How clothing and hair trends come and go fashion diets, only to return in somewhat new variations years later. One of the best known diets that somehow keep returning to the mainstream is the grapefruit diet.
Perhaps you saw how your mother or grandmother had a grapefruit with one of these tiny spoons before every meal 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 that the grapefruit diet is effective, people continue to rely on these slightly acidic citrus fruits as weight loss tactics.
What is the grapefruit diet?
The grapefruit diet has been in one form or two since the 1930s And simply supports half a grapefruit before every meal. In other variations of the grapefruit diet, drink grapefruit juice instead of (or additionally) that eat the fruits themselves. And then you have to require more restrictive variations that you do this And Sit 800 calories a day and cut out most of the carbohydrates.
Why grapefruit? Proponents believe that his enzymes can help them burn fat and magically lose weight in a magical way. Some people (on the always reliable internet) even claim that it can help them lose £ 10 in less than two weeks.
What do you eat on the grapefruit diet?
You can eat pretty much everything on the grapefruit diet as long as you eat half of a grapefruit beforehand. As for the diets, whether it works or not, this is pretty easy to follow!
However, if you stick to the Carbohydrate version You have to eat your grapefruit from this diet And reduce Carbohydrates like for example:
- Sugar
- rice
- pasta
- potatoes
- Bread
But here, too, there are no super -specific guidelines in relation to this part of the diet.
Can the grapefruit diet help you lose weight?
So far, researchers have not found any concrete evidence that the grapefruit diet can help them lose pounds. Most results were correlative.
In a study by Researchers at Louisiana State UniversityObjection adults received either half a fresh grapefruit, eight ounces grapefruit juice, grapefruit capsules or a placebo. The groups that consumed half a grapefruit or drank eight ounces grapefruit juice before each meal lost about 3.5 pounds in 12 weeks. The capsule group lost only £ 2.4, and the placebo group almost did not change.
Although the grapefruit groups saw some promising results, the researchers ultimately came to the conclusion that the “mechanism of this weight loss is unknown”.
Another study by carried out by British researchers Compare grapefruit, grapefruit juice or water before meals for 12 weeks. All three options before the mower helped the study participants to lose weight without losing significant differences between the three, which means that the citrus fruits correspond to the water.
Confirm these results, A study from the journal metabolism Except that eating half a grapefruit before each meal did not lead to a significant weight loss compared to a placebo.
The only other studies that have found A direct The connection between the consumption of grapefruit juice or extract and weight loss was in Mice. Unfortunately (in this very specific case) people are not rodents.
Why do people believe that grapefruit helps with weight loss?
“Grapefruit is a big, filling thing. If you eat you, you can eat less from your meal because your stomach is full of grapefruit,” says Denis Faye, MS “Plus, Grapefruit has a strange taste and blows your taste buds so that you would eat less because things would not taste so good.”
In fact, you can replace the grapefruit with other foods and see similar results. “It’s like one lettuce or vegetables Soup Before your food, ”says nutritionist Keri gooseRDN, author of the small change diet. It is all with low energy dense food that can fill it 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 grapefruit diet
“I believe in variety and not the same things again and again,” says Faye. “Front load with a healthy, more calorie -rich meal so that you eat less Is A weight loss strategy, but you have to make intelligent decisions afterwards. If you eat a grapefruit and then get Fast Food, do not lose weight in a miracle way. “
People who take statins or blood pressure medication such as calcium channel blockers should also avoid grapefruit diet because they can have medication Negative interactions with grapefruit.
Health advantages of grapefruit
Apart from weight loss, there are indeed some health benefits from grapefruit. Half a medium -sized grapefruit is mostly water and contains 37 calories and 1.4 grams of fiber. It also delivers 45 mg of Vitamin C (Half of the Recommended daily value for men and 60 percent for women), which helps to support A Healthy immune system.
Take away
While grapefruit certainly has a place as part of a balanced diet, do not think that by simply eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice, you will burn and slim. Effective Lose weight and keep it awayYou must adhere to the tried and tested formula of regular training and a rounded diet-one in one or not.
