Fruit of Paradise
Sweet Blush of the Tart
That sweet-tart marvel, the grapefruit is full of vitamins and enzymes. A single grapefruit has more than your entire day’s vitamin C. In addition to that, it has a big dose of vitamin A, which helps with vision and skin as well as fighting disease. A big chunk of the vitamin A comes from the compound that makes pink grapefruits pink. A grapefruit also contains a good dose of potassium, something almost all of us are low in. Grapefruit has additional plant compounds like carotene, lycopene, and other flavonoids. These compounds protect the cells in your body by getting rid of toxic substances. All these benefits come with only 100 calories.
Grapefruit Genealogy
Why is a grapefruit named after grapes when it is huge and yellow, not small and red or green like grapes? They are called grapefruit because they grow in clusters like grapes do. A grapefruit is actually a cross between a mandarin orange and a pomelo. A pomelo is one of the three native citrus fruits. All the others are crosses and hybrids from these three: mandarins, huge pomelos, and thick-rinded citrons. Even the mandarins we have in the stores today are hybrid crosses, not the original kinds.
Enjoying Grapefruit Segment
Most commonly, people cut a grapefruit in half and eat each half with a spoon. Many people add sugar, but it’s not necessary once you get used to the pure grapefruit flavour. Another way to eat them is to cut them into straight, circular ¼” slices and then cut each slice in half. A dessert option is to cut them in half the usual way and cut all the segments, then add 2 teaspoons of brown sugar. Put on a baking dish and broil for 3-4 minutes until sugar melts. For added flavour, mix in a drop of vanilla extract with the brown sugar.
The Great Fruit Disruption
Grapefruit has one peculiar downside. In 1990, it was discovered that it interacts with many medications. It actually makes the drugs more potent because the enzyme in grapefruit makes the medicine more easily absorbed. This sounds good, but it can cause an overdose of the medicine, to the point of death. There are at least 85 medications, including cholesterol-lowering drugs, heart drugs, and painkillers, that interact with grapefruit. If you take a prescription, check with your health care provider if you can safely eat grapefruit. This effect also occurs with limes, but most people don’t eat whole limes, but the juice has the compound as well.
Don’t Sour on Grapefruit
Eating grapefruits straight might seem a bit sour, but you soon warm up to the sweet-tart harmony of a good grapefruit. If you’re on medication, check with your doctor to make sure there are no interactions with grapefruits, otherwise, bite into the sweet-tart complexity of a juicy grapefruit.
