Still fighting those holiday pounds, while feeling the winter blues? With more than half the winter gone and spring approaching fast, many of us find ourselves looking for a quick and easy way to shed our Christmas cookie chub. Well, when it comes to dieting, here is a surprising and refreshing super fruit to kick start that battle!

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Still fighting those holiday pounds, while feeling the winter blues? With more than half the winter gone and spring approaching fast, many of us find ourselves looking for a quick and easy way to shed our Christmas cookie chub. Well, when it comes to dieting, here is a surprising and refreshing super fruit to kick start that battle!

Grapefruits, although bitter and sour in taste, have many health benefits that no one should deny their diet. They derive their name simply from the fact that it grows in clusters, like grapes.

The grapefruit contains many highly sought after nutrients such as; citric acid, natural sugars, essential oils like limonene, pinene, and citral. It is also high in vitamin C, with smaller amounts of vitamin A, B complex, E, and K.  Working together, these ingredients provide the necessary nutrients to protect the body from the common cold and flu.

Grapefruits also provide an array of health benefits besides just protecting against common illnesses. For most students, things like fatigue, weight gain, insomnia, and sore throats plague us during the school year. Grapefruits can help protect our bodies from those symptoms!

When midterms roll around we often find ourselves tired and devoid of any actual energy; energy that didn’t come from an energy drink or cup of coffee to keep us awake. Drinking just a glass of grapefruit juice after a long day will help alleviate the feeling of fatigue. Mixing the juice with lemon juice and honey will also help sweeten the bitter taste.

Studying all hours of the night, trying to finish those eight page papers and can’t get a decent night sleep? Have no fear, a glass of grapefruit juice before bed will promote sleep and rid those feelings of restlessness! Also, if a heavy cough and sore throat are keeping you up during the winter season, grapefruit juice will help soothe the cough and soreness felt while trying to rest.

When it comes to losing weight, college students know all about it. From the beer guts, to the hangover breakfasts at Denny’s, it is easy to yo-yo with our diets. Drinking a glass of grapefruit juice, twice a day while eating normally can help with this problem. Grapefruits contain a fat burning enzyme that helps to absorb and reduce the amount of sugar and starch going into the body.

Although grapefruits are not the sole answer to all these issues, studies have shown that grapefruits can be very beneficial to the human body if consumed in moderation.

Head this warning, if you are taking a synthetic man-made drug, grapefruits contain a compound that will treat certain drugs as a toxin in the body, thus possibly making them ineffective to the consumer. Excessive amounts of any citrus fruit can begin to filter out calcium from our systems, causing our bones, and teeth to decay.

So if you’re looking for tricks to help common discomforts in your everyday life, pick up a few grapefruits and give it a try! A healthy and balanced diet, with sufficient amounts of exercise will help us all get back into shape and ready for the bright, sun shining days ahead of us!

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” #1.2000840:3259399346.jpg:Grapefruit:A delicious grapefruit is full of nutrients.:Illustrated by Mahala Bloom”