Everyone likes to eat something tasty, but not all foods that know well are so good in composition or chemical properties. For those who try to bring a healthy lifestyle and eat well, the most appropriate is a snack based on fruit or vegetables.
Lately, an exotic product such as grapefruit has begun to appear on store shelves, which not many people dare to buy, especially because it is not a common candy with its own characteristics and qualities.
In this article you will find a description of the fruit, its health benefits, how to choose it, how to clean it, how to eat it and the diseases that make it a bad habit to be delivered.
Fruit description
Pomelus is an exotic fruit. The story of the Pomelo plant goes back to China, where foreigners were introduced. The grapefruit was given even as a special gift and its presence at the table was considered a sign of family economic prosperity.
In fact, it is not the cheapest of all, but neither does the most expensive, and everyone can afford to buy and taste it. Then, the grapefruit arrived in Asia, then in Europe and is now found in all supermarkets.
The grapefruit, together with orange and grapefruit, is considered a citrus, but differs significantly in flavor and appearance. It can weigh up to 10 kg and looks more solid than its predecessors, mentioned above.
Chemical composition and calories
Like other citrus, grapefruit is very rich in vitamins. For example, vitamin A is essential for the proper functioning of the visual analyzer, and the fruit also contains the no less necessary for our vitamins B body, more specifically, B1, B2, B3, B6 and in lower quantity – B12.
An excellent characteristic of grapefruit is its high content of ascorbic acid, which is useful for people of all ages, and especially children under 10 years, since it accelerates growth and promotes the normal mental and physical development of the child, increasesconcentration and diligence.
In addition, the fruit contains many macro and micro, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, sodium, zinc, iron, copper elements are its main component, and all of them are necessary for the body at any time of the year.
It also contains a huge amount of fiber compared to other fruits. This consists of hard and thick cellulose, which irritates intestinal walls and helps a better digestion.
Despite its abundance, the grapefruit is very low in calories, only about 30-40 calories per 100 grams. This gives it advantage over other caloric and unhealthy desserts.
People who wish to easily get rid of kilos of more and quickly tone the body can buy this product without danger and actively include it in their diet, for example, to use it in Macedonias, low calorie cakes or simply as a quick and healthy snack.
Useful properties
Doctors strongly recommend eating grapefruit around 1-2 times a week, but in small portions. The fruit will be especially useful in winter, during strong frosts and exacerbation of flu viruses and acute respiratory diseases.
Pomelo activates the immune system and helps not to get sick. Those who use it at least once a week, at any time it is kept online, do not have headaches and migraines during sudden changes of pressure.
Speaking of pressure. Experts actively recommend the introduction of grapefruit in the diet of people with cardiovascular diseases, since this product normalizes blood pressure and conducts the muscle of the heart – myocardium in the tone.
And the main reason why doctors recommend it so much is that it slows down the division of cancer cells and reduces the probability of tumors in old age.
Eating Pomelo can also be a great preventive in the fight against atherosclerosis. If a person eats too much junk food, fat deposits form plates in the blood vessels, which prevent blood from flowing through them. Those who tend to chop fruit do not care about this disease.
Pomelus also has beneficial effects on the hormonal system. In women, it favors estrogen production, a female hormone, keeps hair and nails healthy and makes them firmer and resistant to external influences.
The grapefruit is also good for men. It favors faster spermatogenesis, that is, the division of sex cells and sperm formation, in addition to improving erection.
Contraindications
Despite all its health benefits, there are also contraindications for consumption. Not only of the grapefruit, but of all citrus fruits, people with digestive problems or gastrointestinal diseases should not abuse.
At high levels of gastric acidity, this fruit can only worsen the situation, and with gastritis and ulcers aggravate the disease with very unfortunate consequences, so it is important to eat any dose of the product.
Keep in mind! You should not eat all the fruit at the same time, you must divide it by 5-6 slices and distribute it between meals. In this way, you can obtain the maximum benefits and the minimum damage to your body for eating grapefruit.
The grapefruit can also cause serious allergies, so parents must control the quantity and type of fruit their children eat.
