The Grapefruit Diet

Supports of this diet say that grapefruit helps burn fat, and that over its 12-day you lose up to 15 pounds. No studies actually support the claim, although almost everyone will agree that it’s a good item to include in any breakfast menu. No fat, low calories and sodium, loads of Vitamin C, and even beta-carotene. But believing that it can actually change metabolism is a stretch.

In and of itself, it’s an easy diet to follow: take grapefruit with every meal and drink unlimited amounts of black coffee. You can’t take complex carbs (as well as a strange list of other food, like pickles and carrots), you can’t snack, but you can slather large amounts of butter on your vegetables. 

Most nutritionists say that if you lose weight on this diet, it’s from what you don’t eat rather than what the grapefruit actually contains. The strict regimen contains almost no caloric value—which may sound like a good thing, except when you collapse from hunger in the middle of the street. Low protein, low fiber, low vitamins and minerals. You’re practically starving yourself, and many people who try this diet report dizziness and upset stomach.

Doctors also disagree with the diet’s urgings to drink as much coffee and caffeinated beverages as possible. That’s never a good idea—just think of the sugar content and the jitters that will accompany your fourth cup of java. The only plausible reason why the diet would use coffee is for its diuretic properties. You’ll lose weight, but it will mostly be fluids. So the pounds come back.  

      Bottom line: grapefruit’s good for you, but not this way.