A new study has indicated that components in grapefruit may offer hope for the development of a new slimming pill. Researchers have discovered that a flavenoid found in citrus fruit called naringenin may cause the liver to set off a process that burns fat instead of storing it after a meal.
The study showed that flavenoid as well as having potential to fight obesity could also balance insulin and glucose levels, meaning it could be useful in treating diabetes. Flavenoid is known as the ingredient in citrus fruits that gives them there bitter taste and is present in particularly high levels in grapefruits.
The grapefruit diet has long been known to slimmers as a useful way to keep weight down, but the new study has raised it from the ranks of rather faddy diets – such as the infamously smelly cabbage-soup diet – to a rather more credible weight loss tool.
The scientists tested two groups of mice, who were fed the equivalent of a Westernised diet. The diet speed up their metabolic rate, a process known to lead to Type 2 Diabetes, which is dramatically on the rise.
One group of mice was fed food treated with the flavenoid. This group remained healthy, with any cholesterol increases being corrected by the naringenin. The non-naringenin mice became obese and their metabolic rate saw them become insulin-resistant and develop high cholesterol.
The researchers said that the naringenin “completely prevented” obesity in the mice, regardless of calorie intake and without calories being reduced or appetite suppressed. The team is now planning on developing naringenin into a drug that could be taken as a supplement or slimming pill.