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A New Reason the Grapefruit Diet May be Hazardous to Your Health
By Christina | April 16, 2009
I may write from time to time about funny, light matters but this time I want you to really read this blog and pay attention. I am not a fan of fad diets, in fact, I find them to be ridiculous. Listen to your body and you will usually be okay. When I say listen I don’t mean to the voice that says cake over broccoli or wine over water, I mean your intuitive self that knows if you are deficient in iron or H2O. Seriously, has your body ever craved 7 days of just grapefruit? Bacon, cheese and peanuts for 12 days? Hopefully, you get the point here and the answer is “no”.
There is nothing wrong with having foods in moderation, it’s when we become fanatical or restrictive that issues arise. Take the Grapefruit Diet as a for instance. Grapefruit is a perfectly delicious, diet-friendly fruit. The Grapefruit diet however is a fad at best, and potentially deadly at worst.
A 42 year old Washington woman was into her third day of a restrictive version of the diet when she developed a blood clot from the hip to the calf of her left leg while on an hour-and-a-half car ride. Turns out the blot clot occurred as a result of the reaction her birth control pills, namely the estrogen, had in response to so much grapefruit.
According to the doctors report published in the medical journal The Lancet, “by the time the woman reached the hospital, her leg was purple, she could hardly walk, and her leg was almost amputated.”
As it turns out, grapefruit blocked an enzyme that usually breaks down the Pill’s estrogen. Higher estrogen levels put the body at greater risk of blood clots. Clearly, there are no warning labels on grapefruits and how could a physician possibly be up to date or be able to pass along advice on all the contraindications there are for every chemical reaction possible in nature?
Be smart and listen to your body!
Topics: Nutrition |
