Trendy foods go back and forth, like clothing and hairstyle trends, but in a few years we’ll be back to a slightly newer variation. Perhaps one of the most famous meals that somehow have returned to mainstream is the grapefruit meal.
Maybe you’ve seen your mom or your grandmother religiously eat grapefruit with one of those little spoons before every meal to lose weight. Or maybe I had a friend who drinks grapefruit juice every morning.
Despite the fact that science hasn’t proven that the grapefruit diet is effective, people continue to rely on this slightly sour citrus fruit as a weight loss tactic.
What is the grapefruit diet?
The grapefruit diet has been around in some form since the 1930s, and you just eat half of the grapefruit before any meal. Another variation on the grapefruit diet involves eating (or in addition to) the fruit itself and drinking grapefruit juice. And in a more restrictive variation, you need to do it, cleave most carbohydrates, and stick to 800 calories per day.
Why grapefruit? Advocates believe the enzyme helps burn fat and magically helps you lose weight. Some people have even claimed (always on reliable internet) to help them lose 10 pounds in under two weeks.
What do you eat on the grapefruit diet?
As long as you eat half of the grapefruit in advance, you can eat almost anything with a grapefruit meal. As far as dieting goes, whether it works or not, this is very easy!
However, if you’re stuck with the low-carb version of this diet, you should eat grapefruit and reduce the following carbs:
Sugar Rice Pasta Potato Bread
But again, there are no very specific guidelines for this part of the meal.
Will the grapefruit diet help you lose weight?
So far, researchers have found no concrete evidence that a grapefruit diet can help you lose pounds. Most results were correlated.
A study by researchers at Louisiana State University gave obese adults half of fresh grapefruit, 8 ounces of grapefruit juice, grapefruit capsules, or a placebo. A group who consumed half of the grapefruit or drank 8 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 changed little.
The grapefruit group saw some promising results, but the researchers ultimately concluded that “the mechanism of weight loss is unknown.”
Another study conducted by British researchers compared consumption of grapefruit, grapefruit juice, or water before a 12-week meal. All three previous options helped study participants lose weight without significantly different differences between the three. In other words, citrus fruits were comparable to water.
Supporting these results, a journal metabolism study concluded that eating half of grapefruit before all three weeks of meals did not lead to significant weight loss compared to placebo.
The only other study that found a direct relationship between grapefruit juice or extract and weight loss was in mice. Unfortunately (in this very specific case), humans are not rodents.
Why do people think grapefruit helps you lose weight?
“Grapefruit is big and full. When you eat, your stomach is full of grapefruit so you can eat less.
In fact, you can replace grapefruit with other foods and see similar results. “It’s like eating a salad or vegetable soup before a meal,” says Keri Gans of RDN, author of The Small Change Diet. All you can fill you up before the main course are low-energy, rich foods.
“But I don’t buy that there is a special substance in grapefruit (to help you burn fat),” Faye says.
The disadvantages of the grapefruit diet
“I believe in diversity and I believe in not eating the same thing over and over,” Fay says. “Front loading healthy, low-calorie foods and eating less is a weight loss strategy, but you still have to make smart choices. Eating grapefruit and going to fast food doesn’t miraculously lose weight.”
People who take statins and blood pressure agents such as calcium channel blockers should also avoid grapefruit diets as they may have negative interactions with grapefruit.
Health Benefits of Grapefruit
Weight loss aside, grapefruit actually has health benefits. Half of medium grapefruit is mainly water, containing 37 calories and 1.4 grams of fiber. It also offers 45 mg of Vitamin C (half of the recommended daily value for men, 60% for women). This helps support a healthy immune system.
Take home
Grapefruit certainly has a place as part of a balanced diet, but don’t think eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice will burn belly fat and slim. To effectively lose weight and keep it down, you need to stick to the trial and error formula of exercise regularly and eating a balanced diet. Whether it contains grapefruit.
