Clementine

Food · Fruit · Food, Typed Supps

Clementines are a quick hit of vitamin C in a fruit you can peel with your thumbs.

Stage by stage

Peeled & Chewed (Mouth): Segments are easily separated and chewed, releasing vitamin C, water, and natural sugars from the juicy pulp.
Acid Bath (Stomach): Stomach acid and mechanical churning break down the fruit's cell walls, freeing nutrients for the small intestine.
Absorbed in Gut (Small intestine): In the small intestine, sodium-dependent vitamin C transporters actively absorb ascorbic acid, while potassium and folate also cross the gut lining.
Built into Collagen (Connective tissue): Absorbed vitamin C circulates to tissues throughout the body, where it acts as a cofactor for enzymes that weave collagen fibres together in skin, blood vessels, and bone.

Timing

Clementines can be eaten any time, with or without food -- their vitamin C doesn't require dietary fat for absorption, though pairing them with iron-rich meals can boost non-heme iron uptake.

Time to effect

Hours to weeks: Vitamin C from a clementine appears in the bloodstream within 2-3 hours, but immune and collagen-related benefits depend on consistent daily intake over several weeks.

Allergens

None of the fourteen major allergens. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.

Eating patterns

Fits: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher, Gluten-free. Depends on the product: Low-FODMAP.

In season

November to January in the northern hemisphere, May to July in the southern.

Satiety

172 on the satiety index, where white bread is 100 — high. Modelled from the Holt et al. (1995) measurements.

Environmental footprint

0.4 kg CO2e and 83 litres of freshwater per kg, matched to "Citrus fruit" in Poore & Nemecek (2018), Science 360.

Cost band

Cheap — roughly £3 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.

Key nutrients

Nutrition per 100g

Calories: 47
Protein: 0.9g
Carbohydrate: 12g
of which sugars: 9.2g
Fat: 0.2g
of which saturated: 0g
Fibre: 1.7g
Sodium: 1mg

Food vs. supplement

A whole clementine supplies vitamin C alongside fiber, potassium, folate, and citrus flavonoids like hesperidin -- a package a standalone vitamin C tablet doesn't replicate.

Kitchen tip

Keep clementines refrigerated in their mesh bag to slow moisture loss, and eat the thin pith along with the segments for extra fiber and flavonoids.

Common myth

"Eating clementines (or taking vitamin C) will prevent or cure a cold." In reality: According to NIH's Office of Dietary Supplements, routine vitamin C intake does not reduce the risk of catching a cold in the general population; it modestly shortens cold duration (about 8% in adults, 14% in children) and helps prevent colds mainly in people under heavy physical stress.