When most of us think about the “grapefruit diet,” we think about the fad diet of the mid-1980s, where participants ate nothing but grapefruit for days. However, that is not the grapefruit diet of today. It is a healthy routine that is meant for short-term weight loss and to jump start a more long-term regimen.
Grapefruit is considered a fat-burning food that can push your metabolism into overdrive, helping you drop inches from your waistline quickly. It is also loaded with health benefits such as cancer-fighting antioxidants. However, you should always check with your physician before beginning any diet plan.
General Information about the Grapefruit Diet
The American Diabetic Association states that the grapefruit diet began in the 1930s as the “Hollywood Diet”. Even back then, people realized that sweet and tangy grapefruit contained enzymes that burned fat if they were eaten with other particular foods. There are many variations of the plan, but the constant is that it lasts for 10 – 12 days and it can help you lose as much 10 pounds in that time frame.
During the grapefruit diet, participants are to eat grapefruit or drink grapefruit juice during each meal. These meals are rich in proteins and very low in carbohydrates. That means you will be able to eat any amount of butter, salad dressing, or spice with your meal as is required, without worrying about gaining weight.
Many agree that the grapefruit diet is great way to lose weight quickly in order to fit in an outfit for an upcoming occasion, or to get rid of excess pounds caused by holiday overeating in a hurry. The immediate results are encouraging to those that only need a little routine maintenance or are planning a more complex weight loss program and need a kick start.
Five Ways Try the Grapefruit Diet Safely
1. Cut Back On Carbohydrates
While participating in the grapefruit diet, eliminate sugar and carbs from your intake. This includes pasta, rice, and potatoes. You should also avoid particular vegetables, such as white onions and celery.
2. Eat Much More Protein
In order for the diet to work properly, you will need to eat much more protein, such as red meat, pork, and eggs. For example, a typical breakfast will consist of two boiled eggs, two bacon slices, and the requisite grapefruit. This will guarantee that you are receiving proper nutrition.
3. Eat As Much Grapefruit As Is Necessary
This diet is great if you love citrus fruit. Grapefruit is nothing more than a sweet and tangy citrus fruit with a sometimes tart aftertaste. Combining the fruit with the high protein foods will enact the enzyme that will trigger your metabolism and put it into fat-burning mode.
4. Cut Calories Properly
Eliminating carbohydrates from your daily intake for 10 – 12 days should lower your caloric intake enough that you shouldn’t incorporate the older tenants of this nearly eighty year old diet. Specifically, this means that it is no longer considered necessary to cut your calories down to less than 1000 a day.
5. Drink Plenty af Water
Be sure to drink up to eight glasses of water daily to cleanse and nourish your body. Water is essential to the diet and to maintaining a healthy body. Do not try to substitute other beverages for the water, though you you can drink up to one cup of coffee daily and eight ounces of skim milk as a bedtime snack.
6 Benefits Of The Grapefruit Diet
1. Very Quick Results
Using the grapefruit diet properly means you will get quick and predictable results. If you seriously need to lose a full 10 pounds in 10 – 12 days for a wedding or a high school reunion, it is probably your best bet. The fat burning enzymes found in grapefruit can almost promise these amazing results without the participant having to resort to starvation and rigorous exercise. You can maintain a healthy intake and eat your meals at normal times, so your body will not feel the shock that most short term diets cause.
2. Grapefruit Is Very Healthy
Grapefruit is not only a fat-burning food, but it is also a very healthy food that can protect your body from diseases, and its nutrients can aid in many of the body’s processes. It contains anti-carcinogenic enzymes to protect the body from cancer. Grapefruit is also extremely rich in Vitamin C, which builds up the immune system and promotes overall wellness. Eating fruit also aids the digestive system, helping your body purge itself of waste in a more efficient manner.
3. Following The Diet Is Simple
Unlike other diets where the participant is asked to buy special already-made dinners or multiple varieties of food, the grapefruit diet is quite simple. You won’t have to hunt for exotic foods in specialty grocery stores. All you will need is grapefruit, grapefruit juice, and common items that you can find any where. These items include vegetables to make salad, salad dressing, bacon, eggs, and different cuts of meat. Outside the exclusion of carbohydrates, and the inclusion of grapefruit with each meal, the diet really doesn’t differ much from typical American cuisine.
4. Eating Items Many Diets Forbid
Unlike other diets, the grapefruit diet actually encourages you to eat foods that are high in fat and cholesterol. This is important because these specific foods are the ones that will react with the grapefruit enzymes to burn fat. So, the diet not only suggests that the participant eat eggs, meat, and other high protein foods, it is actually required, or the grapefruit cannot perform its magic. At the same time, the grapefruit diet is a regimen that is extremely low in carbohydrates, so this does balance the scales a bit.
5. Eating Until You Are Full
On the grapefruit diet, you are able to eat as much as you want at each meal until you are full. You don’t have to limit yourself and you can satisfy your natural hunger. Eating the recommended foods with the grapefruit will ignite the fat burning process regardless of the amount of food that you eat.
6. There Is No Exercise Required
While exercise is an important part of any healthy person’s daily routine, it is not a required part of the grapefruit diet. This is good for busy parents that are preoccupied with family and work, but are still counting on the fast results boasted by the diet plan.
Summing Up
In conclusion, the grapefruit diet can be a healthy way to lose weight in a hurry, but it is not a long term solution. If you need to lose about 10 pounds to squeeze into a slinky dress, or to begin a more structured diet, it works well. Always ask your physician for advice before you start.
Have you tried the grapefruit diet? How did it work for you? Let us know in the comments or sound off on our Facebook page.
