Why You should Eat Grapefruit?

• Gives you a healthy heart. Grapefruit is rich in fiber, including the soluble fiber that removes cholesterol during digestion. By preventing cholesterol from entering your bloodstream, soluble fiber helps lower the risk of age-related conditions like cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure. 

• Slows cell aging. Grapefruit contains huge amount of spermidine—which, like the name itself, is rich in human sperm as well. The compound helps cells grow and mature, and in 2009, researchers in Austria found that when they added spermidine to the diets of mice, it both increased the life span of cells and slowed cell aging in the mice. Spermidine has also been found to slow aging in human immune cells by inducing autophagy—a process that helps our cells regenerate.

• Prevent harmful free radicals. The pink pigment in the grapefruit indicates the presence of lycopene, an antioxidant that combats the body’s cell aging triggered by harmful free radicals. Lycopene may help lower your risk of several kinds of cancer as well, such as colon, lung and prostate. 

Remember these a few tips when you enjoy grapefruit:

DON’T Pair with some medications. One of the compounds in grapefruit binds to enzymes naturally found in your intestines that help reduce the absorption of some medications, including statins, anti-depressants and calcium blockers. When those enzymes are blocked, these medications are more easily absorbed, leading blood levels of these medications to rise faster and higher than normal, which can be dangerous. If you’re taking these medications, ask your doctor if you can eat grapefruit regularly. Chances are it’s all right as long as you keep consistent with how often and how much you eat grapefruit.

Eat the peel. To fully enjoy the nutrition of grapefruit, eat the peel which contains vitamin C. Add the grated or zested peel to the freshly squeezed juice or stir into the granola with yogurt. Make sure to wash the fruit very well before grating or zesting.