In the movie, “Requiem for a Dream,” one of the lead characters, Sara Goldfarb, is obsessed with weight loss. She spends her days at home desiring to be pretty while watching an infomercial professing the secrets to happiness, including “no red meat” and “no refined sugars.” Eventually, she ends up engaging in a well-known fad-diet called the Grapefruit Diet.
The Grapefruit Diet, invented in the 1930’s and also known as the Hollywood Diet or mistakenly as the Mayo Clinic Diet, consists of three meals a day, each paired with either half a grapefruit or 8-ounces (one cup) of grapefruit juice. Like the Atkins Diet, the Grapefruit Diet discourages the use of other carbohydrates (like breads, cereals, fruits, and vegetables) in place of meats, cheeses, and butters. The diet also recommends exercise even though it allows for no more than 800 calories in a day.
According to two independent research projects, the diet works. In 2006, the Florida Citrus Department found that on average, participants lost three to four pounds over a 12-week period. In fact, many lost more than ten. In a different 12-week study by Dr. Ken Fujioka of the Scripps Clinic in San Diego, researchers found the same results and described most patients as having a healthier physical build.
Indeed, the diet works, but not because of the creators’ original theory on how grapefruits contain a special fat-burning enzyme. Rather, the restriction of drinks to only black coffee, water or unsweetened grapefruit juice minimizes the intake of unhealthy processed, or added, sugars from sodas and juices. Moreover, grapefruits are a high-fiber food, packing 4 grams per serving. Combined with the fact that participants were hardly eating, receiving 50% less calories than their daily recommended allowance, and that they were continuously exercising, it’s no wonder why they lost weight.
In the movie, Sara ends up leaving the diet because of her constant cravings for food. She would sit impatiently waiting for the next meal, stomach growling and dissatisfied with the first. Similarly, in the real world, nobody on the Grapefruit Diet really sticks to it. Eventually you learn that if you want to lose weight, you have to eat right and exercise. There may be a “quick” cure for your problem, but what you need is a long-term solution.
