According to a recent report by the British Daily Mail, a new French study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that regular consumption of grapefruit juice leads to healthier blood vessels and helps prevent heart disease. Drinking 340ml of grapefruit juice daily is sufficient to improve blood circulation.
Scientists have already discovered that grapefruits are rich in flavanones, natural chemicals beneficial to health. In the new study, researchers from the French National Institute for Agricultural Research recruited 48 healthy women aged 50 to 65 as participants. This age group is considered a high-risk period for heart disease. The participants were randomly divided into two groups: one group drank 340ml of flavanone-rich grapefruit juice daily, while the other group consumed a beverage that looked identical but contained no flavanones. The results of the 6-month trial showed that participants who regularly consumed the flavanone-rich grapefruit juice showed significant improvement in their vascular health. In contrast, the vascular health of those who drank the flavanone-free beverage improved little or not at all.
Grapefruit and Rock Sugar Juice
The researchers stated that the new findings indicate that for healthy postmenopausal women, regular grapefruit juice consumption in middle age can significantly reduce the risk of arteriosclerosis. This effect is closely related to the flavanones in grapefruit. However, the researchers also cautioned that because grapefruit can interfere with the effectiveness of heart medications, patients with existing heart disease should be cautious when drinking grapefruit juice. A single glass of grapefruit juice can cause a significant increase in the blood concentration of cholesterol-lowering or blood pressure-lowering drugs, leading to greater drug side effects.
Grapefruit ice cream