How to choose a grapefruit
Supermarkets do not usually have a wide variety of grapefruits, so it is best to go to a market. There you can find more varieties of grapefruit and, of course, at a lower price. In the market there are 2 or 3 varieties of grapefruit:
- The red grapefruit is similar to the grapefruit, with the bright red pulp.
- The orange grapefruit is the ancestor of the orange.
- And white, with a specific taste different from any other citrus.
The different types of grapefruit are almost indistinguishable on the outside; They are only distinguished externally by their container. White are wrapped in transparent film or mesh and red in a plastic bag. The color of the pulp, however, is different for each variety.
The grapefruit must have an oval shape with a small peak at the top; It is the ideal fruit, but it is not so important and can vary. The taste of fruit is not especially influenced by its form and it is better to take into account other factors such as firmness, firmness and weight. Even so, the fruit must have a brightness in the cortex, similar to that of apples.
The first thing to do when choosing a fruit is to feel it, which must be firm. Pay attention to skin firmness. Press the skin and, if there are traces, it is better not to consume it because it is too mature.
If it is heavy and hard, it is what you are looking for; If it is light and has little weight, it does not have much pulp and is not so sweet, while a heavy fruit usually has a pleasant sugary and bitter flavor, like a grapefruit.
The choice can also be guided by the smell. If the fruit is ripe and has a lot of pulp, it must smell well and perfume, so do not hesitate to smell it in the store to save and avoid waste money.
The main signs that a grapefruit is not mature are that it is light, it does not weigh, it has a greenish color, it does not smell and has a bright movie on the skin, in addition to being soft.
How to peel a grapefruit correctly
There are different ways of peeling a grapefruit, you can cut it in half and peel the fruit, but this is not very comfortable and can cause some difficulties since it is quite juicy and can splash your clothes and the surrounding furniture.
To avoid this, take a sharp knife not very large and make 5-6 cuts around the diameter of the fruit. You must make triangles that seem sliced.
Then cut the peak as mentioned before. After the cut, you will have an opening through which you can see the pulp. Then, two fingers must be introduced in the resulting opening and split the fruit in half.
Thanks to the cuts made at the beginning, the fruit itself is undone in slices and the only thing that remains is to separate the skin from each piece. If you follow all the advice described above and choose the appropriate mature fruit, the shell will not be too difficult. Immediately you can smell the sweet taste that the pulp gives off, but that’s not all.
Then separate the white film from the slices, remove the nuggets if any, put the pulp on a plate and the fruit will be ready for consumption. In theory, pelar seems complicated and confusing, but it is really very easy, you just have to strive and follow the instructions, and it will work!
How to eat grapefruit
Once peeled, the question is “How do you eat a grapefish? Here, everything depends on your imagination. As a quick and healthy snack, or simply as dessert, grapefruit can be used as fruit. It can also be used in different Macedonias or desserts.
On the Internet you can find many recipes of lo w-calorie dietary cakes that use this fruit as a substitute for sugar, which gives the dish a sweet flavor. You can also try some of your own recipes and share them with your friends, to taste this exotic product!
How to keep the grapefruit
If you fail to choose the proper mature fruit or if you do not find any in the store, do not despair, since the grapefruit can also mature at home. You just have to put it in a warm place with a lot of light and oxygen and, as it matures, it will become more and more yellow and the green color will begin to fade.
The fruit can also be kept in the fridge without peeling, but it is better to keep it at room temperature up to a month, otherwise it will mature excessively and rot.
The cut or pulp fruit should not be kept in the refrigerator for more than 3 days, otherwise it will be put. For longer conservation, you have to put it in a bowl and cover it with transparent film. In this state, grapefruit can be kept a week or even two. This depends on the variety and the degree of maturity.
In conclusion, grapefruit is a delicious, nutritious and good fruit for people of all ages. However, when consuming it, the previous points must be taken into account and dose.
This also applies to all other foods. We must take action and, in the case of certain gastrointestinal diseases, consult a specialist and only then introduce this wonderful fruit in the diet!
