10 Reasons Why You Should Eat Grapefruit

I remember when I was a little girl and watching Lady and the Tramp thinking to myself, Miss Darling was so weird to crave watermelon and chop suey. Who in their right mind would mix these two foods together?! I was still young and knew nothing about cravings during pregnancy, I probably didn’t even know much about pregnancy either. Flash forward twenty something years and I’m pregnant with my second son and having some pretty strange cravings myself. My night time snack was always a big glass of chocolate milk and a grapefruit. Yep, I had to have those two together; every night. My husband would just look at me, laugh and walk away. He knew though; you never question what a pregnant woman eats.

At the time I thought what I was eating was just filling my big pregnant belly before bed time. What I didn’t know was all the good that those grapefruits were doing for me. Now that that baby, Statham, is older he is starting to like grapefruit too (big surprise huh?!)

I’m one of those crazy moms that likes to look into side effects/benefits in all the things my kids like to eat. If it’s something they try once or twice and don’t really care for it’s not as big of a deal but if it’s something they ask for on a daily basis (like grapefruit) I like to look into it a little more. I still eat grapefruits on a daily basis too, when they are in season, and I was very happy to read all the benefits grapefruits offer. Today I’m sharing ten of my favorite. **Note: I am not a doctor nor have I done tests to prove or discredit any of these statements. Consult with your physician or dietician if you have any questions on whether grapefruits would be good or bad for you if you have a medical condition.

1- It’s diabetes friendly. Actually eating grapefruit will help cut down on the amount of sugar in your body’s system.

2- They may help you lose weight. Packed with water and fiber, eating grapefruit makes you feel full so you eat less. (Probably why I liked it so much when I was pregnant)

3- While eating a grapefruit won’t keep the cold and flu away; if you eat grapefruit while you already have a cold or the flu it may make the illness go away sooner.

4- Because of the level of fiber in grapefruit it helps keep your regular. (I had some issues with this after my first son was born but had no issues after my second. I never ate grapefruit during my first pregnancy.)

5- Grapefruit juice helps you sleep better. 

6- It helps lower cholesterol and is good for your heart. Packed with flavonoids, particularly hesperidin, helps raise your HDL (good) cholesterol and lowers your LDL (bad) cholesterol. 

7- Speaking of flavonoid; some of these have been found to stop the spread of breast cancer to other parts of the body.

8- Lycopene. Grapefruits contain lycopene which helps fight signs of aging as well as several forms of cancer.

9- Grapefruits can help calm sore throats and coughs.

10- Grapefruit has been known to help ease pain because it has a shared ingredient with aspirin, salicylic acid.

As you can see grapefruits can do a lot of good. So next time you’re at the store thinking of what kind of snacks to get, pick up a few grapefruits. Your body will thank you.

Sources: Juicing For Health, Eating Well and Care2.