Like clothing and hairstyle trends come dish -diets and go, only to return in slightly new variations years later. One of the best known diets who somehow continues to return to mainstream is the grapefruit.
Maybe you saw your mother or your grandmother religiously eating a grapefruit with one of these little spoons before every meal in an attempt to lose weight. Or maybe you had a friend who would drink a glass of grapefruit juice every morning.
Despite the fact that science has not proven the grapefruit to be effective, people continue to rely on this slightly sour citrus as a weight loss stact.
What is the grapefruit?
The grapefruit has been around in some form since the 1930s and simply supports eating half a grapefruit before each meal. Other variations of grapefruit make you drink grapefruit juice instead of (or beyond) to eat the fruit itself. And then more restrictive variations require you to do and Stick up to 800 calories per Day while cutting out most carbohydrates.
Why grapefruit? Supporters believe its enzymes can help you burn fat and magically help you lose you. Some people (on the always reliable internet) even claim that it can help you lose 10 pounds in under two weeks.
What do you eat on the grapefruit?
You can eat pretty much anything on the grapefruit as long as you eat half of a grapefruit beforehand. As far as diets are concerned, whether it works or not, this is pretty simple to follow!
But if you stick to the low carbohydrate version of this diet you need to eat your grapefruit and Cut down on carbohydrates such as:
- Sugar
- Rice
- Assert
- Potatoes
- Bread
But again, there are no super -specific guidelines when it comes to this part of the diet.
Can the grapefruit help you lose weight?
So far, scientists have found no concrete evidence that the grapefruit can help you throw pounds; Most results were correlative.
In a study by Louisiana State University researchers, obese adults got either half a fresh grapefruit, eight ounces of grapefruit juice, grapefruit capsules or a placebo. The groups that ate half a grapefruit or drank eight ounces of grapefruit juice before each meal lost about 3.5 pounds in 12 weeks. The capsule group lost only 2.4 pounds and the placebo group saw almost no change.
Although the grapefruit groups saw some promising results, the researchers eventually concluded that “the mechanism of this weight loss is unknown.”
Another study by British researchers compared consuming grapefruit, grapefruit juice or water before meals for 12 weeks. All three settings before meal helped the study of the studies to lose weight without any significant differences between the three, which means that citrus was on par with the water.
Confirmation of these results, a study from the journal Metabolism concluded that eating half a grapefruit before each meal for three weeks did not lead to significant weight loss compared to a placebo.
The only other studies that have found one direct Connection between intake of grapefruit juice or extract and weight loss has been in mice. Unfortunately (in this very specific case) people are not rodents.
Why do people think grapefruit helps with weight loss?
“Grapefruit is a big, filling thing. If you eat it, you can eat less of your meal because your stomach is full of grapefruit,” says Denis Faye, Mrs. “Plus, grapefruit has a weird taste and kind of blowing your flavors, so you might eat less because things wouldn’t taste so good.”
In fact, you can replace grapefruit with other foods and see similar results. “It’s like having a salad or vegetable soup before your meal,” says nutrition consultant Keri Gans, RDN, author of the little change of change. It is all food with low energy that can fill you up before the main course.
“But I don’t buy that there are special substances in grapefruit [to help you burn fat]”Says Faye.
Disadvantages of the grapefruit
“I believe in variation and do not eat the same things over and over again,” says Faye. “Front load with a healthy food with lower calorie so you eat less is A weight loss strategy, but you still have to make smart choices. If you eat a grapefruit and then go fast food, you do not lose miraculous weight. “
People who take statins or blood pressure medicine, such as calcium channel blockers, should also avoid grapefruit, as these medications may have negative interactions with grapefruit.
Health benefits of grapefruit
Weight loss aside is actually some health benefits of grapefruit. A half medium grapefruit is mostly water and contains 37 calories and 1.4 grams of fiber. It also provides 45 mg of vitamin C (half of the recommended daily value for men and 60 percent for women), which helps support a healthy immune system.
Takeaway
While grapefruit certainly has a place as part of a balanced diet, don’t think that by simply eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice you will burn belly fat and slim down. To effectively lose weight and keep it away, stick to the tested and true formula to exercise regularly and eat a rounded dietary grapefruit included or not.