Grapefruit and Type 2 Diabetes

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You probably think of grapefruit as just a tasty part of breakfast right? It's that pink to ruby red fruit that you sprinkle sugar on and then have a heck of a time getting out of its skin without squirting yourself. Well actually it's a lot more than that.

Grapesruit, and to some degree all citrus fruits, have a lot more qualities than just good taste. In the case of the grapefruit, it may in fact help prevent or control Type 2 Diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of the disease and millions of Americans have been diagnosed with it. Millions of others have it or are at high risk and simply don't know it.

Diabetes occurs when the body doesn't produce enough insulin or the cells in the body ignore the insulin in the body already. Insulin is essential in breaking down glucose and allowing that natural sugar to get out of the blood stream and into the cells.

If glucose is allowed to build up in the blood, it can lead to complications including blindness, neuropathy, skin infections and even heart attack. It's almost endemic in this country and much of the blame can be placed on our Western diet and relatively sedentary lifestyle.

So where does the grapefruit come in? How can this ordinary cousin of fruits like oranges and tangerines help control one of the country's nastiest diseases? Well according to a team of Canadian medical researchers the answer is the amount of naringenin found in the fruit. Naringenin is flavonoids that helps the liver burn fat after a meal rather than store it. Less fat equals less glucose. Less glucose means a lesser chance of developing Diabetes.

In a test on two sets of mice who were given the same diet, the set that was administered a naringenin supplement fared much better than the ones without. While one set of mice became fat, the other set with the supplement did not. It was further determined that the naringenin had reprogrammed the livers of the mice to burn fat rather than store it which allowed for a more balanced level of insulin and glucose.

While the grapefruit has this chemical, it doesn't have it in the same concentration as was used in the Canadian test. However, there is reason to believe that a safe concentrate can be made from the grapefruit peel given a little more research. This would be great news for all diabetes sufferers and wouldn't be all that bad for grapefruit growers either.

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