One of the many great things about citrus fruit is that it is a go-to, to-go snack that comes in many varieties, with its own eco-friendly packaging. Its "container" is the rind, which in and of itself has a whole slew of uses and health benefits. Inside the container, bite-sized morsels are neatly contained in segments. Actually, some fruits are a little neater than others: easy-peel tangerines segment cleanly, but with very juicy oranges and grapefruit you might need some backup napkins on hand.
With the New Year upon us, this blog author got curious about citrus segments, both as a biological wonder and a metaphor for how we can approach our New Year's goals and resolutions. As it turns out, the unique biological features of segmenting can also apply towards our personal goals.
Segments: A Wonder of Nature
We know that citrus fruits are divided into equal segments, and as it turns out, many things in nature are. In the animal world, segments are called metameres and show up as repeated units of both structure and function. One example would be the repeated identical sections in an earthworm. Another would be the segmentation of the appendages and antennae of insects, arthropods, and crustaceans. Even us humans have segmentation in our muscle fibers and vertebra. In all of these cases, segmentation has many advantages for biological functioning.
The average orange has anywhere from ten to twelve segments per fruit, depending on variety and other factors such as growth conditions. Typically, larger fruits have more sections, but this is not always the case. For example, large seedless navel oranges usually have fewer segments than other types of seeded oranges. The juicy sacs inside each segment are called vesicles, and are responsible not only for nourishing the seeds but also for the juiciness, tartness, and sweetness of citrus fruits.
Segment Your Resolutions
My mother Debby Townsend has a great piece of advice: "cinch by the inch, hard by the yard." Just as it would be hard to eat an entire orange or grapefruit in one gulp, we can approach our life--and our goals and resolutions--one segment at a time.
Most of us begin our resolution journey with a goal: "I want to lose twenty pounds," "I want to learn a new language," "I want to save more money." Once these goals are stated, however, they will require life changes that--just like the impossibility of eating a whole citrus fruit in one bite--are impossible to tackle all at once. Rather, experts recommend that the best way to achieve any goal is to break it down into baby steps: bite-sized (pun intended), consistent pieces, or (you guessed it) segments. Let's use working out as an example. While it may be overwhelming to think about spending an hour getting a big workout at the gym three times per week, we can take it piece by piece: put on gym clothes, drive to the gym, stretch, start to walk on the treadmill, walk a little faster, etc. Cinch by the inch.
We can also segment our time. For example, we may want to achieve a big goal by this time next year, but to do so we need to make monthly, weekly, and daily goal setting our strategy. We can avoid buying that eight dollar coffee just for today, and make coffee at home instead. We can meditate for fifteen minutes three times a week. We can deposit a certain percentage of our income into savings once per month. These are easily digestible, doable goals that result in a one percent improvement towards our goals each day, and according to "Atomic Habits" author James Clear, are the key to rewiring new habits that will make these positive changes permanent.
Make Citrus a Daily Habit
Whatever your New Year's resolutions might be, you can't lose by simply eating one to two citrus fruits per day. For starters, eating citrus will help you stay healthy and hydrated, boost your brainpower for cognitive focus, and its aromatherapy benefits will keep you uplifted and encouraged. No matter how you "section" it, citrus is your ally for all of your goals!
Happy New Year, from all of us at Florida Fruit Shippers!
Sources:
https://biologyinsights.com/what-is-a-segmented-body-and-its-advantages/
https://www.vermontpublic.org/podcast/but-why-a-podcast-for-curious-kids/2024-06-14/why-do-oranges-have-peels
https://snuggymom.com/how-many-slices-in-an-orange/
https://health.usnews.com/wellness/articles/how-to-set-realistic-new-years-resolutions-for-health-and-weight-loss-success
https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7933480/
