benefits of grapefruits

One cup of grapefruit juice contains 11 percent of the potassium your body requires daily. Potassium, an electrolyte, helps control muscle contractions, which makes it critical for maintaining normal heart and digestive functions. Many Americans consume an excess amount of sodium, which increases your potassium needs, so if there is a lot of sodium in your diet consider drinking more grapefruit juice.

Grapefruit juice may interfere with certain medications, so speak to your physician about your diet if you take medicine for allergies, malaria or HIV, as well as antibiotics and calcium channel blockers. A study in the JulySeptember 2010 issue of the journal

Its tangy with a hint of sweetness

Grapefruit helps boost your metabolism, especially when eaten early in the morning. The high water content in addition to the enzymes present in grapefruit propels the workings of your internal organs. grapefruit is very low in calories, consists of just 42 calories per 100 g. Nonetheless; it is rich in dietary insoluble fiber pectin, which by acting as a bulk laxative helps to protect the colon mucous membrane by decreasing exposure time to toxic substances in the colon as well as binding to cancercausing chemicals in the colon.

Grapefruit juice increases the activity and production of liver enzymes that help you detoxify by eliminating toxins from the body. ? The fruit contains very good levels of vitaminA (provides about 1150 IU per 100g), and flavonoid antioxidants such as naringenin, and naringin. Besides, it is a moderate source of lycopene, betacarotene, xanthin and lutein. Studies suggest that these compounds have antioxidant properties and are essential for vision.

Grapefruit is considered a light food that can be easily digested. This helps soothe the stomach and rid indigestion. Whether you enjoy it as part of your morning routine or as midday snack, freshsqueezed grapefruit juice can help get you through the day. Drinking juice allows you to consume one or more servings of fruit in one sitting and provides you with all the minerals, vitamins and other beneficial nutrients found in whole grapefruit. The juice provides a very rich source of a few key nutrients and helps benefit your health. Grapefruit juice interacts a number of medications, including statin drugs, increasing your risk of developing side effects of these pharmaceuticals. If you take medication, talk to your doctor before consuming the juice to avoid a harmful interaction.

Grapefruit juice benefits your nervous and musculoskeletal systems due to its potassium content. Potassium plays a central role in nerve function. The flow of potassium out of your nerve cells helps trigger an electrochemical signal, called an action potential, that is essential for nerve communication. Action potentials also allow your nerves to interact with your muscle fibers, and potassium helps stimulate the muscle contractions required for muscle movement. You need to consume at least 4,700 milligrams of potassium each day, according to the Linus Pauling Institute. Freshly squeezed grapefruit juice made from 1 cup of grapefruit sections provides 310 milligrams, or 7 percent of the RDI.

Freshly squeezed grapefruit juice offers a number of health benefits but lacks fiber, an essential nutrient abundant in whole grapefruit. During the juicing process, you separate the liquid in the grapefruit from the fibercontaining solids, leading to a complete loss of fiber in the juice. Juicing your grapefruit, instead of eating 1 cup of grapefruit sections, means you miss out on almost 4 grams of fiber. Compensate for this loss of fiber by pairing your freshly squeezed juice with whole fiberrich foods try drinking your juice on the side of a bowl of whole strawberries or a bowl of oatmeal or wholegrain cereal to boost your fiber intake.

The Red grapefruit, starting with the Ruby Red, has even become a symbolic fruit ofTexas, where white inferior grapefruit were eliminated and only red grapefruit were grown for decades.[citation needed]Using radiation to trigger mutations, new varieties were developed to retain the red tones which typically faded to pink, the Rio Red variety is the current (2007) Texas grapefruit with registered trademarks Rio Star and RubySweet, also sometimes promoted as Reddest and Texas Choice. The Rio Red is amutation bredvariety which was developed by treatment of bud sticks with thermal neutrons. Its improved attributes of mutant variety are fruit and juice color, deeper red, and wide adaptation.

The Star Ruby is the darkest of the red varieties. Developed from anirradiatedHudson grapefruit, it has found limited commercial success because it is more difficult to grow than other varieties. ? 100 g of fresh fruit contains about 135 mg of potassium electrolyte. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids, helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure through countering sodium effects.