Weight Loss With Grapefruit

In the 1970s, the popular fad diet was the grapefruit diet, which consisted of a low-calorie diet with grapefruit or grapefruit juice consumed at each meal. Although little scientific evidence at that time suggested it was useful for increasing weight loss, research today reveals that grapefruit is effective for boosting fat loss and can be an integral part of a weight reduction diet.

Fat Loss

In a 2006 study at the Nutrition and Metabolic Research Center in California and published in the "Journal of Medicinal Food," researchers examined the effects of grapefruit and grapefruit juice on metabolic syndrome and body mass in obese patients for 12 weeks. Participants consuming 8 oz. of grapefruit juice or half of a grapefruit with each meal lost an average of 3.6 pounds of body fat.

Nootkatone

n a 2010 study, Kao Corporation researchers found that grapefruit contains nootkatone, a compound that switches on the AMP-activated protein kinase, which in turn boosts fat burning and increases energy metabolism, according to research reported in the May 2010 issue of the "American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism."

Vitamin C

Besides containing nootkatone, grapefruit is rich in vitamin C, which can help increase fat loss, according to a 2006 study conducted at Arizona State University. Researchers found that low vitamin C levels were linked to low levels of fat burning during aerobic exercise.

Dosage

As mentioned in the above study, consume half of a grapefruit, or 8 oz. of grapefruit juice, with meals to burn body fat.

Interactions

According to the Science Daily website, grapefruit juice contains chemicals called furanocoumarins, which cause interactions with medications, including felodipine, simvastatin and buspirone.