Grapefruit diet gets more scrutiny

by Nick Vagnoni, Posted Jan 20th 2006 @ 12:17PM

Although various incarnations of the grapefruit diet have been around for roughly 75 years, science has never fully backed it up. Aside from ratcheting down your caloric intake, sometimes to around 800 calories a day, the diet claims that grapefruits contain a special "fat burning" enzyme that can be put to work by downing half a grapefruit before each (scant) meal. So far, this magic enzyme hasn't been identified.

The Florida Department of Citrus hopes that $371,521 for a new study can change that. The two-year study, to be conducted at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, was announced at a recent Florida Citrus Commission meeting. While some members of the commission are hopeful that the study will provide them with solid science that can be used for marketing, others fear that the results may debunk a strong urban legend that likely helps grapefruit sales already. Results will be ready in early 2008. The Ledger has more.

This isn't the first time the FCD has attempted to find hard proof that grapefruit can help weight loss. In 2003, The St. Pete Times reported on similar studies funded by the state.

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Tags: citrus, florida, fruit, grapefruit diet, GrapefruitDiet, juice, study