Grapefruit Diets

I don’t know about you, but this winter, I’ve been just binging on grapefruit! It turns out, that my cravings make sense, and are part of my successful weight losss effort.Now, in a new study by the Nutrition and Metabolic Research Center at Scripps Clinic, researchers have confirmed that the simple act of adding grapefruit and grapefruit juice to one’s diet can result in weight loss. The grapefruit diet is not a myth!

100 men and women who participated in the Scripps Clinic “Grapefruit Diet” study. On average, participants who ate half a grapefruit with each meal lost 3.6 pounds, while those who drank a serving of grapefruit juice three times a day lost 3.3 pounds. However, many patients in the study lost more than 10 pounds.

Grapefruits were believed to have fat-burning properties, due to an enzyme which was activated in the body, in case of regular consumption of the fruit over a longer period of time. Although there hasn’t been a scientific proof for this fact, there are many testimonials coming from people who claim that the grapefruit diet works.

What is then the mystery which makes it function, if it is not that secret enzyme? Well, one of this diet’s particularities was that you were not allowed to eat more than 3 meals per day, with nothing in between, no snacks, no cookies, nothing. Besides, all the variants of this fad diet offer the body an average of 800 calories daily. This is a very low amount, taking into consideration that the basal metabolic rate for women aged 30, with a weight of 120 pounds averages a bit over 1000 calories. Les than this will result in losing weight, because the body would take the supplement of energy needed from the stored body fat.

Despite the fact that science hasn’t come up with hard evidences of the grapefruit diet mechanism of action, there are testimonials from people who tried it and said it worked for them. I even know one person who kept the 18 days version of the Atkins Grapefruit diet and lost almost 10 pounds with it. It is also true that my friend is a big gourmand, and she gained back about half the pounds lost during that diet, not to mention that she is extremely sedentary: she’d rather get herself killed that go to the gym, follow some fitness programs, or at least exercise at home for a little bit every day.