By Judy Davie
**”Is it beneficial when on a diet to eat grapefruit?”
— Patricia**
Dear Patricia,
Yes and no …
Yes, because grapefruit is a low energy food that’s rich in vitamin C, antioxidants, and soluble fibre. It also helps to detoxify the body and, when eaten with a small meal, may slow down the breakdown of food to provide longer periods of satiety. But for all these reasons grapefruit is a good food for everyone* whether they’re on a diet or not.
No, because contrary to old school thinking, grapefruit does not eat up fat or prevent fat absorption. Grapefruit was first introduced as a diet food in 1930 with the famous Hollywood diet, which claimed it had fat burning properties when eaten with small amounts of other foods. It was widely criticised by experts due to the extremely low and potentially dangerous energy intake. More recently some scientists have suggested it may be useful in conjunction with an energy reduced “three meal a day” plan, but in fact every energy-reduced food plan will help with weight loss regardless of the grapefruit.
*Caution: grapefruit and medication
The legacy of the grapefruit diet has left many people in their 50s still believing that grapefruit assists in weight loss. And while eating three half grapefruits a day won’t do a healthy person any harm, to those on permanent medication for a heart condition it may. Grapefruit contains a compound called naringenin, which slows metabolic processes in the intestine and liver and the breakdown of drugs. It is a contraindication for anyone on heart medication. It’s interesting that some food chemicals in grapefruit will naturally reduce cholesterol, but on medication for the same condition, grapefruit will impair the effectiveness of the drug.
Provided you are healthy and not on medication and you enjoy grapefruit on its own without adding sugar there’s no reason why you shouldn’t add grapefruit to your daily diet, but one a day is sufficient. Too much grapefruit and any other fruit or fruit juice can wear away the enamel of your teeth. At the end of the day, and I’m sorry to be a crashing old bore with the same old message, but unless you eat a balanced, energy-reduced diet, no amount of grapefruit will help you to lose weight.
Cut out all the unnecessary foods first (such as alcohol, sweet foods, processed carbohydrates and fatty meats) and increase the necessary foods (such as lean protein, vegetables and fruit, wholegrains, good fats and of course exercise) and you will reap the rewards of your efforts by losing weight — grapefruit or no grapefruit!
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