There's a tart and juicy breakfast fruit that might help keep metabolic syndrome in check. We're talking about grapefruit.

In a study, obese people who ate half a fresh grapefruit before meals showed improvements in two important measures related to the syndrome -- weight, and insulin response. Not only did the grapefruit eaters shed pounds, but their insulin resistance improved, too.

Bad Metabolic Mix
Metabolic syndrome is bad news for your body. It's characterized by a combination of five serious health problems that can jack up your risk for heart disease and diabetes. Insulin resistance -- where the body fails to use insulin properly -- is one of the more serious markers because it can lead to high blood sugar and type 2 diabetes. High blood pressure, unhealthy cholesterol levels, high blood sugar, and abdominal obesity make up the rest of the formula for metabolic syndrome. Check out these other blood sugar management strategies from dLife.com.

On medication? Find out how grapefruit could interfere.

You Have the Power
So here's the happy news. You can improve every single metabolic risk factor with simple lifestyle changes, like these:

• Move along. Yep. Exercise is an all-in-one tool for giving all five metabolic syndrome factors the heave-ho. Find out how exercise can help you even if you're new to the game.
• Be regular. With your meals, that is. Here's how noshing throughout the day may keep belly fat and metabolic syndrome away.
• Eat fat. The monounsaturated stuff. It can boost your healthy cholesterol levels in no time. Read this ultimate guide on good fats and bad fats.

Have diabetes? Share your thoughts and get advice from people just like you. Join the community at dLife.com.

The effects of grapefruit on weight and insulin resistance: relationship to the metabolic syndrome. Fujioka, K. et al., Journal of Medicinal Food 2006 Spring;9(1):49-54.