Health File
The Skinny On Grapefruit
The humble grapefruit holds promise for fighting some of the fastest-growing diseases plaguing Canadians and burdening our health-care system. The secret is in the pith—the bitter white material between fruit and peel—something most people discard.
Scientists at the Robarts Research Institute at the University of Western Ontario in London have found a grapefruit flavonoid that prevents weight gain and development of metabolic syndrome, the combination of extra weight, increased cholesterol and triglycerides as well as insulin resistance and blood glucose levels that can lead to heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Researchers fed four groups of mice identical high-fat Western diets for four weeks. One group was also fed the flavonoid naringenin; that group s...
