Remember the Grapefruit Diet?

Remember the popular Grapefruit Diet? Never mind the then-popular fad diet, but if you are sensible, you can have good results with eating grapefruit. 

In a 2004 study at the Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, California, researchers studied the grapefruit and how it effects weight loss. The results were that eating just one half of a grapefruit before each meal actually does help people to loose weight. 

Rule number one:  Check with your doctor before beginning any diet.

Rule number two:  DO NOT starve yourself. Research has shown that if you don’t consume enough calories in any given day, your brain will trick you into thinking that these few calories are all your body is going to get and will store the ‘little’ amount of food as fat. Eating less than 1,200 calories a day is unhealthy for anyone.

While grapefruit is not a magic fat-burner, eating one half of a grapefruit before each meal will help you to feel satisfied and you will be less likely to go for seconds.

Here is a low-fat, low-calorie pizza sauce recipe that I make often and would like to share:

2 cups tomato juice

sugar substitute

basil, oregano, ground black pepper

In a saucepan, bring to a boil the tomato juice. Reduce and let simmer for about an hour. (it’s worth the wait) When the juice has thickened to half that amount, (one cup) add the sugar substitute, basil, oregano and ground pepper to taste. You can play with the taste by adding more spices of your choice. When cooled to room temperature, spoon the sauce onto lightly toasted whole grain or wheat bread. Top with low-fat cheese. Broil in oven about 2 minutes until the cheese is bubbly. (store left-over sauce in refrigerator)

When my kids were young they asked me to make “pizza toast” for them. You know it tastes great when kids ask for it!

For your next lunch, why not try it – eat one half grapefruit and then enjoy 2 ’slices’ of pizza toast. 

Good tasting and good for you too.