Eating Grapefruit Helps Weight Loss

Of course there's always an exception, such as this perfect sunrise I took a picture of from my palapa at a stunning place we rented in Mexico just outside of Puerto Vallarta last year. This place, Villa Estrella, is a hidden jewel and is by far the nicest place I have ever visited. Click on the image to go to Villa Estrella's website.

For breakfast this morning I had half a grapefruit and a small bowl of Cheerios with skim milk. Whenever I’m dieting I always keep a good supply of grapefruit around. Not only do I love to eat grapefruit (just plain, no sugar), but this tasty citrus has also been found to help with weight loss.

There have been a number of published studies regarding grapefruit and weight loss. The most famous of these studies was published by Dr. Fujioka, principal researcher at the Nutrition and Metabolic Research Center at Scripps Clinic. In his twelve-week study with 100 men, he found that participants who ate half a grapefruit with each meal lost an average of 3.6 pounds and participants who drank a serving of grapefruit juice three times a day lost an average of 3.3 pounds.

So why does eating grapefruit and weight loss go hand-in-hand?

To begin with, grapefruit is a high fiber food. When you eat foods high in fiber they make you feel full faster and longer. For this reason, eating a half or whole grapefruit with a meal can help to suppress your appetite and curb your hunger.

Secondly, grapefruit has a low glycemic load. What this means is that the carbohydrates in grapefruit have a low impact on blood sugar levels. By keeping blood sugar levels more constant, eating grapefruit results in better appetite control and a smaller spike in insulin, which helps the body to more efficiently process food for use as energy and less is stored as body fat.

If you’re not crazy about grapefruits, then oranges are the next best thing. Both of these citrus fruits are high in vitamins and minerals that improve your health and they can help you to lose weight too. You can’t go wrong with adding these fruits to your diet.