Grapefruit diet

The Grapefruit Diet, also known as the Hollywood Diet, is an 18-day diet that dates back to 1930 Hollywood. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=American Fruit in Demand. Belgian Women Take Especially to the Grapefruit Diet. |url= |quote= |publisher=New York Times |date=February 7, 1932, Sunday |accessdate=2007-09-25 ]

Rules for the grapefruit diet:

Eight 8oz. glasses of water daily (required).

Eat until you are full at any meal.

You must eat the minimum listed at each meal. Do not eliminate anything from the diet - these combinations of food are designed to burn the fat, thus omitting any part of the combination will cause the plan to not work.

The grapefruit/juice is crucial - it acts as a catalyst that starts the burning process. Don't add or reduce the amount of grapefruit or juice.

Limit coffee to one cup at meals - it can affect the insulin balance and hinder the burning process.

Don't eat between meals.

You can use butter generously on vegetables and also fry food in butter.

Completely avoid desserts, breads, white vegetables and sweet potatoes.

Eat as much meat, salad and vegetables as you want.

Eat until you are sated. The more you eat the more weight you will lose.

Follow the diet for 12 days, stop for 2 days, then repeat.

History

This fad diet regained popularity in the mid-1970s as a bit of Xeroxlore. It is occasionally attributed erroneously to the Mayo Clinic, which has expressed a decidedly negative opinion of the diet, considering it unbalanced and possibly dangerous.

The original diet was an Atkins Style diet with the addition of 1/2 grapefruit before every meal. The diet allowed only 3 meals a day and did not allow between-meal snacks. Promotion for the diet was either "grapefruit diet plan lose 10 pounds in 10 days" or "grapefruit diet plan lose 5 pounds in 5 days", and also claimed "there might not be any weight loss the first 4 days, but on the 5th day, 5 pounds would be gone". The grapefruit was supposed to have fat-burning enzymes, but there is no evidence that any such enzymes exist.

Still, the diet folklore continues today, so much so that doctors seem to be looking into the possibility that the grapefruit can, in fact, influence weight loss. In a 2004 study at the Nutrition and Metabolic Research Center at Scripps Clinic, participants lost an average of 3.6 pounds over 12 weeks eating half a grapefruit with each meal. Participants who drank a serving of grapefruit juice with each meal lost an average of 3.3 pounds over 12 weeks. Many participants of Dr. Ken Fujioka's study lost more than 10 pounds. [ [http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/5495.php Grapefruit and weight loss ] ]

Dr. Fujioka found that the grapefruit diet appears to reduce insulin levels and, thus, affects blood sugar regulation. Still another explanation for the weight loss in the Scripps Clinic study can be found in the report — participants "slightly enhanced their exercise regimens." Depending upon what "slightly enhanced" means, this might well account for the weight loss observed,

Trivia

* Comedy singer "Weird Al" Yankovic has recorded a song called "Grapefruit Diet," a parody of the song "Zoot Suit Riot," on his album Running with Scissors.

* Hollywood actor James Cagney's character "Lefty" dreams up the 18-day "Grapefruit Diet" as a way to pay back investors in the 1933 comedy movie "Hard to Handle".

* Styles P referred to this diet in his "Stopp Skeemin'" freestyle

* Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom has been said to have used the Grapefruit Diet many times to counter the sweets and amounting calories served at the events she goes to frequently.

References

External links

* [http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/the-grapefruit-diet WebMD Grapefruit Diet Page]