The Texas red grapefruit was named the official state fruit in 1993 by the 73rd legislature. The red grapefruit is grown in the southern part of Texas called the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Texas currently produces three trademarked varieties of grapefruit. The Ruby Sweet category includes the famous Ruby Red grapefruit including other red varieties called Henderson and Ray. The Ruby Sweet has a smooth, yellow skin that has reddish blush blotches on the skin. He inside flesh is three to five times redder than the Ruby Red. The Rio Star combines the Rio Red and the Star Ruby grapefruit.…

The United States is the world's third largest producer of citrus fruit, after Brazil and China. Even more impressively, only four states grow commercial crops–Florida, California, Texas, and Arizona. Citrus growers in these states harvest over 10 million tons of fruit each year. Popular citrus crops include the orange, the grapefruit, the lemon, the lime and the tangerine. But America is the world leader in only one of these crops, the grapefruit. The U.S. produces over 1.5 million tons of grapefruit each year, which is more than one-third of the world supply. Not bad for a fruit that almost didn't…

Starting a new diet, even the grapefruit diet, can be tough. The grapefruit diet is designed to be a short term weight loss solution and isn't an ongoing diet so you don't have to change the way you eat totally. But it still can be difficult to make the commitment to start a diet to lose weight and look and feel better. The grapefruit diet has been proven over and over to help people lose up to ten pounds in two weeks because of the natural fat burning enzymes in grapefruit so if you stay on the diet for two…

Image by edans via Flickr Even though the Valencia orange was named for the city of Valencia in Spain, where there are lots of orange trees and a lot of citrus fruit grown, it was created in the US. A citrus farmer created the Valencia hybrid in California. The orange became so popular that the company who bought the orange from the original grower spent half of their resources just growing Valencia oranges. Eventually the citrus farmers in California stopped having a lot of success growing the Valencia orange and the growth of these oranges moved to Florida, the citrus…

Once you've gotten to the weight you're comfortable at it can be tough to maintain that. Day to day life is full of commitments like work, family, and kids that can make it almost impossible to find the time to exercise and cook healthy meals. But eating Texas grapefruit is one easy and inexpensive way that you can keep your ideal weight without having to sacrifice a lot of your free time or spend a fortune on prepared diet meals. Grapefruit is a power fruit that is packed with vitamins and minerals that can help you stay healthy and on…

Grapefruit is more than just a fat-burning citrus fruit, and everyone needs to know some of the most important nutritional facts about grapefruit. While everyone knows about its ability to help you lose weight, there are many other healthy components connected to the grapefruit. For instance, like other citrus fruits the grapefruit is high in vitamin C and antioxidants. The combination of the two of these special nutrients can help someone who isn't familiar with other nutritional facts about grapefruit to understand why he or she should add this fruit to their daily fruit intake. While it may not seem…

Image by T . J . M via Flickr Temple oranges are sometimes called spring oranges because they are usually available during spring months. The peak growing season for Temple oranges is from December through March, making them the only orange available in the early spring. Like the delicate but juice filled Honeybell orange, which is also only available for a limited time each year, the Temple orange is known for producing a lot of very sweet juice. The super easy to peel skin and the large amounts of juice make Temple oranges one of the most popular snacks for…

Eating a grapefruit everyday is a fantastic way to stay healthy and maintain a healthy weight. But eating the same thing can be boring if there is no variety. When the weather starts to get cold the breakfast that you eat during the rest of the year, especially grapefruit and other citrus fruits, can start to seem unappealing. But there are lots of ways that you can cook grapefruit or incorporate it into warm breakfast dishes that will give you the hot, hearty breakfast you crave on a cold morning without sacrificing the health benefits that come from eating grapefruit…

This year avoid having to diet after the holidays to get back in shape by simply staying in shape during the holidays using the Grapefruit Diet. The Grapefruit Diet has been around for decades because it works consistently and it can help you maintain a healthy weight even if you're overindulging during the holidays. If you can stay on the Grapefruit Diet during the holidays you won't have to say no to delicious desserts, tasty cocktails, and all the rich, satisfying foods that only come around once a year. Staying on the Grapefruit Diet is easy. When the holidays start…