Grapefruit fights sickness, disease

Kristin's Kitchen
Wednesday, 28 January 2009

by KRISTIN LARMORE
Lifestyles Reporter

We’re enduring that time of year again. It’s winter in Boone:

A time for washing your hands every five minutes, for fear of catching some type of microscopic germ.

You get up out of bed on a January morning, your head feeling heavy and clogged.


As you drag yourself out the door to make it to class on time, your semi-wet hands hit the chilling freeze of the outside air. They dry up on contact, leaving your skin cracked and itchy.

The loud wind whips across your chapped face, and your nose won’t stop running.

This may appear as somewhat of an exaggerated version of what most of us might call the common cold, but most of us can admit it’s not the most pleasant, especially when aggravated by winter Boone weather.

One of the best ways to remain free from an irritating cold during the first few dark months of the year is to retain adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables each day. The fruit, especially, is often full of antioxidants, fiber and Vitamin C.

As many of us might know, the average adult needs at least two servings of fruit per day, which we can also attain through juice.

Many fruits are disappearing from the grocery store produce bins and shelves, but one type of fruit this season produces in abundance is citrus. And the featured food item on today’s menu is grapefruit.

Within the last few years, Israeli researchers discovered antioxidants powerful enough to reduce heart disease risk in red and white grapefruit, according to Familynutritiononline.com.

Not to mention, the fruit can reduce cholesterol as well. A study was published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, which tested 57 coronary bypass surgery patients. Results revealed red grapefruit reduced cholesterol by 15 percent and fatty triglycerides by 17 percent, though the patients did not respond to medications designed to lower cholesterol.

Additionally, the plant compounds in grapefruit can aid in DNA repair and weight loss.

China’s Zhongshan University and UCLA found the plant compound naringenin prevents cancer cells from multiplying by repairing existing DNA cells.

Dr. Fujioka from the Scripps Clinic in San Diego found in his study of 100 obese adults that grapefruit largely decreased insulin levels in the blood, allowing the body to store more of digested food as energy instead of fat. Some of his patients lost up to 10 pounds just by eating one-half of a grapefruit before meals.

Look into trying something new and explore this interesting grapefruit dressing I found on Cooking Light’s website.

Shallot and Grapefruit Dressing
1 teaspoon olive oil
½ cup chopped shallots
2 cups fresh grapefruit juice (about 3 grapefruits)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons sugar
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:
Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add shallots; cook 5 minutes or until golden brown. Stir in juice. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and cook until reduced to 1 cup (about 6 minutes). Remove from heat; cool.

Place the grapefruit juice mixture, cilantro, sugar and pepper in a blender; process until smooth. With blender on, slowly add 2 tablespoons oil; process until smooth.

A popular trend nowadays is to eat a salad during the day to consume a variety of healthful fruits or vegetables, but the fatty dressings we cover them with almost eliminate the nutritional value.

Cooking Light says this dressing has only 35 calories per serving, two grams of fat and four milligrams of calcium.

So, who cares about the cold! Grapefruits will help you avoid disease later on in life.

Source: theapp.appstate.edu