Grapefruit Diet

Grapefruit Diet - An Overview
By Tess Thompson

The grapefruit diet has been around for some time now but it has been moving in and out of favor for decades. Although a contender for a fad diet, grapefruit has also been acclaimed as the ultimate fat burning fruit.

The grapefruit diet menu basically revolves around the fruit and its supposedly miraculous weight loss properties. The traditional grapefruit diet plan lasts up to 7 or 21 days. It has, however, undergone a few variations over the years with regards to the duration and the menu.

Eating the appropriate foods while following the grapefruit diet is important since it helps the grapefruit to burn fat more efficiently.

Unsweetened juice or fresh grapefruit is included in all meals - breakfast, lunch and dinner. All meats and vegetables like red/green onions, bell peppers, radishes, cucumbers, broccoli, spinach, lettuce, cabbage, carrots and peas are allowed in unlimited qualities. For healthier alternatives, it is suggested that red meat should be substituted by fish for meals and turkey bacon should replace bacon in breakfast.

The foods that are eliminated include sugars and starches, which are basically lipids that form fats. The contention is that fats do not really form fat in the body. For this reason butter is allowed to be used as a cooking medium for meals. Desserts, white bread, white vegetables and sweet potatoes are not allowed.

Grapefruit can result in natural weight loss to a reasonable extent. However, large amounts of consumption of an extremely acidic fruit can be counterproductive. The diet is not advisable for people with ulcers and gastrointestinal or stomach problems because the grapefruit is prone to irritate stomach lining.

Some of the grapefruit diet menus doing the rounds over the internet and elsewhere are very low calorie diets with grapefruit thrown in for good measure. A low calorie intake continuously for the recommended twenty one days of the diet is not a healthy way to eat for most people. Calorie intake must at least meet the minimum requirements of the body.

Too much of grapefruit can also interfere in some reactions, processes and medications. Bioactive compounds in grapefruit have been found to restrict Cytochrome P450 in performing its job of breaking down medications in the intestinal tract. Moreover, unlimited food quantities and emphasis on meat is not advised by medical science. Irrespective of whether it is protein bingeing, it is over eating nevertheless and is detrimental to health.

Grapefruit diet rates among some of the few universally accepted healthy weight loss plans. However, this is only true if aspects like acidity, reasonable portions of meat and vegetables and optimal calorie intake are kept in mind while selecting a menu. For serious and totally safe natural weight loss remedies, there are other options that one can look for if grapefruit diet does not work.

References:
http://diet.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Menu_for_the_Grapefruit_Diet
http://www.everydiet.org/grapefruit_diet.htm