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Wednesday, 28 January 2009 |
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Grapefruit fights sickness, disease
by KRISTIN LARMORE
Lifestyles Reporter
We’re enduring that time of year again. It’s winter in Boone:
A time for washing your hands every five minutes, for fear of catching some type of microscopic germ.
You get up out of bed on a January morning, your head feeling heavy and clogged.
As you drag yourself
out the door to make it to class on time, your semi-wet hands hit the
chilling freeze of the outside air. They dry up on contact, leaving
your skin cracked and itchy.
The loud wind whips across your chapped face, and your nose won’t stop running.
This may appear as somewhat of an exaggerated version of what most of
us might call the common cold, but most of us can admit it’s not the
most pleasant, especially when aggravated by winter Boone weather.
One of the best ways to remain free from an irritating cold during the
first few dark months of the year is to retain adequate amounts of
fruits and vegetables each day. The fruit, especially, is often full of
antioxidants, fiber and Vitamin C.
As many of us might know, the average adult needs at least two servings
of fruit per day, which we can also attain through juice.
Many fruits are disappearing from the grocery store produce bins and
shelves, but one type of fruit this season produces in abundance is
citrus. And the featured food item on today’s menu is grapefruit.
Within the last few years, Israeli researchers discovered antioxidants
powerful enough to reduce heart disease risk in red and white
grapefruit, according to Familynutritiononline.com.
Not to mention, the fruit can reduce cholesterol as well. A study was
published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, which
tested 57 coronary bypass surgery patients. Results revealed red
grapefruit reduced cholesterol by 15 percent and fatty triglycerides by
17 percent, though the patients did not respond to medications designed
to lower cholesterol.
Additionally, the plant compounds in grapefruit can aid in DNA repair and weight loss.
China’s Zhongshan University and UCLA found the plant compound
naringenin prevents cancer cells from multiplying by repairing existing
DNA cells.
Dr. Fujioka from the Scripps Clinic in San Diego found in his study of
100 obese adults that grapefruit largely decreased insulin levels in
the blood, allowing the body to store more of digested food as energy
instead of fat. Some of his patients lost up to 10 pounds just by
eating one-half of a grapefruit before meals.
Look into trying something new and explore this interesting grapefruit dressing I found on Cooking Light’s website.
Shallot and Grapefruit Dressing
1 teaspoon olive oil
½ cup chopped shallots
2 cups fresh grapefruit juice (about 3 grapefruits)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons sugar
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
Directions:
Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add
shallots; cook 5 minutes or until golden brown. Stir in juice. Bring to
a boil over medium-high heat, and cook until reduced to 1 cup (about 6
minutes). Remove from heat; cool.
Place the grapefruit juice mixture, cilantro, sugar and pepper in a
blender; process until smooth. With blender on, slowly add 2
tablespoons oil; process until smooth.
A popular trend nowadays is to eat a salad during the day to consume a
variety of healthful fruits or vegetables, but the fatty dressings we
cover them with almost eliminate the nutritional value.
Cooking Light says this dressing has only 35 calories per serving, two grams of fat and four milligrams of calcium.
So, who cares about the cold! Grapefruits will help you avoid disease later on in life.
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