be counter-productive and cause mild toxicity over time. High doses can also make you develop tolerance much faster than lower doses, and they may be less effective at improving health in the long term.

While you could safely take or eat higher amounts, there is usually no point in taking more than 5 grams of orange peel or 500 mg of hesperidin. This amount should give you most of the benefits without meaningful side effects.

This supplement contains many bioavailable compounds, and each has a different half-life. However, most of the effects of the orange peel are cumulative, so they mostly happen in the long term rather than acutely. Therefore, the half-life of the peel isn’t very relevant in practice.

No, the orange peel shouldn’t impact your fast in any way.

References

Most of the information in this guide is based on scientific research that can be found and verified in the PubMed medical library. We highly encourage you to use the library to verify anything you read in this article. We excluded from consideration studies that are either confounded or have a high conflict of interest.

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