The Grapefruit Diet

The latest fad diet to join the long list of many others is The Grapefruit Diet which claims that grapefruit, a staple of the diet, has an enzyme that has fat melting properties. But more than for weight loss, grapefruit actually has a plethora of health benefits, as follows.

What it is

The Grapefruit Diet is one of the most popular word of mouth diet plans in the US today. There are dozens of web-sites giving variations of the plan and it is essentially a low calorie, high fat diet. It rings familiarity with the ever-popular Atkins Diet, with one of the main differences that grapefruit is added to each meal.

The Diet

The sample grapefruit diet sponsored by the Florida Citrus Growers website prescribes 800-1200 calories per day. All three meals include either half of a grapefruit or 8 ounces of unsweetened pure grapefruit juice with each meal.

  • Breakfast is eggs any style alongside a helping of a meat product.
  • Lunch is comprised of salad with any dressing (not low or fat free,) meat in any style and any amount.
  • Dinner is a salad (same as lunch) or a green vegetable cooked in butter or spices, meat cooked in any way including fish, and one cup of coffee or tea.
  • Bedtime snack is an 8 ounce glass of tomato juice or 8 ounce cup of skimmed milk.

    • Grapefruit and diabetes

    There is also an important physiological link between grapefruit and insulin as it relates to weight management. According to studies, the chemical properties of grapefruit reduce insulin levels and encourage weight loss. Insulin is an important hormone with many bodily functions, one of which is to help in regulation of fat metabolism. The smaller the insulin spike after a meal, the more efficiently the body processes food for use as energy and the less it will store it as fat in the body.

    Grapefruit juice as a medicine

    In alternative medical approaches, grapefruit juice has been used of for its anti-itching properties with liver disease, treatment of diabetes, and protection against certain kinds of cancer. Also it has been used to lower cholesterol in the blood. Before using grapefruit juice as a medicine in its pure form you must check what medications you are taking, not use if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or suffer from depression.