The Good (and Bad) News About Grapefruit

You may be able to help balance your blood lipids with a daily helping of grapefruit.

In a recent study of people with atherosclerosis who had recently undergone coronary bypass surgery, eating one red grapefruit per day helped reduce total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. Keep in mind, however, that grapefruit interferes with many cholesterol medications, so don't add this fruit to the menu without doctor consent.

Grapefruit and grapefruit juice can dangerously increase the absorption of both cholesterol medications and some blood pressure medications, so speak with your healthcare provider if you are on any of these medications and would like to include grapefruit in your diet. Your healthcare provider may recommend against it, or may decide on another medication to prevent complications. Never change your medication routine without consulting your healthcare provider.

For people in good health who are not on medication and would like to eat grapefruit, keep in mind that although yellow grapefruit positively affected blood lipids in a recent study, red grapefruit led to a greater reduction in lipids, most likely due to a higher content of the favorable compounds that provide an antioxidant effect. In addition to altering concentrations of blood pressure and cholesterol medications, grapefruit and grapefruit juice have been known to interfere with some antidepressants, sleeping pills, asthma medications, hormone contraceptives, and others types of medication.

Reference
Red grapefruit positively influences serum triglyceride levels in patients suffering from coronary atherosclerosis: studies in vitro and in humans. Gorinstein, S., Caspi, A., Libman, I., Lerner, H. T., Huang, D., Leontowicz, H., Leontowicz, M., Tashma, Z., Katrich, E., Feng, S., Trakhtenberg, S., Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2006 Mar 8;54(5):1887-1892.