- Is your cholesterol "up there"?
Make a fresh red grapefruit your daily breakfast side and your arteries will thank you. This, of course, only helps in combination with a generally healthy diet.
Researchers at Hebrew University in Jerusalem observed stunning reductions in both LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol after one month of daily grapefruits. There was a 15% drop in total cholesterol and a 20% drop in LDL cholesterol. 1 Hooray for grapefruit and its cholesterol gunk-cleaning powers! It may also help you steer clear of statin drugs and all their unpleasant side effects (the most common being muscle and liver damage).- Because they simply taste amazing!
That sweet-tart flavor gives any snack, dessert, or even salad a refreshing, tangy twist. They also come in many shades - white, red, and pink! Sprinkle some stevia and cinnamon if you want to mask some of the bitterness for a sweet treat. You can enjoy them au naturel or sneak them into tons of mouth-watering recipes, including whole grain loafs, a massaged kale salad, a salsa, or in a fruit salad or smoothie.
As a plus, if you combine grapefruit with berries in your salad, smoothie, or shake, the polyphenolic plant chemicals in both work together synergistically to boost metabolism and contribute to weight loss.- If you forgot to eat them for breakfast, they're a great way to "fill up" before your next meal.
This will help you cut back on calories and portion size. You'll also be filling up on vitamin A, potassium, copper, biotin, and minerals including calcium, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus.
- These are potent vitamin C-carriers.
Just one half of a grapefruit will provide more than half of your daily vitamin C requirements, which acts as an antioxidant (and a great cancer-preventing antioxidant at that!)
- Grapefruit has soluble fiber in the form of pectin.
In fact, many supplement companies extract pectin from grapefruit for their products. What's so special about pectin? This fiber definitely helps provide "roughage" or bulk in your GI tract. It keeps things moving and clears out toxins by binding to heavy metal ions.
Researchers uncovered other remarcable pectin powers - anti-cancer activity, insulin and blood sugar lowering effects, contributing to death of cancer cells, and it forms a physical barrier to protect the inner layer of your GI tract from bacterial or viral invasion during stress.
Put simply, grapefruit pectin keeps your digestive system clean, healthy, and functional.- It has one of the strongest carotenoids around!
Take, for example, the well-known carotenoid - lycopene. This is by far one of the strongest free-radical fighters. It keeps your cells safe!
- It has multiple stellar antioxidants!
Naringenin is a flavanoid with anti-inflammatory effects. This antioxidant is responsible for some neat effects grapefruit has on carbohydrate metabolism. It turns out it can prevent some carbs from being absorbed by the intestines after a meal. That translates to less blood sugar and insulin spike-risk. This can lower risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, insulin resistance, high blood pressure, abdominal obesity, or high triglycerides.
Naringenin also demonstrates its ability to shrink cancer cells or cause them to self-destruct - especially colon, breast, stomach, skin, lung, and mouth cancers. 5, 6 Naringenin boosts production of enzymes that deactivate carcinogens.
THE GRAPEFRUIT EFFECT - It is absolutely crucial to keep in mind that naringenin interacts dangerously with several pharmaceutical drugs. It can enhance or limit the drug's concentration in blood circulation. If you're on any prescription medicines, wise advice would be to check with your healthcare provider.- Limonene - the citrusy antioxidant
We find limonene in oranges and lemon, too. What's so great about this antioxidant is its role against cancer. It can help in cancer prevention and treatment. Limonene improves digestion by relieving heartburn symptoms by neutralizing gastric acid. It even keeps your circulation in top shape by improving blood pressure and reducing arterial stiffness. Given limonene is mainly concentrated in the peel, try to keep your grapefruit juice nice and pulpy.
- Rev up your metabolism
That's right. Grapefruit may give your metabolic rate the boost that it needs. Diet mistakes, stress, lack of sleep, lack of exercise, or even misapplying the principles of exercise can cause your body to hit the brakes on its metabolism.
Grapefruit gives it a boost at the cellular level - by activing AMPK, a protein directly involved in programming metabolism.
That's right. Grapefruit may give your metabolic rate the boost that it needs. Diet mistakes, stress, lack of sleep, lack of exercise, or even misapplying the principles of exercise can cause your body to hit the brakes on its metabolism.
Grapefruit gives it a boost at the cellular level - by activing AMPK, a protein directly involved in programming metabolism.
REFERENCES
1 J Agric Food Chem. 2006 Mar 8;54(5):1887-92.
2 Nutrition & metabolism, 2011. 8(1): p. 8.
3 Postepy Hig Med Dosw (Online). 2014 Jan 2;68:590-6
4 Eur J Clin Nutr. 2012 May;66(5):591-9.
5 Carcinogenesis, 2006. 27(6): p. 1257-65.
6 Experimental biology and medicine, 2010. 235(6): p. 710-7.
7 J. Pharm. Sci. & Res. Vol.2 (11), 2010,752-758
8 Altern Med Rev. 2007 Sep;12(3):259-64.
9 Biol. Pharm. Bull. 29(2) 191—201 (2006)
10 Cell. 2012 Feb 3;148(3):421-33.