How Does The Grapefruit Diet Work For Weight Loss?

Whether you’re trying to lose weight for a big event or you simply want to kick start a new healthy lifestyle, chances are good you’ve seen and you’ve considered the grapefruit diet.

This common and popular diet promises that you can lose about ten pounds within twelve days, which is quite an enticing bargain.

But is this a diet that you can stick to?

And is it a diet that really gets the results you’re looking for?

Here’s what you need to know before you head to your grocery store’s produce department.

How Does The Grapefruit Diet Work?

When you’re on the grapefruit diet, you will be eating a lot of grapefruit, obviously. But this is not all you will eat, making this diet seem less like a fad and more like a reasonable diet to use for weight loss.

During this diet, the main concern is that you eat mostly proteins as a part of your daily intake, adding a half a grapefruit or a cup of grapefruit juice to each meal. This will help to curb your appetite, it is thought, as well as to help burn away the excess fat in your body.

The premise behind this grapefruit diet is that the protein you take in while eating is more easily broken down when you have grapefruit juice as well. Together, they will help to minimize the calories your body takes in as well as helping to release the fat you might still have.

That said, this rationale hasn’t been supported by medical fact. But what does support your weight loss is the fact that this diet is extremely low in calories. Most of the daily diet plans include between 800 to 1000 calories, which is a significant drop from what most people eat each day – around 2000. Yes, this will help your body lose weight as you will be taking in fewer calories than you used to take in.

How Long Does This Diet Last?

Many people have found this diet to be very effective way to lose weight rapidly in time for a big event. But the grapefruit diet is not something that can necessarily be used long term – and even the diet creators think people should only stay on the plan for twelve days at a time, then take a ‘break’ for two days before starting again.

When all you’re eating is proteins and grapefruits, you can become bored. Without other fruits and carbohydrates, this can also rob you of essential nutrients you need in order to keep up with an active lifestyle. Many people will find that after just a week, they have troubles maintaining their food choices, becoming quite hungry and even lightheaded as the diet progresses. This is due to dehydration and a lack of balanced nutrition.

Is This Just Another Fad Diet?

The main issue with any diet plan is its ability to be used long term. Fad diets might help you to lose weight quickly, but if you’re not able to maintain your results, this isn’t an effective way to lose weight. The grapefruit diet isn’t something that you can necessarily use long term as it can begin to cause troubles in your body.

Since it is high in protein and low in carbohydrates, there is some concern that you will be losing too much water from your body, instead of fat. This water will easily be replaced by any water you drink, keeping you from losing weight, at least by the scale’s measurement.

There is also a concern that the foods you eat can be high in cholesterol and in fat, which can lead to long term heart troubles and other health issues. If you already have a history of heart disease in your family, this might not be the best diet for you to choose.

What About Long Term Weight Loss?

While it’s true the grapefruit diet will work for most people in the short term, this does not seem to be a healthy choice for those looking for long term weight loss. In order to create permanent changes in your body, you need to create permanent changes in your diet. And perhaps adding grapefruits isn’t enough. You need to make sure you are eating from all the food groups on a regular basis.