How Grapefruit Helps With Natural Weight Loss

We’re beginning to learn that what we eat can be just as important as how much we eat when we’re on a diet. Choosing the right foods, like grapefruit, can help you lose weight more efficiently.

The Grapefruit Diet

Back in the 80’s the grapefruit diet was all the rage. It was very calorie restrictive; averaging about 800 calories per day. It included lots of grapefruit and the promise that all this grapefruit would help you lose weight above and beyond what eating 800 calories a day would do on its own.

It soon became dismissed as a fad diet. However, today’s research is showing that there is, indeed, benefit to eating grapefruit in order to help you lose weight.

Grapefruit contains many different plant compounds; one of which is pectin. Pectin is also abundant in apples, and has been shown to reduce water retention. So, eating grapefruit is a great way to help lower excess water weight.

Grapefruit can help control insulin levels

But, grapefruit goes even further – and can help reduce body fat, too, it seems. Recent studies have concluded that grapefruit helps control insulin, which we know contributes to weight loss.

You see, fat can only be stored in the body when insulin is present. Insulin is secreted in response to elevated blood sugar levels. Grapefruit helps stabilize blood sugar, which keeps insulin in check.

When our insulin levels are lower, it is easier to lose fat. It is this same premise that causes experts to recommend that dieters avoid sugar and white flour in favor of whole grains. Sugar and white flour cause high blood sugar, while whole grains keep blood sugar stable.

Higher levels of insulin in the blood also cause us to be hungry. So, keeping our insulin levels in check can also help prevent overeating.

Grapefruit also contains high levels of antioxidants

Grapefruit is one of the best fruits for getting your antioxidants, too. It is low in sugar, and high in vitamin C, so it’s great winter protection from colds.

There’s certainly no reason these days to go back to that 1980’s grapefruit diet. But, there are lots of good reasons to add grapefruit to your diet for its health and weight loss benefits.

Grapefruit is very versatile. It is convenient for carrying with you when you travel, and it is a great addition to your green salads. Grapefruit juice is also beneficial to dieters, though not as much as whole grapefruit because it lacks some of the whole fruit’s fiber.

So, eat your grapefruit! You may be able to lose weight more easily just by adding this fruit to your weight loss program. And, even if you don’t lose weight, you’re getting great levels of anti-oxidants and vitamin C for this cold and flu season.