Grapefruit Diet Blog & not only!

1    x    grapefruit
1    tbl    butter
2    x    5 ounce sole fillets
Kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
cayenne pepper
2    tbl    shallots minced
3    tbl    chopped red bell pepper
2    tbl    grapefruit juice
2    tbl    orange juice
or more grapefruit juice
1    tbl    chopped cilantro

Peel and section grapefruit. Save the juice that accumulates and add to the orange and grapefruit juice.
Put butter in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Season sole with salt, pepper and cayenne to taste. Add sole and cook about 3 minutes on each side, turning carefully. Remove when springy to the touch and keep warm.
Add shallots and bell pepper and cook until shallots soften, about 3 minutes. Add grapefruit sections and juice. Bring to a boil and let reduce for a minute or two. Pour over fish and sprinkle with cilantro.
Description: “Try this with oroblanco grapefruit.”
Serving Ideas : Steamed broccoli, carrots and cauliflower.
NOTES : Though this dish was originally conceived for sole, any mild white-fleshed fish will do. In fact the sauce would also stand up to a more robust fish as well.

1/2    cup    minced shallots   (or finely-chopped sweet onion)
2    tsp    olive oil
1    lrg    salmon fillet - (16 oz) cut 4 pieces
3/4    cup    fresh grapefruit juice (preferably pink or ruby red)

Saute the shallots in the oil in a nonstick skillet until tender, about 4 minutes. Add the salmon and grapefruit juice. Cover and simmer over low heat until the salmon is opaque, about 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the salmon to warm serving plates.
Increase the heat and simmer the juices about 2 minutes until reduced to 1/2 cup; pour over the salmon.
This recipe yields 4 servings.
Serving size: About 3 1/2 ounces salmon plus 2 tablespoons sauce.
Comments: Garnish the fish with ruby red grapefruit segments mixed with chopped fresh basil to complement the beautiful orange-pink color of the fish. One whole grapefruit equals 2 fruit exchanges or 1/2 fruit exchange per serving.

Grapefruit juice interacts with many prescription drugs, which can cause potentially serious side effects or make some lifesaving drugs less effective.
This interaction is listed on a medication’s “drug-food interaction” label. But many people overlook those labels.
That’s what happened to Lucas King, a 59-year-old retired government auditor. King’s story appeared recently in the American Journal of Nursing. It’s a cautionary tale shared by Amy Karch, MS, RN, an assistant professor of clinical nursing at University of Rochester in New York.

Patient’s Story

At first, King’s health problems had nothing to do with grapefruit juice. Instead, he was facing a high risk of heart disease, like millions of Americans.
King was obese, inactive, and had a family history of heart disease. His LDL “bad” cholesterol level was way too high: 225 mg/dL, even after a month of dieting and exercising.
King’s doctor prescribed Lipitor, along with continued diet and exercise. King obeyed. His Lipitor dose was gradually increased to a high dose of 60 milligrams a day. After four months, he’d brought his LDL cholesterol down to 104. He’d also lost 36 pounds.
Later, King headed to his winter home in Florida. With a grapefruit tree on his patio, he drank two to three daily glasses of fresh grapefruit juice.
But just two months after getting the good news about his cholesterol, King was in a Florida emergency room. His symptoms: muscle pain that had started suddenly, fatigue, and high fever.
King was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, a severe muscle reaction that can cause death.
Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs such as Lipitor can cause rhabdomyolysis. The possible risk is noted on the drug’s warning labels. In fact, the teaching sheet given to King may have saved his life. The sheet listed signs and symptoms of the condition, advising patients to take them seriously and seek immediate medical attention.
Lipitor was stopped and King was monitored for kidney problems, which rhabdomyolysis can trigger. He said he’d taken the prescribed doses and wasn’t taking any over-the-counter or alternative medicines.
When a nurse asked King if he’d made any changes in diet or exercise, he told her about his grapefruit juice consumption. The nurse looked up Lipitor and found that grapefruit juice slows activity of the liver enzyme that metabolizes Lipitor. This led to high drug levels in King’s body, raising the risk of rhabdomyloysis. (more…)

Did you know that the grapefruit is an accidental hybrid of the pomelo and orange (or a mutation of the pomelo), first grown in the West Indies less than 200 years ago. Ruby Grapefruit are a specialty of the Harlingen Valley of southern Texas, and the particular variety grown there is called Texas Ruby Red. You can use regular white grapefruit and the salad will still taste just fine (although you may need to add a little more sugar because the rubies are more sweet), but it will lose some of its striking appearance. The shiny black beans, the vibrant green of the cilantro and jalapeno, and the red of the onion, tomatoes, and grapefruit make this one of the more colorful salads you’ll eat.

