Lose Weight Naturally With The Grapefruit Diet

ByMunir Omar

Researchers there found that the simple act of adding grapefruit and grapefruit juice to one's diet can result in weight loss.

The basic idea behind this diet is to eat grapefruit whenever you can, drink a glass of unsweetened grapefruit juice with every meal, add grapefruit to cocktails and also to salads. Grapefruit is supposed to go well with the lean meat from crab and chicken and with vegetables, such as red onions, spinach and celery. The biggest advantage is, of course, the fact that grapefruit is virtually fat-free and has few calories. An entire grapefruit has about 70 calories, which means that you can eat about as much as you can stomach and still lose weight.

The best thing about the Grapefruit Diet is a recent study carried out by a team of scientists led by Doctor Ken Fujioka, from the Nutrition and Metabolic Research Center of the Scripps Clinic in San Diego. The study has found that, contrary to the opinions voiced by experts in the 1980s, adding grapefruit and grapefruit juice to your diet can actually help you lose weight. And what's really great about it: you don't have to change your eating habits at all. Naturally, eating less fat and sweets and doing some exercises is a very good way of speeding up the weight loss process, but you don't have to go out of your way with this diet.

The study included 100 obese people who were divided into three groups. The first group ate half a grapefruit before each meal three times a day. The second group drank grapefruit juice before each meal. The third group received no grapefruit. No other changes were made to their diets.

After 12 weeks, those participants who ate grapefruit with each meal lost, on average 3.6lb. Only a third of a pound a week, but pretty good considering they didn't make any other changes to their diet. Meanwhile, those who drank grapefruit juice three times a day lost 3.3lb in the 12 weeks. By comparison, the grapefruit-free participants lost, on average, only 0.5lb.

But weight loss wasn't the only health benefit seen when grapefruit or the juice was consumed. The research also found the grapefruit-consuming participants had lower levels of insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels and fat metabolism, which in turn might help to reduce the risk of diabetes or stroke.

The researchers believe grapefruit contains unique plant compounds that reduce insulin levels, which in turn promotes weight loss.

The link between raised insulin levels and excess weight is complicated and multifaceted. To start with, high levels of insulin may indicate that sugar isn't efficiently utilised for energy with the result that it's more likely to be stored as fat. Secondly, high levels of insulin can make people feel hungry so that they eat more. And finally, high levels of insulin prevent the body from breaking down fat. Add these together, and it's easy to see why lower levels of insulin may promote weight loss. What exactly it is in grapefruit that has this insulin-lowering effect remains unclear.

According to the study, eating half a grapefruit before each meal and exercising a bit every day helped a group of obese people drop an average 3.6 pounds in 12 weeks without any change in their eating habits whatsoever. A second group had to drink a glass of grapefruit juice before every meal and lost 3.3 pounds in the same 12 weeks. While it's true that losing 1 pound per month gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "slow diet", you have to appreciate a diet that lets you eat whatever you like and still shed a pound per month. If weight loss is not a stringent affair, then you can stick to this diet for a long time and reap the benefits.

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Simple Metabolism Boosting Secrets

There are so many people who find shedding weight very frustrating. Some observe improvements in their body only to regain that weight after they drop the diet they were into. So I decided to share this article hoping it will be useful to someone out there.

Now, having gone through so many different weight loss articles, research journals, and weight loss resource, I've come to a very straight forward or even simplistic conclusion about the whole nine yards of weight loss.

The knowledge of what to eat, what times to eat it, and what amounts to eat is the single most important factor for striping off stubborn fat. The simple truth is that the key to lasting weight reduction can only be attained with the understanding of one's body metabolism. Sorry to say, but anything outside this is just a temporal fix. But sadly, figuring out the exact nutrition equation of what kind, quantity, and best periods to eat poses a big challenge to most people, so I decided to share 2 metabolism boosting secrets to show how to develop the most effective fat burning metabolism.

Secret #1 Eat for your age

There is vast amount of research to suggest that the diet requirement for the human body changes with age. In order for you to have an optimal fat burning system, it is imperative that this age-diet balance be put into consideration. These researches also suggest that there are metabolic changes that happen as we approach puberty that affect or changes the way our body uses certain food.

Ever wonder why some people experience weight gain by eating the same kind of foods that did nothing to them when they where kids, or ever noticed a friend gain some weight after college even though that person still maintained pretty much the same kind of diet that he/she has been into all along. Well this occurs because the level of metabolic change is a function of an individual's genetics. This also explains why for some people, even eating less quantity of that same food they ate as children would still translate to an increase in weight.

