Grapefruit

Grapefruit is produced all around the globe, it is a very common plant and does not have restrictive growing condition requirements. The top producers of grapefruit are the United States, then China, with Mexico as the third largest contributor.

A high level of vitamin C is found in grapefruit, and all of it is not ascorbic acid. Grapefruit is one of the only plants that produces such large amounts of bio-flavonoids which are active in your heart. I mentioned in another article of mine that ascorbic acid works primarily in your blood vessels, and bio-flavonoids from grapefruit act in the heart. As with several other remedies I have written about, bio-flavonoids increase the amount of macrophages your body has, but localized to your heart specifically. Macrophages are white blood cells specifically made by your body to fight infections that are gram negative (very small organisms) or bound together (like fungus).

It has been shown that in countries where red wine made from grapefruit is consumed regularly, that rates of heart disease are much lower than in countries that do not. France and Spain are the biggest examples of this, as they are the top two European countries known to drink wine over other alcoholic beverages.

Spermidine is a polyamine found in grapefruit that has been shown to reduce the progress of aging cells, studies done on several different insects has shown that when given copious amounts of spermidine their lifespans are significantly improved. When used on mammalian subjects such as mice, spermidine was found to decrease markers of aging to the cellular level (though physically they appeared no different, so the effects of spermidine on attractiveness and appearance are still theoretical).

Selenium is often added to supplements that have grapefruit seed extract, selenium is a nutrient necessary for proper heart function and health. It is also required for the proper function of your thyroid gland in conjunction with Iodine, which I mentioned in another article.

The nutrients within grapefruit seed extract do not actually have anti-microbial effects, unlike most other things I’ve written about.. Grapefruit itself does however have some possibility for anti-microbial effects within the body due to its high content of antioxidants which have shown in the past that they are in-fact anti-microbial.

Studies have been conflicting with whether or not grapefruit reduces cancer localized to breast tissue. It was noticed that while it reduces the incidence of breast cancer in patients whom have never gone through hormone treatment, it also increases chances of breast cancer in subjects who have undergone this treatment. Similarly to how beta-carotene should be avoided for use by smokers, it would seem that grapefruit products should be avoided by women who have undergone hormone treatments.

I certainly hope this article has proven enlightening for you.

Read more of this writer’s work.