Live longer and boost anti-aging by consuming grapefruit

From time immemorial, citrus fruits have long been revered for their impressive capabilities and positive effects on the human body. In fact, it’s common knowledge that consuming certain citrus fruits — particularly grapefruit — plays a pivotal role in enabling us to live a healthy and disease-free lifestyle.

As science delves deeper into the benefits of grapefruits, new research is showing that grapefruits could play a fundamental role in protecting us against a number of cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and age-related ailments.

Life expectancy is largely attributed to a healthy and balanced diet. And according to professional advice from health experts around the world, the average adult should consume at least five portions of a variety of vegetables and fruits on a daily basis. The diet should also be enriched with base meals constituting high-fiber starchy foods, ample beans and legumes, eggs, fish, and of course, dairy and its alternatives. 

As for fruits, one can narrow down their choice to grapefruit due to its cocktail of powerful components that prevent certain cardiovascular diseases and cancers; thereby boosting longevity. One of the reasons behind grapefruit’s powerful effects on our bodies is because it contains a rich and potent antioxidant known as lycopene.

In fact, daily consumption of grapefruit should become somewhat of a priority if you plan to increase your life-span and enhance your longevity.

For example, red grapefruit is highly revered for its ability to significantly reduce the concentration of unhealthy cholesterol in the body. But the benefits of grapefruit don’t end here. The fruit is well known for its high concentration of vitamin C–which supports the immune system — thereby fighting off infections. 

Grapefruits come in different pigment varieties. But the most popular and enriching types are the blond, pink, and red variants; which contain the highest concentrations of lycopene. 

Aside from lycopene, grapefruit also contains a high concentration of spermidine. And according to a scientific study carried out on lab mice in 2009, the compound was found to increase the life span of cells and slow down cell aging significantly. While this is by all means impressive, it’s the study on human cells that was considered groundbreaking.

Recent studies have discovered that spermidine induces autophagy — a process that regenerates human immune cells and significantly slows down aging. 

In another study published by the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, researchers observed that lycopene provided measurable protection against a number of inflammatory diseases, diabetes, atherosclerosis, and cancer.

With such a growing body of epidemiological evidence deducing that lycopene consumption is associated with a decreased risk of chronic diseases, it’s no wonder depleted levels of lycopene and other carotenoids in older individuals directly correlates to a spike in chronic ailments among the elderly. 

However, further research needs to be conducted to explain the exact causes and mechanisms that trigger lycopene deficiency during aging. For now, it is crystal clear that correction of a carotenoid deficiency in the elderly could greatly enhance their health status.

Lycopene is no doubt the most powerful antioxidant from the tetraterpene carotenoid family that could help protect against a number of chronic and age-related diseases.