The sad misconception is the believe that nothing can be done as this kind of weight increase is as a result of decreased rate of metabolism, or poor genetics, but I beg to differ. There is way too much evidence that suggests that every human metabolism can be reprogrammed and be rejuvenated by simply utilizing certain foods.

Age Defying Nutrition

The basis of this nutrition tip is quite simple. A younger body is most likely to employ carbohydrates as a powerful fat burning tool more effectively than an older body due to the energy requirement of a growing child. As individuals age, there is a decline in the body of that individual to completely utilize the carbohydrates consumed unless consumed at SPECIFIC TIMES. This hence increases the chances of the carbohydrates being stored as fat. Also, research shows that a yonger body is actually more sensitive to proteins than carbohdrates, and hence requires fewer calories from proteins.

Flat Stomach Rule

Starting from the age of 18-20, gradually reduce the amount of carbohydrates consumed, and raise the amount of protein and healthy fat consumed to replace those calories.

Doing this ensures a younger and faster fat burning metabolism without starving, dieting, or doing excessive exercising.

Secret #2 Ditch Generic Plans and Eat For Your Body Type

There are billions of people, and no two people are the same. The basis of this tip stems from the fact that all human beings are unique and different in their own way. Scientific research has also pointed that different body types respond differently to various nutrients. Generally, there are three major body types.

They are:

1. Ectomorph

2. Mesomorph

3. Endomorph

These three are only the most common, studies have recently found a whole new class of body types, and guess what; they all respond to nutrients differently. It is absolutely essential that the science of your true body type is fully understood, so as to know what to eat, when to eat, and how much to eat to burn fat.

This second tip explains why even the best diet books only seem to work for certain individuals and not others, and why using generic diet plans is almost the same thing as trying to win the lottery. The bottom-line is that we are all different, and require different nutritional needs to maximize our fat loss.

Why you shouldn't use generic weight loss plans

1 They Use Outdated Science

Recent studies show that certain carbohydrates can actually accelerate fat burning when used properly for certain body types, while for others, they could kill your fat loss. Certain body types also promote the release of the fat storing hormone insulin differently. Also, certain body types find it difficult to burn certain foods effectively due to a blunted heat response these body types have to these foods.

2 They Are Not Customized

Bottom-line is that generic weight loss plans or diets are not customized to meet the specific needs of the individual. No matter how they may pretend to be, they don't adjust the nutrition plans to accommodate your age, weight, body type, metabolism, etc.

3. They Sacrifice Valuable Muscle.

Generic plans slow down metabolism by sacrificing your lean muscles. This is detrimental because the more lean muscles we have, the more calories or fat we burn.

For as many people who are tired of the inherent guess work involved in using generic fat loss programs that fail to address their peculiar nutritional needs, I would like to share this free video I recently found. It really explains why certain fat loss programs that worked perfectly for your friend might do almost nothing for you. You will also learn lots of simple metabolism boosting tricks. There is a pitch at the end of the video for Customized Fat Loss, but if you just watch the video, you'll get some really good information that you can use right now to start eating healthier. You'll learn why certain foods prevent you from losing weight; foods that are touted as being healthy and nutritious. And why other foods that you may have been avoiding because they have gotten a bad rap, are actually good for you and will help you burn away the fat.

For more effective weight loss programs and daily fat loss tips, please visit www.fatsolution.net today.

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How To Get A Six Pack In 3 Minutes Per Day

However, it isn't all bad news. In fact, just because every new gimmick claims to yield quick results doesn't mean that quick results are not achievable.

The biggest problem when it comes to training your midsection is the amount of contradicting information on the best approaches to adopt. There is not one perfect training method and a bunch of wrong ones, different things work for different people. But the sheer volume of different opinions often simply confuses people to the point of quitting because they don't know where to start.

While you could have one instructor telling you that some people just can't develop their abs and another one telling you the opposite, or a fit friend advising you that you need to eat the latest supplements while your work colleagues tell you to avoid them like the plague, the truth is there is not just one way to get fit. There is not just one correct method of working out. Even in today's health and fitness landscape, where things are becoming more scientific by the hour, lots of it still comes down to trial and error.

While each exercise routine must be specific to your body, the basics of fitness remain the same for all of us.

Below, you will see a very basic yet incredibly effective abdominal workout designed to strip body fat from your body and develop stronger muscles in your core. In doing this, you will finally achieve the definition and physique you have been trying to achieve. Better still, the entire workout can be completed in as little as three minutes.

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