There are certain fruits available in the market filled with Vitamins and nutrients and can enrich your lifestyle with health and fitness. We survive the harsh cold of the winter season where sun rays are somewhere hidden behind the clouds, and we lack the essential vitamins and nutrients we should obtain naturally.
Among several fruits and natural food ingredients available, specific fruit consumption is essential, and science has backed up such rich properties. Grapefruit is a fruit that has taste ranging from bittersweet to sour and an excellent nutritional value.
It is known as citrus fruit, consumed as a whole, or a person could choose to squeeze out the juices from it and then drink it. It is believed that grapefruit first appeared in the 18th Century when another one of the fruits, an excellent citrus source, pomelo, was crossed with orange.
As sources say, the name grapefruit came into existence when it observed that this fruit grows in clusters just as grapes do in the branches. It is a useful component for keeping your skin healthy and a valuable agent to protect one from several diseases.
Here are some of the known benefits of grapefruit you should know about considering worth buying and adding it into your groceries.
The uses and benefits of Grapefruit
Various researches done have claimed grapefruit beneficial for many health conditions. Since the fruit is rich in Vitamin A and Vitamin C, it could be consumed for adding health to your daily meal and lifestyle.
Here are some of the benefits of Grapefruit:
Grapefruit is suitable for your Immune System.
With a disease as deadly as COVID-19, everyone is more conscious about their immune system and practicing activities in their daily routine that can help better the strength of their immunity. In that case, grapefruit could be particularly beneficial than any other fruits you are consuming presently.
Grapefruit is enriched with Vitamin A and Vitamin C, and it could help fight off viruses and infection. Vitamin C is useful in defending our system from cold and flu and keeping the cells in our body healthy. On the other hand, Vitamin A can reduce inflammation in the body, protecting it from several diseases.
Moreover, Grapefruit has several other vitamins and nutrients present in it, such as B vitamins, zinc, copper, and iron, all collectively working to protect the immune system and its working along with keeping your skin health intact.
Grapefruit can help in Insulin Resistance and Diabetes in a person.
Insulin resistance in our body automatically indicates the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in a person. Insulin, a crucial hormone in our body, regulates our metabolism level and converts food into energy in our blood and blood sugar levels.
Insulin resistance in our body would mean that the calorie we intake hasn’t been broken down into energy in our blood and the blood sugar levels rise high leading to diabetes in an individual. Research conducted on a few people who were given half a piece of grapefruit before meals showed a significant reduction in insulin resistance and blood sugar levels.
Insulin levels are dropped down if every day even half of the grapefruit is consumed and the body isn’t anymore resisting the insulin hormone. The entire process prevents the risk of type 2 diabetes in a person. Hence, eating grapefruit as a whole or just its juices can reduce insulin and blood sugar levels.
Grapefruit could help you in your weight loss regime.
One study in 91 obese subjects found that those who consumed half of a fresh grapefruit before meals lost an average of 3.5 pounds (1.6 kg) weight over 12 weeks which is more than those who didn’t.
~ Healthline
The above study mentioned in the Healthline suggests that grapefruit can be a delicious fruit for people who are into a weight loss routine and try to take as few calories as possible without feeling weak or malnourished. Grapefruit consists of fiber, which gives the feeling of fullness if consumed before meals.
Hence, after consuming one whole grapefruit, you would want to eat less, ending with a lower calorie intake. Moreover, even if grapefruit is low in calories, it has more water quantity, which is also necessary for weight maintenance.
But remember not to only rely on grapefruit for reducing your waist size to fit in your perfect dress or pants, instead add it into a healthy plan which you are already indulged into in your everyday routine.
Grapefruit helps you improve your Heart Health
Grapefruit has proved itself beneficial for heart health and reduces blood pressure and harmful cholesterol levels. According to research, grapefruit is high on potassium, and consuming one grapefruit every day led to completing five daily potassium needs in person.
Potassium is one of the essential components that can protect a person from heart diseases. The high fiber rate in grapefruit reduces the cholesterol, emphasizing a person to take fewer calories due to fullness and lower blood pressure levels. Hence, Grapefruit could be one of the best fruits for reducing the risk of heart disease and ischemic stroke, especially in women.
Grapefruit is an excellent source of antioxidants.
Grapefruit is a significant source of antioxidants and reduces or prevents several health conditions, one amongst which is Cancer. Free radicals tend to damage our cells, and here antioxidants intervene to protect the cells from these radicals.
Free radicals being the unstable molecules in our system, can harm the cells and cause a harmful reaction. The primary source of antioxidants in grapefruit is Vitamin C, a good nutrient source for a cancer patient, and another antioxidant named lycopene. These free radicals are believed to cause cancer in a patient, and grapefruit can prevent it.
According to a source, the recommended vitamin C quantity per day is 75 mg for women and 90 mg. The consumption of a small grapefruit can provide you with 68.6mg of Vitamin C, which somewhat suffices the daily prescribed intake of the Vitamin quantity in a person.
Grapefruit is a perfect Skin Protecting Agent.
Vitamin C is known to reduce the effects of aging on your skin and help develop more collagen, our skin’s central support system. Grapefruit happens to have Vitamin C in abundance being citrus fruit.
Researchers in the past have found that people who had more Vitamin C were likely to consume fruits and vegetables in their daily lives, which was also evident through their skin health. However, few researchers have also claimed that consuming high citrus fruit could cause melanoma, a skin cancer.
More study is required to confidently say about the link between the development of melanoma and Consuming high citrus fruits.
Grapefruit is Good for Digestion
The small size of grapefruit contains about 182 g of water and 2.2 g of fiber. The consumption of both water and fiber is equally healthy for a good bowel movement, leading to constipation and a healthy digestive system.
As prescribed by experts, an average adult must consume about 28 to 33.6 g of fiber in a single day and other factors depending on it, such as the individual’s age and sex. According to studies, it has also been proven that higher fiber intake means that there is a reduced chance of developing colorectal cancer along with constipation.
Hence, it makes Grapefruit a promising agent for an improved digestive tract.
Grapefruit helps in reducing the risk of Kidney Stones.
Our kidney develops stone as a by-product of metabolism, which is usually filtered out through the kidney. Still, sometimes specific waste material cannot be filtered via the kidney, and they crystalize, becoming a blockage in the urinary system in the form of kidney stones.
If the crystalized waste material turns into a stone bigger in size, then the urinary system’s blockage could be extremely painful. Grapefruit has citrus acid, an excellent agent in either increasing the urine pH, which doesn’t allow kidney development.
The concentration of citrus acid could also bind the waste with calcium and then flushing it out from the body. Hence, grapefruit helps a lot with the kidney stone situation or is likely capable of preventing it.
Who should not Consider taking Grapefruit?
- People who are into some medication must not consider consuming whole grapefruit or its juice because of this fruit’s enzyme-binding ability, which could lead the medicine to pass from the gut into the bloodstream. People who are consuming drugs such as statins, psychiatric medications, or calcium channel blockers should avoid grapefruit.
- People with kidney infection must avoid grapefruit due to higher potassium levels that could permanently damage the kidney, leading to death.
- The highly acidic nature of grapefruit also makes it dangerous for people who have the gastroesophageal disease; thus, people may experience heartburn.
Overall, grapefruit is a highly nutritious fruit with various vitamins and nutrients. Still, it is best to consult your physician if you are experiencing any disease and consult whether you should go forward and consume this fruit.
