Interestingly, it's all related. While this is the first study to find a link between grapefruit consumption and reduced insulin levels, the researchers speculate that weight loss and lower insulin levels are connected, reports CBS HealthWatch.

The study: Obese patients at the Scripps Clinic were divided into two groups. For 12 weeks, one group ate either half a grapefruit or drank a glass of grapefruit juice with each meal. The other group was given a placebo sugar pill. This was the only change in their diet. Everyone ate the foods they usually ate. There was minimal exercise that all participants followed.

The results: Those who ate fresh grapefruit lost on average 3.6 pounds over the 12-week period, while those drinking grapefruit juice typically lost 3 pounds. However, some participants lost as much as 10 pounds.

Those who took the placebo sugar pill lost on average a half-pound. But the grapefruit-eaters also had lower levels of insulin, which is the hormone that allows the body to metabolize sugars. Their glucose levels were also lower, which suggests a more efficient sugar metabolism. The researchers think the weight loss stems from the lower insulin level.

"The data we discovered in the study was very surprising. To see more weight loss with the grapefruit and nearly none in the placebo--in all honesty, I was very surprised," Dr. Ken Fujioka, lead researcher and director of the Scripps Metabolic Research Center, explained to CBS HealthWatch. "There might be something in grapefruit, particularly fresh grapefruit, that turns off the desire to eat more food."

The discovery is exciting since it could not only develop new weight loss techniques, but also pave the way for new treatments for diabetes.

Eat This For Breakfast. Lose Weight

People who eat dry cereal, cooked cereal, or even quick breads, such as waffles, toast, or pastry, for breakfast have significantly lower body mass index measurements than people who either skip breakfast entirely or chow down on meat and eggs, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.

You read that right. Eating a Danish pastry is better for your waistline than skipping breakfast altogether.

"Skipping breakfast has already been established as a risk factor for being overweight, but our study is the first to really look at how different breakfast types may affect weight while controlling for lifestyle and demographic variables," Coralie Brown, co-author of the research, said in a news release announcing the study.

More of us are skipping breakfast than ever before. In the mid-1960s, just 14 percent dashed out of the house without eating. By the '90s, fully 25 percent did so. It may not be a coincidence then that the number of obese Americans has also increased from 23 percent in 1994 to 31 percent in 2000, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"More and more Americans are skipping breakfast as the pace of our lives becomes increasingly hectic," said Gladys Block, UC Berkeley professor of nutritional epidemiology and principal investigator of the study. "What our study shows is that if the goal is to lose or maintain weight, skipping breakfast is not a good way to go about it. Skipping breakfast may be just as bad as eating a chunk of cheese first thing in the morning."

The study analyzed health and lifestyle information of 16,452 adults who participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, or NHANES III, from 1988 to 1994. The data included body mass index (BMI) measurements, age, gender, race, and other demographic information. The researchers also controlled for such factors as physical activity and smoking, and placed participants in one of 10 breakfast categories based upon the foods they reported eating the prior day.

Three surprising results: