Approved List For The Grapefruit Diet

The grapefruit diet consists of a list of approved foods; following the grapefruit diet involves eating only these approved foods for 12 days. After 12 days, you resume your regular diet for two days, then go back to the grapefruit diet for 12 days and repeat until you have reached your weight-loss goal. If you take medications of any kind, talk to your doctor before starting a grapefruit diet; grapefruit reacts dangerously with some drugs.

The list of approved breakfast foods on the grapefruit diet for breakfast includes two eggs, two slices of bacon and half a grapefruit or a cup of unsweetened grapefruit juice, along with either coffee of tea. The approved foods for lunch include any type or amount of meat; salad with low-fat, fat-free or diet salad dressing; and half a grapefruit or a cup of unsweetened grapefruit juice. The approved dinner menu includes any type or amount of meat or fish, along with a salad with low-fat, fat-free or diet salad dressing, a cooked red or green vegetable and half a grapefruit or a cup of grapefruit juice. There are two approved snacks: 8 oz of tomato juice or non-fat milk.

Low-Calorie Diet

The grapefruit diet is an extremely low-calorie diet of between 800 and 1,000 calories per day. The approved food list for the grapefruit diet does not include all the nutrients you need to meet the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s daily dietary recommendations. The grapefruit diet does not include carbohydrates, including grains and legumes, and does not allow you to meet your daily requirement of 3 c of dairy. Although the grapefruit diet does include fruits, vegetables and protein, it provides so few calories that you may suffer fatigue or even faint while on the diet.

Reduced-Calorie Diet

While following the grapefruit diet and only eating the approved foods is likely to help you lose weight, the lack of essential nutrients and extreme lack of calories make the grapefruit diet an unhealthy slimming plan. The Department of Agriculture recommends reducing your calories by 500 a day while still eating a balanced diet that contains foods from all vital food groups: fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy and protein. Reducing calories by 500 a day will help you lose about 1 lb a week. If you follow a 1,000-calorie-a-day grapefruit diet, you lose about 2 lbs a week, based on the formula that 3,500 calories equals a pound.

Drug Interactions

If you take medications, the grapefruit diet could become dangerous as well as unhealthy. Grapefruit reacts adversely with a long list of medications, including some antidepressants, antihistamines, statins, calcium channel blockers and birth control pills. Side effects include blood clots, heart attacks and kidney failure. Properties in grapefruit prevent some medications from getting broken down properly in your bloodstream. Drugs may stay in your bloodstream and build up in your system to toxic levels.