E-Paper
Orange+grapefruit juice=Strong bones
If your breakfast includes orange and grapefruit juice be assured that your bones will never crack up, says a study.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and if it includes orange and grapefruit juice be assured that your bones will never crack up.
Orange and grapefruit juice regularly given to lab rats prevented osteoporosis, long considered an unavoidable aging disease in which bones become more likely to break, according to a study by Texas A&M University's Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Centre researchers.
The article was published in Elsevier's Nutrition journal.
Osteoporosis affects about 2 million men and 8 million women in the United States, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation. Nationally, about 1.5 million hips, vertebras and wrists break each year as a result, said Dr Bhimu Patil, director of the centre at Texas A&M in College Station.
"It's a silent disease of aging. But if we can maintain our bone strength, maybe we'll be able to prevent it," Patil noted.
Deyhim said fresh grapefruit or orange juice - mixed with sodium bicarbonate to neutralize acidity - was given to the rats each morning.
"They drank it with no problem, every morning," Deyhim said. "They drank more fresh juice than I did during that period."
Deyhim said the juice study was followed by a similar test with orange and grapefruit pulp, and although the results of that research has not been published yet, it too showed enhanced bone density.
