Got Grapefruit? It May Help You Lose Weight

http://www.healthsentinel.com/news.p...st_item&id=169

Alison McCook, "Got Grapefruit? It May Help You Lose Weight", Reuters,
August 27, 2004,
Link: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=6092334

Eating half of a grapefruit three times per day before meals appears
to help people shed unwanted pounds, according to new study findings
reported this week.

Moreover, regular grapefruit-eaters experienced a decrease in insulin,
which in excess can increase the risk of weight gain and
cardiovascular problems.

These findings suggest that adding grapefruit to your diet may be a
good idea, a study author told Reuters Health.

"There's something inert about fresh grapefruit that dose help you
with weight loss," said Dr. Ken Fujioka of the Scripps Clinic in San
Diego, California. "All in all, I would recommend it."

In an interview, Fujioka explained that people have been espousing the
"grapefruit diet" ever since the 1930s, and the concept has resurfaced
from time to time over the years.

To investigate grapefruit's effect on weight loss, Fujioka and his
colleagues asked 100 obese people who were not trying to lose weight
to eat grapefruit in various forms, and recorded how their weight
changed over 12 weeks.

Three times per day before each meal, each group of patients either
ate one-half of a grapefruit, or drank a glass of grapefruit juice, or
took a pill containing grapefruit extracts, or drank apple juice.
Participants were told not to vary their eating habits from before the
study.

By the end of the study period, people who ate fresh grapefruit had
lost 3-1/2 pounds "without doing anything," Fujioka said. Moreover,
these patients also experienced a decrease in insulin, a "surprising"
finding, the researcher said.

He noted that grapefruit juice and pills of grapefruit extract were
less helpful in shedding pounds. However, both fresh grapefruit and
the juice appeared to encourage weight loss in people with metabolic
syndrome -- which includes several disorders such as abdominal
obesity, high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar and unhealthy
cholesterol levels that set the stage for type 2 diabetes, heart
disease and stroke.

Fujioka explained that previous research has shown that grapefruit
does not ramp up metabolism, suggesting that the fruit may encourage
weight loss by lowering insulin levels.

He added that fans of the low-carbohydrate diet might want to consider
making an exception for grapefruit. "It doesn't act like a 'bad
carbohydrate,' so to speak," Fujioka said.

He and his colleagues presented their findings during the 228th
national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Philadelphia.