Dropping L Bees

[Guest guest]

" HSI - Jenny Thompson " <HSIResearch

 

 

 

Dropping L Bees

Thu, 13 Jan 2005 08:51:45 -0500

Dropping L Bees

 

Health Sciences Institute e-Alert

****************************************************

January 13, 2005

****************************************************

 

 

Dear Reader,

 

About 294 million Americans started new weight-loss diets in the

opening days of 2005.

 

Actually that estimate may be just a tad high (the population of the

U.S. is around 295 million), but it certainly seems like dieting in

January has become as much of a holiday tradition as stuffing

ourselves with turkey at Thanksgiving.

 

So if you did sign on for a new diet and could use a little boost to

help things along, I'll tell you about a new study that shows how one

simple addition to your meal plan might improve your weight-loss results.

 

---------------------------

Yellow gold

---------------------------

 

The idea that grapefruit servings may help dieters lose weight is not

news. But until last year there were no studies to actually support

this claim.

 

Researchers at Scripps Clinic of San Diego divided a group of 100

obese subjects into three equal groups: One group ate half a

grapefruit before each meal, one group drank a glass of grapefruit

juice before each meal, and one group was instructed not to eat any

grapefruit or drink any grapefruit juice. Subjects followed their

regimens for three months, while continuing to eat as they normally would.

 

The results were remarkable. Those in the group that ate grapefruit

with each meal lost an average of 3.6 pounds, while subjects in the

grapefruit juice group lost an average of 3.3 pounds. A few of the

subjects in both of these groups lost nearly 10 pounds. But the

average weight loss in the group that consumed no grapefruit was less

than one pound.

 

---------------------------

Secret from the grove stand

---------------------------

 

So… what dietary magic makes grapefruit such a helpful weight-loss

aid? Researchers believe that grapefruit contains chemical properties

that assist in the management of insulin levels – a potential boon to

dieters and diabetics alike.

 

At the beginning and the completion of the Scripps study, researchers

measured the insulin and glucose levels of all subjects. When the test

was over, those in the two grapefruit groups had lower levels of

insulin and glucose than they did at the beginning, while levels in

the non-grapefruit group were unchanged.

 

The Scripps researchers believe that enzymes in grapefruit help

control insulin spikes that occur after a meal, which frees the

digestive system to process food more efficiently. The result: Less

nutrients are stored as fat. And like all citrus, grapefruit is rich

in water-soluble fiber, which has been shown to enhance digestion

while helping regulate the absorption of carbohydrates that would

otherwise contribute to blood sugar spikes.

 

And there's an added bonus to grapefruit's ability to lower insulin

levels. Elevated insulin levels prompt hunger pangs. Likewise, when

those levels drop, hunger fades and less food is consumed.

 

---------------------------

Pulp rewards

---------------------------

 

With the success of this study, the Scripps Clinic is now preparing a

similar, but much larger study that may provide support to their

findings. I'll keep an eye out for those results. In the meantime,

adding some grapefruit to our diets would seem like a no-brainer.

Especially because weight-loss and insulin control are not the only

health benefits we get from grapefruit.

 

In the May 2001 Members Alert we told you about grapefruit pectin (a

substance found in the pulp of the fruit), which has been studied

extensively by Dr. James Cerda, a gastroenterologist at the University

Hospital in Gainesville, Florida. After years of experimenting with

animals, subsequent human trials by Dr. Cerda showed that an intake of

grapefruit pectin may help lower LDL cholesterol levels and reverse

arterial-wall damage caused by atherosclerosis.

 

A report on one of these studies in the journal Clinical Cardiology

concluded, " This study has shown that daily dietary supplementation of

15 grams of grapefruit pectin significantly lowered plasma cholesterol

and improved the ratio of LDLC to HDLC in hypercholesterolemia

patients who are unable or unwilling to follow a low-risk diet. "

 

Getting an intake of grapefruit pectin, however, is not as easy as

simply eating a few grapefruit sections. To ingest the 15 grams of

pectin suggested in the Clinical Cardiology study you'd have to eat

two entire grapefruits, rind and all – not a very appetizing prospect.

But in the years since that 1988 study was published, several

grapefruit pectin supplements have appeared on the market. They can be

easily found in health food stores and though Internet sources. Dr.

Cerda himself developed a pectin supplement called Profibe, which you

can read about at profibe.com.

 

One interesting aspect of the Scripps study that's similar to the

Clinical Cardiology study is that in both trials the subjects didn't

begin any special exercise regimens or strict diets, and yet subjects

in both studies still experienced positive health benefits. So just

imagine how useful grapefruit or grapefruit pectin might be for those

who eat nutritious meals and get regular exercise as well. The results

could be amazing.

 

****************************************************

 

 

....and another thing

 

What do you say to a friend?

 

At one of the holiday parties I attended at the end of the year, I ran

into a friend who told me all about a new diet he was about to embark

on in 2005. But as I listened I had to bite my tongue. Based on the

research I've done, I knew that my friend's new diet is probably not

the healthiest one he could choose.

 

When this situation occurs, I'm never comfortable putting on my HSI hat (well, tiara, actually) and informing a friend of the

ways a diet might be a bad choice, or how a certain supplement might

address a pressing health issue, and so forth.

 

It's easy for me to share important health information with over

250,000 of you every day through this e-Alert, but it can be hard to

talk about some of these topics with my friends or family (especially

controversial or personal issues like dietary choices). Sometimes they

just don't want to hear it and look at me like I'm a relentless

" health nut. " Other times, I may not even know what health problems

they're facing. So while I could send information that would

absolutely help them, I wouldn't necessarily know what to send.

 

So I take the easy way out. I usually just sign up everyone I know for

the e-Alert and ask them to read it for a few weeks.

 

Our manager of e-Alert services has devised a way that you can do the

same thing for your family and friends. Using the link below you'll be

able to send a short note to anyone you think would benefit from

getting the e-Alerts. (And don't worry, if they don't sign up, they'll

never hear from us. In fact, using this method, we won't even know

their e-mail address.)

So if you know someone you think should be getting the e- Alert, this

is an easy way to send it without having to forward it every day - or

risk becoming as relentless as I am.

 

 

To Your Good Health,

 

Jenny Thompson

Health Sciences Institute

 

****************************************************

 

 

 

Sources:

 

" Grapefruit Diet Works and May Prevent Diabetes " Marina Murphy,

Chemistry and Industry, 2/2/04, chemind.org

" Grapefruit Diet: Fact, Not Fiction " Scripps Clinic Press Release,

1/26/04, scrippshealth.org

" Grapefruit May Help Weight Loss " BBC News, 1/28/04, news.bbc.co.uk

 

*************