I buy organic fruits and vegetables whenever I can. For breakfast, I usually have grapefruit. When possible, I buy pink or red grapefruits, because they contain more lycopene than the ordinary white grapefruit.

Lycopene is an antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals so that they do not damage the cells in the body. It imparts its red colour to tomatoes, guava, rosehip, watermelon and pink and red grapefruit, and is more readily absorbed if processed into juice, so I juice it in my Vita-Mix juicer, which is a very high powered sort of blender/juicer.

See http://www.vitamix.com/household/products/super5000/value.html

Rather than extracting an important part of the fruit, the cellulose fibres, the Vita-Mix grinds them down and allowing me to consume them in my juice. I know I don’t chew sufficiently for food to be absorbed properly into my body, so this is a better way for me to eat grapefruit, and I really enjoy a glass of grapefruit juice first thing in the morning.

Lycopene is a carotenoid. Carotenoids are usually orange or red in colour and, as beta-carotene, are the main source of vitamin A in humans. Once in the body, lycopene is deposited in the liver, lungs, prostate gland, colon and skin, and its concentration in the body seems to be higher than all other carotenoids. Research suggests that lycopene is associated with reduced risk of macular degenerative disease, serum lipid oxidation, and cancers of the lung, bladder, cervix and skin.

Grapefruit is an excellent source of vitamin C , a vitamin that helps to support the immune system, and reduce cold symptoms, prevent free radical damage, and reduce severity of inflammatory conditions, such as asthma, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis. It helps to promote cardiovascular health, reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke.

There are phytochemicals called limonoids in grapefruit, and these inhibit tumour formation by promoting the formation of glutathione-S-transferase, a detoxifying enzyme that encourages the release of toxic compounds from the body. The pulp of the grapefruit (which I make sure I consume) contains glucarates: compounds which may help prevent breast cancer. Limonoids have been shown to help fight cancers of the mouth, skin, lung, breast, stomach and colon. Limonoids are potent anti-carcinogens. One liminoid, known as limonin, is very long lasting, and grapefruits have about the same amount of it as they do vitamin C. Our bodies easily digest this compound.

Grapefruit contains pectin, a form of soluble fibre that has been shown, in animal studies, to slow the progression of atherosclerosis . It lowers cholesterol and heart disease risk. Both ordinary and red/pink grapefruit can reduce blood levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol, and red/pink grapefruits also lower triglycerides. When consumed daily by humans, both grapefruits appear to lower LDL cholesterol in just 30 days. However, the red grapefruit appears to be more than twice as effective.

Red and pink grapefruit contain more bioactive compounds and total polyphenols than ordinary grapefruit, but both grapefruits have equal fibre, phenolic and ascorbic acids, and the flavonoid, naringinen, although red and pink grapefruit contain slightly more flavonoids and anthocyanins.

Naringenin, a flavonoid concentrated in grapefruit, helps repair damaged D NA in human prostate cancer cells. DNA repair is one of the body's primary defences against the development of cancer.

There is indication that eating three or more servings of fruit per day may lower your risk of age-related macular degeneration, the primary cause of vision loss in older adults, by 36%, compared with persons who consume less than half the amount.

In some instances, there can be drug interactions with grapefruit and grapefruit juice, as it may increase the amount of certain medications active in the bloodstream. That includes cholesterol-fighting statin drugs, calcium-channel blocker drugs for high blood pressure, and some antihistamines. Consult a pharmacist with any questions, and tell your doctor about any supplements you're taking, including over-the-counter items, herbal products, and vitamins.

Grapefruit is a source of potassium, folate, iron, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorous, zinc, copper, manganese, and selenium; all are minerals required by the body. It is high in fibre (if you consume the pulp) and low in calories, and also contains a tiny amount of vitamins E, and some of the B vitamins.

Don’t forget to consume only organic fruits and vegetables, so that you don’t overload your system with cancer-causing pesticides. Organic produce might be a little more expensive than the regular, pesticide-ridden varieties but we cannot place a price on health. I was pleased to see one of my local supermarkets, PriceSmart Foods, offering organic foods, and I have now switched from shopping at Safeway. I do still shop at organic grocery stores, but I also want to encourage the big chains to offer us this option, so I shop there too.

If we start to demand organic foods, perhaps we will stop dying of cancer, to name but one disease. Our systems are so overloaded with toxins and pesticides, that our bodies can’t do their jobs. Spend a few pennies more on organic foods. Eat a little less if you have to, but help take the trend away from the pesticides, irradiation, and hormones that contaminate our food and get us back to health.