Here comes the grapefruit... again! : LC Research/Media Forum : Active Low-Carber Forums

#1 ^

Wed, Jan-21-04, 20:56

Nancy LC

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Here comes the grapefruit... again!

This happened in my town with a fat-doctor I'm familiar with because he does all kinds of studies on fat related things. I unfortunately got turned down for a study a few years back, I wasn't just not quite fat enough... I think he's pretty well respected.

Link: http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/h...438/detail.html

Study: Grapefruit Diet No Fad, Promotes Weight Loss
Grapefruit Regulates Insulin, Lowers Cholesterol

POSTED: 1:22 PM PST January 21, 2004
UPDATED: 3:02 PM PST January 21, 2004

SAN DIEGO -- The grapefruit diet, which gained popularity in the '70s and then faded, is back.

Now, for the first time, there is scientific evidence that confirms grapefruit can promote weight loss.

For decades, the grapefruit has been a staple for dieters. The fruit has a powerful effect on the liver and the body. But, until now, researchers did not know if it could really help with weight loss.

Scripps Nutritional researcher Ken Fujioka headed a study to find out whether grapefruit really possesses weight loss properties.

"We did not expect to see this kind of weight loss, in all honesty," Fujioka said.

Researchers believe there is a compound in grapefruit that interacts with the liver to lower cholesterol and helps regulate insulin. Too much insulin can cause weight gain.

"The fresh grapefruit actually lowered their insulin," Fujioka said.

The 12-week study found that people who ate fresh grapefruit or drank grapefruit juice lost weight without changing their diet.

"We took a group of people who had a half of a grapefruit three times a day before each meal. And, much to our surprise, without really altering their diet, they lost 3½ pounds or a pound a week without really doing anything else," Fujioka said.

Researchers said the weight loss has something to do with the grapefruit membrane.

"It may be that the membrane has something that will give you a feeling of fullness or it has separate effect in helping with weight loss. We are not really sure," Fujioka said.

But even those who drank grapefruit juice lost weight.

Now, researchers want to see if this potent fruit will help people with metabolic disorders lose weight.

Grapefruit can cause problems with certain medications, so be sure to check with your doctor before starting this diet.

The study included 100 San Diego participants and was funded by a research grant from the state of Florida.

A larger study is planned for the next year.

Sponsored Links

#2 ^

Thu, Jan-22-04, 05:09

Lez

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was funded by a research grant from the state of Florida.

just about tells all.

Lez

#3 ^

Thu, Jan-22-04, 07:02

doreen T doreen T is offline

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I thought this sounded familiar .. did a search and found the link to an article I'd posted last year about this study.

Quote:

State study to explore grapefruit as diet aid

The Citrus Department wants to know if the fruit really can help people lose weight, which could boost drooping sales.

By JULIE HAUSERMAN, Times Staff Writer

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 4, 2003

TALLAHASSEE -- The Florida Citrus Department is paying $150,000 to find out whether one of the oldest fad diets in America, the Grapefruit Diet, actually works.

The contract for the study went to researchers in California -- Florida's rival in citrus sales.

The researchers will give overweight people grapefruits, grapefruit pills and grapefruit juice to see if it makes them lose weight, even if they continue to chow down on bacon and eggs and cheeseburgers.

If grapefruit is proven to be a flab fighter, citrus officials say, it might help boost sales. Florida produces 80 percent of the world's grapefruit, but sales have been down the past three years.

Older people have been the biggest grapefruit fans, and promoters are trying to position grapefruit juice as a health drink for young mothers. One marketing plan shows that the Citrus Department went to beauty magazines and promoted grapefruit juice as a way to fight bloating "so you look and feel great in your little black dress."

For bridal magazines, the Citrus Department promoted grapefruit juice as "the hottest trend in entertaining" and recommended it as part of a "pre-wedding beauty regime."

As for the Grapefruit Diet, it's been around since the 1930s. It had one incarnation as the Hollywood Diet. Dieters are supposed to eat a lot of grapefruit, a little protein and not much else.

"Every single time there's been a promotion of grapefruit as a weight loss product, there's been an increase in grapefruit sales," said Dr. Joseph Ahrens, director of research for Florida's Department of Citrus. "We cannot make any claim unless it's based on a scientific study."

