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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 plang 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.
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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