Health Benefits of Orange Marmalade

Orange marmalade uses the flesh and peels from oranges and lemons to make a citrus fruit preserve. While this food is high in sugar, it provides a range of nutritional benefits, supplementing your diet with vitamins and keeping your fat, calorie and sodium intake low. You can purchase orange marmalade at your local grocery store or make it at home.

A slice of toast with orang marmalade for breakfast. (Image: GeorgeDolgikh/iStock/Getty Images)

Low in Calories

Orange marmalade does not add many calories to toast, baked goods or other recipes. Each 1-tbsp. serving of this fruit preserve contains 49 calories. The amount of calories in marmalade account for 2.4 percent of the maximum allowable daily calories if your diet plan includes 2,000 calories. A common consumption of orange marmalade includes spreading it on a slice of toast as part of a healthy breakfast, which adds 69 calories to your total intake. Columbia University's Health Service suggests eating 350 to 500 calories when you wake up in the morning to prepare your body properly for the coming day, so you should consume much more than one serving of orange marmalade spread on toast for a nutritious breakfast. It does, however, make a good option for a between-meal snack. Registered dietitian Michele Turcotte of The Diet Channel recommends 100- to 200-calorie snacks.

Low in Sodium

One serving of orange marmalade does not use up a considerable portion of the 1,500 to 2,300 mg suggested daily limit for sodium - a tablespoon contains just 11 mg of this potentially life-threatening mineral. The American Heart Association limit for sodium intake is lower than that of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The AHA maintains that most Americans should consume less sodium to lower the risk of heart disease. The 11 mg of sodium available in a serving of orange marmalade contributes to the amount your body requires to function - 180 to 500 mg.

Provides Vitamin C

While orange marmalade is not high in vitamin C, it does supplement your diet with a little extra. One serving of this fruit preserve provides 2 percent of the daily recommended intake of this vitamin. The vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, available in marmalade is important for repairing tissues in your body as well as the production of collagen. It may also have benefits for obese children. A study published in the May 2011 issue of "Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia," a Brazilian medical journal, correlates the consumption of vitamin C with blood pressure regulation during times of mental stress in severely overweight children. More research is needed to confirm this finding.

Contains No Fat

Orange marmalade makes an excellent choice for reduced fat diets as it contains zero fat grams. As a rule, keep fat intake to 20 to 35 percent of the calories in your daily meal plan, although your health-care provider may suggest a different fat intake depending on your nutritional goals. If you use orange marmalade in baked goods, this likely contributes fat to your diet.