The Beloved Boomer Breakfast Food That's Also A Potassium Powerhouse

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Plenty of people have a portion of fruit for breakfast but it's usually an addition; a handful of berries on top of granola say, or packet cereal, or grapes paired with Greek yogurt. Ask a boomer though, and many of them will tell you that in their day, having half a grapefruit first thing was all the rage. While this citrus has quietly joined the ranks of old-school breakfasts we rarely see today, we think it's long overdue a comeback, especially if you're keen to boost your potassium intake, because it packs a nutritional punch.

One grapefruit has roughly 300 milligrams of potassium, and while that's not as much as a single banana or the almost 1,309 milligrams served up by underrated potassium powerhouse beet greens, it's still not to be sniffed at — and imagine a breakfast that combined the three! Trials conducted in 2012 and 2016, as well as a 2013 examination of 22 studies suggested that regularly eating grapefruit could help reduce high blood pressure. Of course it's not the only health benefit that comes from this delicious citrus fruit. Grapefruit is also good sources of vitamin A, which supports eyesight and cell growth, and vitamin C, essential for healthy skin. The question is, if grapefruit is so good for us, why isn't it more popular, especially at breakfast?

Social media users have fond memories of their parents or grandparents halving a grapefruit, sprinkling it with brown sugar, and popping it under the broiler to caramelize the topping. Lots of people remember a special curved knife that cut the grapefruit, and while my grandma used her trusty breadknife to do that job, she did own a set of serrated spoons made just for scooping out each juicy segment. You can still buy them today; we like this funky-colored set. But what goes up must come down, and boomers (anyone born between 1946 to 1964) witnessed the grapefruit's decline in popularity, due partly to the rise in processed foods and changing breakfast tastes.

Arguably the biggest blow to grapefruit as a breakfast food came from older people, as researchers found the fruit can interfere — to varying degrees — with several important medications. According to the FDA, grapefruit and its juice can inhibit transporters and enzymes, leading to too much or too little of a drug in someone's system. If you do want to up your potassium intake but you're not sure whether you can have grapefruit, it's best to get professional advice from your doctor. If they give you the green light, grab those serrated spoons and tuck in!