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Heart Health

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Fresh Florida Grapefruit and Florida Grapefruit Juice have many qualities that make them great to include as part of a heart-healthy diet:1

  • no sugar added
  • cholesterol free
  • saturated fat free
  • sodium free
  • contains a number of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, like carotenoids and polyphenols, that can help support heart health
  • contributes fibre to the diet (fresh grapefruit)

Fresh grapefruit, grapefruit juice and grapefruit-pommelo hybrid fruit and juices have been shown in clinical studies to:

  • reduce blood pressure2-5
  • reduce total cholesterol6,7
  • reduce “bad” cholesterol (LDL)4,6-7
  • increase “good” cholesterol (HDL)9
  • reduce or not affect triglyceride levels2,6,7,9,10
  • reduce aortic arterial stiffness11

In addition, observational studies have associated grapefruit consumption with lower triglycerides and higher HDL cholesterol12 and reduced risk for coronary heart disease mortality in women13.

White and pink/red grapefruit have similar nutrition profiles; however, pink/red grapefruit contain more carotenoids, like lycopene, that give them their colour.

References

  1. American Heart Association. https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/heart-check-foods.
  2. Reshef et al. Am J Hypertens. 2005;18:1360-1363.
  3. Diaz-Juarez et al. Phytother Res. 2009;23(7):948-954.
  4. Dow et al. Metabolism. 2012;61(7):1026-1035.
  5. Onakpoya et al. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2017;57(3):602-612.
  6. Gorinstein et al. J Agric Food Chem. 2004;52:5215-5222.
  7. Gorinstein et al. J Agric Food Chem. 2006; 54:1887-1892.
  8. Jonsson et al. Scand J Food Nutr. 2006;50(3):118-123.
  9. Silver et al. Nutr Metab. 2011;8(1):8.
  10. Fujioka et al. J Med Food. 2006;9(1):49-54.
  11. Habauzit et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2015;102(1):66-74.
  12. Murphy et al. Food & Nutr Res. 2014;58.
  13. Mink et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007;85(3):895-909.