Is the Grapefruit Diet
Worth Considering?

The grapefruit diet dates back to Hollywood of the 1930s. It involved the following:

• Consume 1/2 grapefruit or 8 ounces of grapefruit juice at each of three daily meals.
• Drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day.
• Avoid desserts, breads, white vegetables and sweet potatoes.
• Eat as much meat, salad, and vegetables as you want.
• Use as much butter as you want.

Except for the grapefruit, it sounds similar to the Atkins diet. And except for the grapefruit and vegetables, the faddish grapefruit diet doesn’t sound very healthy.

However, grapefruit is a very nutritious food that you would do well to include in your diet.

Here are 7 good reasons to include grapefruit in your diet:

1. Eating the pulp of red grapefruit may reduce the risk of osteoporosis and increase bone strength. About 75 million people in the United States, Japan and Europe have osteoporosis, with four times as many women as men.

2. Drinking freshly squeezed grapefruit juice can help alleviate detoxification symptoms that often accompany a fast, as the body is trying to eliminate so many poisons all at once. The fresh juice (not bottled) is alkalizing and a cleaning agent that also has antibacterial, antiseptic and antifungal properties.

3. Grapefruit is an excellent source of vitamin C. This is a vitamin that helps to support the immune system, may help the body reduce cold symptoms, prevents free radical damage, reduces the severity of inflammatory processes, and helps promote cardiovascular health by preventing free radical damage to blood vessels.

4. The antioxidant lycopene is abundant in grapefruit. This phytonutrient seems to have antitumor activity. Also, lycopene has the highest ability, among the dietary carotenoids, to fight oxygen free radicals that can damage cells.

5. Limonoids are phytonutrients in grapefruit that inhibit the formation of tumors by promoting the formation of a detoxifying enzyme that initiates a reaction in the liver that helps to eliminate toxins from the body.

6. Grapefruit has been found to lower cholesterol. It contains pectin, a soluble fiber that research has shown slows down the progression of atherosclerosis.

7. Know anybody who wants to prevent kidney stones? Tell them to drink grapefruit juice. A British study found that drinking 1/2 to 1 liter of grapefruit, apple or orange juice daily led to a significant reduction in the risk of forming calcium oxalate stones.

Caution

If you are taking any pharmaceutical drugs, check with your healthcare provider and/or pharmacist about possible interactions with grapefruit. Certain drugs combined with grapefruit become more potent.