Grapefruit Demonstrates Amazing Power Over Cholesterol

This study is remarkable because the fifty-seven people in it actually had advanced coronary artery disease, including high triglyceride levels that had not responded to statin medication. But they hadn’t tried grapefruit yet! . . . 

In addition to a low fat, high fruit and vegetable diet, people in the study ate either one red grapefruit, one yellow grapefruit or no grapefruit each day. People in both grapefruit groups had significant decreases in total cholesterol and in the dangerous LDL cholesterol. What’s more, even though statins couldn’t lower their triglyceride levels, the red grapefruit did. Red grapefruit was also superior to yellow grapefruit because it produced a greater increase in antioxidant levels.

• J Agric Food Chem (2006;54:1887-1892)