The symbol of diet food? Differentiating facts from fable surrounding grapefruit

22 Jan 2020 --- Grapefruit possesses substantial nutritional boosts, but it should not be naively regarded as a quick-fix addition to a healthy lifestyle. This is according to the American Heart Association (AHA), which promotes grapefruit consumption as beneficial for heart health. However, the AHA also emphasizes that the citrus fruit can sometimes interfere with medication intake. Rapidly becoming a flavor staple in snacks, beverages and energy NPD sectors, companies steadily continue to incorporate grapefruit to boost their products’ clean label health halo.

According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s data, half a medium grapefruit has only 41 calories and provides nearly half a day’s recommended supply of vitamin C. One study has shown a significant decrease in systolic blood pressure combined with grapefruit consumption.

“In addition, it is a reasonable source of potassium, which is important for maintaining healthy blood pressure,” says Karen Collins, a Registered Dietitian in New York, US, who specializes in cancer prevention and heart health.

Touted by the AHA as the “very symbol of a diet food,” grapefruit is also laden with phytochemicals, specifically flavonoids, which research has shown can help curb cardiovascular disease. Pink and red grapefruit are good sources of beta carotene and lycopene, which has been linked to lower stroke risk. Moreover, the latter carotenoid compound has been shown to have multiple biological effects, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and cardioprotective activities.

Given the fruit’s tart, bitter taste, people also eat grapefruit and drink its juice slowly, letting them feel full with relatively few calories. “This is an approach that research supports as the kind of eating pattern that helps people reach and maintain a healthy weight,” Collins explains. However, while eating slowly in general can help with increased satiety and thus healthy weight management, grapefruit itself does not especially boost weight loss.

“Grapefruit does not have some kind of magical power or contain some kind of fat-burning enzyme that burns calories while you’re sleeping,” she highlights.

Grapefruit juice, tangerine, lime and red oranges can be an issue even with small doses.Interfering with medication
Despite the health halo surrounding the fruit, the AHA warns it may affect certain anti-cholesterol statin drugs, as well as some medicines used to treat high blood pressure, irregular heartbeats and even allergies. Grapefruit and its juice can cause too much or too little of a drug to stay in the body.

By blocking enzymes that help the body metabolize some drugs, grapefruit juice can increase the amount of the drug in the body. Simultaneously, it can also block transporters that help with bodily absorption of some drugs, decreasing the amount of the drug in the body.

“The higher dosing of herbal supplements can be problematic. However, for some products like grapefruit juice, tangerine, lime and red oranges, it can be an issue even with small doses,” Professor Maria João Cardoso, Head Breast Surgeon at the Champalimaud Cancer Centre and a teacher at the Nova Medical School in Lisbon, Portugal, previously told NutritionInsight.

The FDA advises speaking with a medical professional on individual drug intake in combination with grapefruit and its juice. Likewise, the AHA recommends discussing this issue with pharmacists or health care providers to clarify what is safe and might even advise simply watching the timing of when grapefruit is consumed.

Grabbing for the grapefruit
Grapefruit has smuggled its way into a wide array of NPD. According to Innova Market Insights data, the key region is West Europe, with one-third of all grapefruit launches in 2018 hailing from West Europe.

In the beverage industry, grapefruit as a flavor has recently been brought into Ocean Spray’s PureFruit Juice portfolio, as well as established itself within V8’s plant-based V8+Hydrate line.

With a proprietary view into the flavors and ingredients shaping the taste market, Kerry’s Taste Charts identified grapefruit trending in the Sweet category, alongside other natural ingredients such as apricot, blueberry, chili, cinnamon, grapefruit, marzipan, nut, stracciatella, toffee and yogurt.

Edited by Anni Schleicher

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