2    cup    dried black beans rinsed and soaked overnight
4    x    Ruby Red grapefruits peeled and sectioned
2    tbl    fresh lemon juice
3    tbl    fresh lime juice
4    tbl    chopped fresh cilantro
2    lrg    tomatoes diced
1    x    red onion finely diced
1/4    tsp    salt
1    tbl    olive oil
1    x    fresh jalapeno pepper seeded and minced
1/2    tsp    sugar
12    sprg    cilantro for garnish

Drain and rinse the beans and place in a large saucepan. Add enough cold water to cover the beans by about 1 inch. Bring the beans to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 30 to 45 minutes, until tender. Add more water if necessary to keep the beans covered. Drain the beans and let cool.
Coarsely chop one of the grapefruit sections and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the cooked beans and all of the remaining ingredients except the remaining grapefruit sections and cilantro sprigs. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
To serve, place 1 cup of the bean salad in the center of each serving plate. Fan out 9 grapefruit segments around the salad on each plate, positioned at 12 o’clock, 4 o’clock, and 8 o’clock. Garnish each plate with 3 cilantro sprigs, placed between the groups of grapefruit segments.
NOTES : Chef Coleman has devised many recipes using fresh, natural ingredients, with very little fat, sodium, or cholesterol.
This recipe is a great source of cholesterol-lowering soluble fiber. It also provides a good amount of natural antioxidants found in tomatoes and fruit.

1/4    cup    fresh grapefruit juice
2    tbl    Pernod
1    tbl    chopped fresh tarragon or 1-tsp dried
2    tsp    vegetable oil
1/4    tsp    salt
1/4    tsp    freshly ground black pepper
1    lb    sea scallops
2    sm    grapefruit peeled and sectioned
8    x    scallions trimmed keeping 2-inches of greens
2    cup    cooked white rice tarragon sprigs for garnish

In a shallow dish, combine the grapefruit juice, Pernod, tarragon, oil, salt and pepper. Add the scallops, grapefruit, and scallions, stirring to coat with the marinade. Let stand 30 minutes.
Prepare a medium barbecue fire. Oil the grill rack or coat with a stick vegetable spray. Alternately thread the scallops, grapefruit, and scallions onto metal skewers. Grill, turning occasionally and brushing with the marinade, about 5 minutes, until tinged with brown and the scallops are cooked through.
Spoon the rice onto a platter, then arrange the scallops, grapefruit and scallions on the rice. Garnish with tarragon sprigs, if desired.
Scallops and grapefruit are wonderful together, and when grilled with the anise flavor of Pernod and tarragon they make a delightful main course for a light summery meal. Be sure to use sea scallops, rather than the very tiny bay scallops. Cut any especially large ones into rough 1- to 1 1/2-inch chunks for even grilling.

4    cup    Pink grapefruit juice
1/4    tsp    Ground cloves
1/2    tsp    Ground cinnamon pinch ground nutmeg

Place all ingredients in saucepan and warm over very low heat for 5 minutes.
4 servings, 1 cup each

2    med    pink grapefruit supremes grapefruit juice collected
2    cup    raspberries or raspberries, frozen (10 ounces package)

-Add juice to raspberries Puree. Ladle into bowl. And fan the supremes.
Attractive breakfast, brunch item. Serve with omelet or muffin.

Eating or drinking grapefruit may help people who are obese to lose weight, a study suggests.

Researchers in the United States say adding grapefruit to people’s diet may also protect them from diabetes.
The findings are based on a study of 100 obese people, who ate or drank grapefruit for 12 weeks.
The researchers are now planning a much larger study to see if the results are the same, according to a report in Chemistry and Industry magazine.

Grapefruit with meals

Ken Fujioka and colleagues at the Scripps Clinic in San Diego California enrolled 100 obese patients with an average weight of 218 pounds in the study.
One group of volunteers ate half a grapefruit before each meal three times a day, while another drank a glass of grapefruit juice before every meal. A third did not include grapefruit in their meals.
After 12 weeks, those eating grapefruit had lost an average of 3.6 pounds, and some shed as much as 10 pounds. The participants drinking grapefruit juice lost an average of 3.3 pounds. But those in the control group who consumed no grapefruit only lost an average of 0.5 pounds. The researchers said the weight loss was probably linked to lowered levels of insulin, which was born out by measurements of glucose levels. Insulin is used to metabolise sugar.
The more efficiently sugar is metabolised, the less likely it is to be stored as fat in the body. Lowering insulin levels also makes people feel less hungry. High levels of the hormone stimulate the brain’s hypothalamus, causing feelings of hunger. They also stimulate the liver to manufacture fat that can constrict arteries, leading to heart attacks and strokes.
“Grapefruit is already known to affect the metabolism of some drugs,” said Chemistry and Industry.
“It improves the efficiency of some common oral medications, such as those taken for blood pressure, sedatives, and some immunosuppressant.”
Emma Bunn, diabetes care advisor at the charity Diabetes UK, said: “If grapefruit does significantly lower insulin levels this could be a potentially exciting discovery.
“We know weight loss reduces the body’s resistance to insulin and therefore improves diabetes control, so weight management is important in prevention and treatment of diabetes.
“We will be following any further research in this area closely to establish if grapefruit could provide genuine benefits.”

source BBC News