 
Typical nutrition values for ½ medium grapefruit (154g) 4% |
 
Typical nutrition values for 8 fl oz (1 cup, 240 mL) grapefruit juice 6% |
- Folate is essential for growth and development. It plays a key role in DNA formation and cell division, helps guard against one form of anemia, and may help reduce the risk of birth defects of the brain and spinal cord, known as "neural tube defects."
- To help reduce the risk of someday having a baby with a neural tube defect, all women capable of becoming pregnant need to get 400 micrograms of the synthetic form of folate, folic acid, every day while consuming food folate from a varied diet.10 Eat a grapefruit or drink a glass of grapefruit juice to increase the folate in your diet.
- To help maintain a healthy pregnancy, women's folate needs increase by 50 percent.6
- Folate may significantly modify homocysteine (an amino acid) levels in the body. When high levels of homocysteine exist in the blood, high levels have been associated with an increased risk for coronary heart disease.10
- Some research suggests that folate may be associated with a reduced risk for certain cancers, and some diseases affecting the brain such as dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and depression.5
