Grapefruits

February is National Grapefruit month

Grapefruits are a great addition to any diet.  Just be sure to check your medications because some interact with grapefruits and can make the medications more potent and can cause harm to the body.  Be sure to check with your doctor or pharmacist to make sure it is safe to enjoy grapefruits with your medications.  Here are a few that may interact: buspirone, amidarone, Zoloft, allegra, invirase, crixivan, carbatrol, tegretol, Procardia, nimotop, sular, neural, sandimmune, prograf, rapamune, Zocor, mevacor, and Lipitor.

Now for those of you who can safely consume grapefruits, how about the benefits…

1.)    Vitamin C rich – protects against free radicals, fights off common colds; also contain vitamin A!

2.)    Prevent Kidney Stones – increases urinary pH value to lower risk of calcium oxalate stones from forming

3.)    Weight loss – low in sodium and high in fat burning enzymes; helps flush out excess water; also contains fiber and is low in calories

4.)    Super charges metabolism – high water content + enzymes + acids = hard working internal organs; eat a grapefruit within two hours of waking up to kick your digestive system into high gear to stop your body from going into starvation mode

5.)    Detoxifies liver- increases production of liver enzymes to help eliminates toxic compounds from your body

6.)    Fight Prostate Cancer – flavonoid naringenin repairs injured DNA in prostate cancer cells; lycopene has anti-tumor activity by fighting oxygen free radicals

7.)    Protect against lung cancer – limonoid (phytonutrient) inhibits tumor formation; reduce activity of enzymes that activate cancer-triggering chemicals

8.)    Lowers cholesterol – free radicals oxidize cholesterol and soluble fiber pectin slows progression of atherosclerosis; studies show that people who ate a red grapefruit daily lowered their total cholesterol by 15%, LDL cholesterol by 20% and triglycerides by 17%.

9.)    Fever reducer – reduces burning sensation with high temps

10.) Indigestion – is digested quickly and easily to reduce heat and irritation in the stomach

Enjoy a grapefruit by adding sections to a bowl of salad greens, enjoy a glass of fresh juice or squeeze some juice into seltzer water, mix with cilantro and chili peppers to make a tangy salsa or add grapefruit sections, cooked shrimp and avocados on top of a fresh salad.