Weight loss

How grapefruit can help you slim

Like me, I'm sure many of you started new weight-loss diets in the opening days of 2005. It certainly seems like dieting in January has become as much of a tradition as stuffing ourselves with turkey at Christmas.

So if you did sign on for a new diet and could use a little boost to help things along, I'll tell you about a new study that shows how one simple addition to your meal plan might improve your weight-loss results.

Yellow gold

The idea that grapefruit servings may help dieters lose weight is not news. But until last year there were no studies to actually support this claim.

Researchers at Scripps Clinic of San Diego in the US divided a group of 100 obese subjects into three equal groups: One group ate half a grapefruit before each meal, one group drank a glass of grapefruit juice before each meal, and one group was instructed not to eat any grapefruit or drink any grapefruit juice. Subjects followed their regimens for three months, while continuing to eat as they normally would.

The results were remarkable. Those in the group that ate grapefruit with each meal lost an average of 3.6 pounds, while subjects in the grapefruit juice group lost an average of 3.3 pounds. A few of the subjects in both of these groups lost nearly 10 pounds. But the average weight loss in the group that consumed no grapefruit was less than one pound.

Secret from the grove stand

So... what dietary magic makes grapefruit such a helpful weight-loss aid? Researchers believe that grapefruit contains chemical properties that assist in the management of insulin levels - a potential boon to dieters and diabetics alike.

At the beginning and the completion of the Scripps study, researchers measured the insulin and glucose levels of all subjects. When the test was over, those in the two grapefruit groups had lower levels of insulin and glucose than they did at the beginning, while levels in the non-grapefruit group were unchanged.

The Scripps researchers believe that enzymes in grapefruit help control insulin spikes that occur after a meal, which frees the digestive system to process food more efficiently.

The result: Less nutrients are stored as fat. And like all citrus, grapefruit is rich in water-soluble fibre, which has been shown to enhance digestion while helping regulate the absorption of carbohydrates that would otherwise contribute to blood sugar spikes.

And there's an added bonus to grapefruit's ability to lower insulin levels. Elevated insulin levels prompt hunger pangs. Likewise, when those levels drop, hunger fades and less food is consumed.

Pulp rewards

With the success of this study, the Scripps Clinic is now preparing a similar, but much larger study that may provide support to their findings.