Having grapefruit juice is a colourful way of loosing weight

21 August, 2012

The grapefruit, which is available in vibrant colours like pale yellow, pink and deep red colours, is also packed with many nutrients. Studies suggest that including grapefruit juice in your daily diet can result in weight loss. Apart from this, it also has numerous health benefits.

GRAPEFRUIT RESEMBLES an orange and belongs to the citrus family, and it is a recent addition to this large family of citrus fruits. The size and the colour of the grapefruit depends upon its variety, which in turn are affected by the soil and the climate. It is named as grapefruit just because it grows in clusters like grapes.

Grapefruit juice is a rich source of vitamin C and it also contains lesser amounts of vitamin A, vitamin B complex, vitamin E and vitamin K. This juicy fruit also has citric acid, natural sugars, essential oils such as limonene, pinene and citral. Now coming to the minerals, it contains calcium, phosphorus, potassium and folic acid in abundance, it is also rich in phytonutrients such as liminoids, flavonoids, lycopene and glucarates.

Grapefruit juice and weight loss goes hand in hand. According to research done by the Nutrition and Metabolic Research Center at Scripps Clinic, grapefruit juice for weight loss is a good choice as it contains high fiber and has low glycemic rate. A person who is on a diet can eat as much as he likes, but the food that he chooses should be less in calories and high in fiber and water content. Oranges and grapefruit tops the list of most consumed fruits and vegetables for better appetite.

The Glycemic Load (GL) of the food affects the blood sugar level, so we need to focus on foods that contains carbohydrates which have less impact on sugar levels. The foods with a Glycemic Load (GL) below 10 is advisable and the grapefruit has a Glycemic Load (GL) of 6. "For years people have talked about the grapefruit diet, and some even swear by it, but now, we have data that grapefruit helps weight loss," said Dr. Fujioka, principal researcher at the Nutrition and Metabolic Research Center at Scripps Clinic, reported the website about.

Apart from weight loss, there are numerous other benefits of grapefruit juice. Some of the health benefits of grapefruit juice are:

Acidity – the grapefruit juice shows an alkaline reaction in the stomach, so it is very useful for the treatment of acidity in the digestive system.

Brest cancer – the bioflavinoids present in the grapefruit juice can stop the cancer cells from spreading in the breast cancer patients, by removing the excess estrogen from the body.

Diabetes – as the Glycemic Load (GL) are low, so this fruit can be consumed by the diabetic patients. It will also help to reduce the starch and sweets in the body.

Fatigue – a glass of grapefruit juice with a spoon of honey will throw away all the fatigue and tiredness from your body.

Pregnant women – the vitamin C and bioflavinoids present in the juice helps to reduce the swelling of the legs in pregnant women.

Caution : If you are under certain medication, then consumption of grapefruit juice is not advisable as it interacts with some drugs and halts the metabolism of the drugs, which further results in toxic poisoning.