As colder weather sets in, our natural urge to curl up on the sofa with a big dish of our favorite comfort food can often become overwhelming. One of the easiest and most delightful ways to fight off a case of the winter blahs is to add a healthy serving of pink grapefruit  (Citrus grandis) to your diet and your skincare regime. Pink Grapefruit: It’s Not Just for Breakfast Anymore Pink grapefruit is a delicious way to consume essential vitamins and minerals and to increase your intake of flavonoids, cartenoids, and other potent disease-fighting phytonutrients. To get these nutrients into your bloodstream without delay, you should eat pink grapefruit (and other fruits, too) at least two hours before or after a meal. While eating this wonderful fruit first thing in the morning is optimal, its healing powers aren’t confined to the breakfast table. Both the fruit and the essential oil derived from the pink grapefruit’s peel offer a range of therapeutic benefits, including:

1. A mood-lifting scent—The refreshing fragrance of pink grapefruit peel essential oil helps banish the seasonal blues.
2. An immune system booster—The high vitamin C content of this nourishing citrus fruit strengthens resistance against colds and flu.
3. Anti-aging and health benefits—Grapefruit’s antioxidant properties help repair free radical damage, detoxify cells, and improve cardiovascular health. In addition to its potassium soluble and fiber (pectin) content, the pink variety contains lycopene, a vitamin A precursor that according to a Harvard-based Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study may not only help protect artery walls from the damaging effects of cholesterol, but also reduce the risk of stomach, throat, and several other cancers.
4. A safe, gentle skin toner and blemish fighter—A plant-derived antiseptic, pink grapefruit oil helps control the bacteria and excess oil that promote acne breakouts.
5. Cellulite relief—In your diet and as a topical skincare treatment, pink grapefruit stimulates lymphatic drainage, reducing the orange peel look of congested tissues.

The Perfect November Pick-Me-Up—Any Way You Slice It This month is the ideal time to start enjoying the multiple mental and physical benefits of pink grapefruit. As a health food, skincare ingredient, and aromatherapy treatment, it’s an all-natural prescription for a happier and healthier winter. Image: Suat Eman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net