A new study from Texas A&M University in America has suggested that eating red grapefruit may reduce the risk of osteoporosis by boosting bone density. Researchers found that feeding red grapefruit pulp to rats with thinning bones significantly slowed down the rate at which bone cells died – perhaps by boosting levels of immune boosting, disease fighting antioxidants.

The other possibility, from my point of view, is that although grapefruits are thought of as acidic fruits, which they are as we eat them, after digestion they create an alkaline effect. The more acidic the diet becomes with too much animal protein, sugar, caffeine etc, the more calcium is leeched from the bones. So by making the diet more alkaline, e.g. more fruit and vegetables, the calcium remains in the bones. If you would like to read more about the acid/alkaline connection and osteoporosis, see my book ‘Osteoporosis – the silent epidemic’. 

 

Osteoporosis currently affects one in two women, a much higher rate than breast cancer, which is one in nine. Women who have a family history of the disease, those who don’t get much exercise, those who smoke and those who drink heavily are most at risk.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 1st, 2009 at 3:00 am and is filed under In the News, Osteoporosis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.