Is Grapefruit Really a Good Diet Food?

I remember being a small child and even hearing about the wonders of grapefruit when it came to weight loss. It was all the rage. Dieters went to the stores and bought grapefruits by the droves. There were diets dedicated to grapefruit, where all the dieter ate was grapefruit for several consecutive days, supposedly boosting their fat burning capabilities and flushing toxins out of the bodies. There was also a particular diet that was used in hospitals where a person drank grapefruit juice with their protein in the morning, supposedly helping to enhance their fat burning abilities for the rest of the day.

So, is grapefruit really some miracle weight loss food, or is this all a bunch of hype, like a lot of other things in the diet and weight loss arena? Well, it turns out that grapefruit is really good for you, and may be a great diet food as well. The reason is a natural compound/chemical found in grapefruit (but also found in other fruits, it’s just in grapefruit in a fairly high concentration), called pectin. Pectin is believe to enhance the fat burning capability of the body, hence the diet craze over grapefruit.

If you’ll notice, grapefruit’s reputation as a great diet food has largely gone over the hill now, being replaced by other food fads such as the acai berry, which by the way has very little evidence of being anything other than a very powerful antioxidant, which is great, but how great for weight loss? Other foods that have replaced the grapefruit as a great diet food are almonds, which contain protein and omega 3′s and are touted as a great natural appetite suppressant since they lead to a greater sense of fullness and satiety.

Also in the good diet food arena today are foods like spinach, kale, low fat dairy products like yogurt, egg whites, and lettuce, all of which contain whole nutrients that help you keep full, whether by way of protein or fiber. Grapefruit is still a very healthful food to eat, I just wouldn’t count on it as a weight loss method.