The Grapefruit Diet

Do you want to lose weight quickly and love grapefruit?  No really, do you really, really love grapefruit?  The grapefruit diet has been around since the '30s and seems to be making a resurgence.  Yes, it is based on eating a lot of grapefruit and promises that you will lose 20 pounds in twelve days.  Here are the details of this fad diet rocketing back from the past.

The grapefruit diet, or Hollywood diet as it is sometimes called, is a crash diet that promises substantial weight loss in less than two weeks.  In addition to grapefruit, you are encouraged to drink black coffee and water frequently throughout your day.  You diet consists of grapefruit (surprise!) and mostly protein, and not much of it.  You are allowed eggs and milk, meat and fish, vegetables and vegetable juices and, of course, grapefruit.  Sliced grapefruit and/or grapefruit juice grace every meal.  You are not permitted potatoes, celery or white onions.  In total, you are permitted about 800 calories per day.

This diet does not have a lot of fans among the medical community.  Although grapefruit is very nutritious, it lacks any magical properties.  Contrary to fans of the grapefruit diet, it does not have any ability to speed up your metabolism or burn fat.  It does have the ability to negate the beneficial effects of many blood pressure medications, so particular care should be exercised if you have high blood pressure and are taking prescription drugs for treatment.

Since the grapefruit diet has been around for decades, there have been some small medical studies to measure the effectiveness of the plan.  The Florida Department of Citrus funded a study that had participants eat half of a grapefruit or drink half a glass of grapefruit juice for three months.  At the end of the period the average weight loss was three pounds.  This must have been very disappointing for the Department of Citrus.

If you follow the rules of the grapefruit diet you will lose weight.  As a very low carb, low calorie diet, your body has no alternative to consuming the fat and water that are in your body.  Much of your weight loss will be water weight, though.  Most people who take on the grapefruit diet need to lose some weight quickly for an event and don't mind gaining the weight back a month later.  This is a near certainty for a diet of this kind.

Again, grapefruit can counteract many prescription medications.  Always consult your doctor before starting a diet, especially a drastic low carb, low calorie diet like the grapefruit diet.