Red Grapefruit: Turning From a Fruit Into A Superfood



Recently it has been reported that Grapefruit is emerging as one of the leading superfoods. Grapefruit lovers can swear upon the fruit for its beneficial effects, the red one being the choice. It is one fruit that has been labeled as a ‘superfood’ owing to its great vitamin C content and a package of antioxidants. It has made a mark in weight loss, cancer fighting abilities and a perfect immunity booster. Being born as a hybrid between a pomelo and an orange in the eighteenth century, this fruit has made its name as a weight-affecting and an anticancer boon.

According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Red grapefruit contains carotenoids, lycopene, beta- carotene and Beta cryptoxanthin. These antioxidants are absorbed from fruits readily by our body than vegetables. This makes red grapefruit more valuable since the antioxidants in it decrease the risk of cancer producing cells. The nutritional gist of this fruit gives us around 65 percent of vitamin C RDA, 28 percent of vitamin A RDA and around 9 percent of dietary fiber RDA.

According to a study published in the "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry" in 2006, red grapefruit has reportedly exhibited more cholesterol lowering abilities. Hence it is used as a natural weight loss agent. It has been shown that eating one grapefruit per day for a month can help in relieving harmful cholesterol off the body. Having grapefruit juice before every meal can actually help one to start losing stubborn weight. Apart from that, it helps in controlling the bone turnover and widens the ability to deposit minerals to the bones in a bid to increase the bone mineral density and limiting the osteoporosis risk. According to a study published in "Nutrition" in October 2008 in which rats were experimented on, grapefruit readily allowed more mineral deposition in bones halting the effect of autoimmune bone diseases.

One more efficient superiority of this food as proved by Harvard Medical School is that it has a low Glycemic index of 25, indicating that does not affect blood sugar as well as insulin levels much.

It may even prevent asthmatic attacks and help in formation of collagen of the skin making it more supple and resist aging.

Though it is has been labeled as a superfood, this isn’t suitable to all. As noted and broadcasted by The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, grapefruit can interact with some medications such as those for lowering your blood pressure or cholesterol, antiarrhythmic medications and  medications for lowering anxiety. The reason is that these medicines may remain in the body for longer times than normal and increase the risk of adverse reactions as well as side effects. The proper usage would be to use red grapefruit without any other simultaneous working medicines.


Reference: Gorinstein S, Caspi A, Libman I, Lerner HT, Huang D, Leontowicz H, Leontowicz M, Tashma Z, Katrich E, Feng S, Trakhtenberg S. Red grapefruit positively influences serum triglyceride level in patients suffering from coronary atherosclerosis: studies in vitro and in humans. J Agric Food Chem. 2006 Mar 8;54(5):1887-92.


Comments

There are 0 comments on this post

Leave A Comment