The Department of Citrus implies on its Web site that grapefruit is a diet aid. It features the "Heart Healthy Florida Grapefruit Diet," recommended by television fitness diva Denise Austin.

"We do promote a diet, but we never say that grapefruit causes weight loss," Ahrens said. "We've always couched it in those terms -- that you can enjoy grapefruit as part of a heart-healthy diet."

The diet is a regular low-calorie eating plan that features lots of fruits and vegetables, including grapefruit. One suggested dinner: shrimp scampi sauteed in Florida grapefruit juice.

The Web site says that "a prestigious East Coast University has released the results of their study incorporating the new heart Healthy Florida Grapefruit Diet."

That study, done for the Citrus Department by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, wasn't particularly valuable in proving whether grapefruit works as a weight-loss aid, said Ahrens. There was no control group of people who didn't eat any grapefruit, he said. The study participants went on a low-calorie diet and ate grapefruit, so it wasn't clear whether they lost weight because of the low-calorie diet or because of the grapefruit.

In 1975, an administrative law judge ruled that the makers of the "Grapefruit Pill Diet" misled consumers by saying grapefruit caused weight loss, when there's no scientific study to prove it.

"Right now, grapefruit is associated with weight loss," Ahrens said, "but that's not as powerful as saying grapefruit causes weight loss. Our aim is to nail it down."

In December 2002, the Citrus Department sought researchers who would study "the effect of grapefruit products on 'bloating,' and if initial weight loss, if any, is due in part or whole as a diuretic/bloat reliever."

The study -- and the entire Citrus Department -- are paid for by a tax on every box of citrus sold in Florida.

Researchers at the Scripps Clinic in San Diego were awarded the state contract.

They plan to enroll 100 people in the study and include a control group who will take fake grapefruit pills. The participants won't change their diet in any other way.

"We'll find out of there really is some chemical that's doing something metabolically," said Judith Sheard, manager of the Scripps study.

One Web site devoted to dissecting various fad diets, dietreviews.com, posts a warning: "There is no one food that has magical properties to cause fat to melt off. If there were, we would have known about it before now!"
The Grapefruit Diet

There are many versions of the Grapefruit Diet, which began in the 1930s as the Hollywood Diet. This diet claims that grapefruit contains a special fat-burning enzyme, activated when you eat half a grapefruit for each meal, along with small amounts of other food.

* * *

Does grapefruit have a special fat-burning enzyme?

No. There is no scientific basis to this claim. Grapefruit is a good food, but so are other healthy foods like vegetables and other fruits.

* * *

Does the diet work?

It works because people cut their calories. If you consume fewer calories than your body uses, you will lose weight.

Source: Dr. Kelly D. Brownell, director of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders, www.webmd.com

http://www.sptimes.com/2003/03/04/S...to_explor.shtml

#4 ^

Thu, Jan-22-04, 08:53

odyssey

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You know .. when it works *for* them, they are all gung-ho about the evidence that excess insulin causes weight gain and other health problems, but when it works against them they downplay it.
i guess i am just getting a bit burned out on all of the hypocrisy i have been reading lately. i don't have television and have never really been a biased person in most respects, always try to remain objective, so i have been a bit removed from the two-facery.

i don't know why people, whether one or a dozen cannot just be themselves, good, bad, or indifferent.

#5 ^

Thu, Jan-22-04, 11:12

doreen T doreen T is offline

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Before I run out and buy a dozen grapefruit, I'd like to know more about this ..

.. And, much to our surprise, without really altering their diet, they lost 3½ pounds or a pound a week without really doing anything else ..

What does "really" really mean?? If the participants self-reported their diet, or filled out a questionnaire, this whole study becomes iffy due to the well-known tendency for people to under-report their food intake. It would've been more accurate for the researchers to assign a standardized, non-low-calorie diet for all to follow and track their progress over the 12 weeks.

All this study suggests is that grapefruit seems to contain a substance which may improve insulin sensitivity which is worthy of further research.

my 2¢

Doreen

#6 ^

Thu, Jan-22-04, 11:15

TBoneMitch TBoneMitch is offline

OOOOOOOOOH YEAH!

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I think that this report ties in nicely with the news that the Florida citrus growers' sales are sluggish...
Just my opinion, but what do you think?