X-Message-Number: 23382
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2004 20:33:35 -0800 (PST)
From: Doug Skrecky <>
Subject: Grapefruit may help weight loss

  Eating or drinking grapefruit may help people who are obese to lose
weight, a study suggests. Researchers in the United States say adding
grapefruit to people's diet may also protect them from diabetes.
The findings are based on a study of 100 obese people, who ate or drank
grapefruit for 12 weeks. The researchers are now planning a much larger
study to see if the results are the same, according to a report in
Chemistry and Industry magazine.

  Grapefruit with meals
  Ken Fujioka and colleagues at the Scripps Clinic in San Diego California
enrolled 100 obese patients with an average weight of 218 pounds in the
study. One group of volunteers ate half a grapefruit before each meal
three times a day, while another drank a glass of grapefruit juice before
every meal. A third did not include grapefruit in their meals.

  This could be a potentially exciting discovery Emma Bunn, Diabetes UK
  After 12 weeks, those eating grapefruit had lost an average of
3.6 pounds, and some shed as much as 10 pounds. The participants drinking
grapefruit juice lost an average of 3.3 pounds. But those in the control
group who consumed no grapefruit only lost an average of 0.5 pounds.
The researchers said the weight loss was probably linked to lowered
levels of insulin, which was born out by measurements of glucose levels.
Insulin is used to metabolise sugar. The more efficiently sugar is
metabolised, the less likely it is to be stored as fat in the body.
Lowering insulin levels also makes people feel less hungry. High levels
of the hormone stimulate the brain's hypothalamus, causing feelings of
hunger. They also stimulate the liver to manufacture fat that can
constrict arteries, leading to heart attacks and strokes.
"Grapefruit is already known to affect the metabolism of some drugs,"
said Chemistry and Industry. "It improves the efficiency of some common
oral medications, such as those taken for blood pressure, sedatives, and
some immunosuppressant." Emma Bunn, diabetes care advisor at the charity
Diabetes UK, said: "If grapefruit does significantly lower insulin levels
this could be a potentially exciting discovery. "We know weight loss
reduces the body's resistance to insulin and therefore improves diabetes
control, so weight management is important in prevention and treatment of
diabetes. "We will be following any further research in this area closely
to establish if grapefruit could provide genuine benefits."

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