I have eaten, and enjoyed eating grapefruit for as long as I can remember. And I have no intention of not doing so in the future!
Why?
Grapefruits are a hybrid fruit, developed in the 18th century, a cross between an orange and a pummelo. They contain less carbohydrate, sugar and fat than most other fruits. They are naturally sweet, a rich source of vitamin A and C, and much else. As a result grapefruit is a healthy fruit which has been shown to reduce the risk of prostate cancer, and control cholesterol levels. They also have anti-inflammatory, anti-thrombogenic, anti-diabetic, anticancer, and neuro-protective qualities.
Yet according to the conventional medical establishment the grapefruit is deadly, and patients will often tell their patients that they should not eat them.
Why?
This is the explanation of the British National Health Service website, Prescription drugs and grapefruit a 'deadly mix'. It reports on a 2012 article in the Daily Mail, that stated “A breakfast of grapefruit and marmalade on toast could be lethal for people taking medication”. The NHS says that the news is based on a review which highlighted that grapefruit-medication interactions can cause serious side effects. Grapefruits, apparently, contain a group of chemicals, furanocoumarins, that can affect drug metabolism, that is, the amount of time it takes for a pharmaceutical drug to be broken down by the body.
If the drug takes longer to break down the drug builds up in the body - there can be more ‘active’ drug present than was intended with the given dose, triggering, it says, "unpleasant, and sometimes serious, side effects".
I note that the authors of the review stated that "there is a general lack of knowledge about this interaction in the healthcare community, despite the fact that an interaction between grapefruit and certain medications was discovered more than 20 years ago". This is typical of conventional medicine - the use of dangerous drugs without knowing their full impact on patients. So the NHS says that the number of drugs that "could potentially interact" with grapefruit has been increasing. The researchers (in 2012) found 85 prescription drugs that could cause serious side effects if taken alongside grapefruit (or grapefruit juice).
Moreover, the NHS says that it is not just grapefruit that is hazardous to our health. It lists a number of citrus fruits, including Seville oranges, limes and pomelos. It recommends similar abstinence from these too! So, given this information, we all have a choice to make.
No prizes offered here about what the NHS, and conventional medicine generally, recommends! Indeed, it does not offer the latter choice. Pharmaceutical drugs are so important to our health that we must continue to take them, and we are told that we should stop eating citrus fruit.
More, the researchers said that "it is better to err on the side of caution and never have any grapefruit (or other citrus fruit containing furanocoumarins) when taking drugs known to interact with these types of fruit". It is complete abstinence.
This is certainly not my recommendation. Health-giving fruit should always take priority to illness/disease creating pharmaceutical drugs. Of course, the NHS does not suggest this. It is another piece of extraordinary nonsense promoted by the conventional medical establishment. Wellness comes from a bottle of pills - not from the quality, and health-giving properties of the food that we eat!
Why?
Grapefruits are a hybrid fruit, developed in the 18th century, a cross between an orange and a pummelo. They contain less carbohydrate, sugar and fat than most other fruits. They are naturally sweet, a rich source of vitamin A and C, and much else. As a result grapefruit is a healthy fruit which has been shown to reduce the risk of prostate cancer, and control cholesterol levels. They also have anti-inflammatory, anti-thrombogenic, anti-diabetic, anticancer, and neuro-protective qualities.
Yet according to the conventional medical establishment the grapefruit is deadly, and patients will often tell their patients that they should not eat them.
Why?
This is the explanation of the British National Health Service website, Prescription drugs and grapefruit a 'deadly mix'. It reports on a 2012 article in the Daily Mail, that stated “A breakfast of grapefruit and marmalade on toast could be lethal for people taking medication”. The NHS says that the news is based on a review which highlighted that grapefruit-medication interactions can cause serious side effects. Grapefruits, apparently, contain a group of chemicals, furanocoumarins, that can affect drug metabolism, that is, the amount of time it takes for a pharmaceutical drug to be broken down by the body.
If the drug takes longer to break down the drug builds up in the body - there can be more ‘active’ drug present than was intended with the given dose, triggering, it says, "unpleasant, and sometimes serious, side effects".
I note that the authors of the review stated that "there is a general lack of knowledge about this interaction in the healthcare community, despite the fact that an interaction between grapefruit and certain medications was discovered more than 20 years ago". This is typical of conventional medicine - the use of dangerous drugs without knowing their full impact on patients. So the NHS says that the number of drugs that "could potentially interact" with grapefruit has been increasing. The researchers (in 2012) found 85 prescription drugs that could cause serious side effects if taken alongside grapefruit (or grapefruit juice).
Moreover, the NHS says that it is not just grapefruit that is hazardous to our health. It lists a number of citrus fruits, including Seville oranges, limes and pomelos. It recommends similar abstinence from these too! So, given this information, we all have a choice to make.
- Don't eat grapefruit
- Don't take pharmaceutical drugs
No prizes offered here about what the NHS, and conventional medicine generally, recommends! Indeed, it does not offer the latter choice. Pharmaceutical drugs are so important to our health that we must continue to take them, and we are told that we should stop eating citrus fruit.
More, the researchers said that "it is better to err on the side of caution and never have any grapefruit (or other citrus fruit containing furanocoumarins) when taking drugs known to interact with these types of fruit". It is complete abstinence.
This is certainly not my recommendation. Health-giving fruit should always take priority to illness/disease creating pharmaceutical drugs. Of course, the NHS does not suggest this. It is another piece of extraordinary nonsense promoted by the conventional medical establishment. Wellness comes from a bottle of pills - not from the quality, and health-giving properties of the food that we eat!
So, if the two conflict, conventional medicine says that the pills must take priority!
