![Diet Plans and Nutrition [Home]](/images/everydiet5.png "Every Diet [Home]"){kind=small}
Fruit Diet
Fruitarians (or ‘fructarians’) are a subgroup of vegans, who are in turn a subgroup of vegetarians, most of whom adopt their particular dietary preference for reasons of health, ecological/environmental responsibility, or ethics.
A Vegetarian diet excludes meat and fish, and products derived from them (such as cochineal, lard, tallow, gelatin), although it can include honey, milk and other dairy products, and eggs.
A Vegan diet goes further by excluding dairy and egg products – only vegetables are eaten.
A Fruitarian (fructarian) diet goes further again by excluding all parts of all ‘vegetables’ (that is, plants and trees) except the fruit of the plant.
Fruitarian Diet
In a fruitarian diet, the only parts of plants used are the fruit, nuts, seeds and other plant matter that can be gathered without harming the plant. In other words, ‘culinary’ fruit (apples, oranges, pears etc) and ‘botanical’ fruit or seed-containing reproductive parts of flowering plants (beans, berries, capsicums, cucumbers, grains, nuts, peas, pumpkins, seeds, squash, tomatoes, and the like), can be eaten, but not carrots, potatoes or spinach etc., which require destruction of the plant.
A true fruitarian believes that removal of a vegetable from its roots (say a potato or a lettuce leaf) injures it, which is against the fruitarian concept of causing no death or injury to anything in order to consume part of it (the tomato and avocado are considered either fruit or vegetable, and thus are exceptions to this rule).
The fruitarian diet may appear to be limited in variety and in nutrition, but nuts of any type provide a protein source, and grains and pasta are suggested for a balanced diet. Eggs may also be eaten if from organically grown chickens.
Negative factors
A fruitarian diet is difficult to follow, and long-term fruitarians can develop health problems, such as:
- Vitamin B12 deficiency – B12 is essential for normal nervous system function and the production of blood cells. To be absorbed by the body, B12 must bind to a protein (secreted by glands in the stomach lining) called ‘intrinsic factor’. Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is produced exclusively by microorganisms (bacteria), and the main sources of vitamin B12 are meat, eggs, and dairy products, all absent in the fruitarian diet. B12 is not present in any fruit, and even if found on the fruit’s surface due to bacterial action, there will be nothing left after cleaning/preparing the fruit. Of course, there are other causes of B12 deficiency apart from it being low in the diet, such as:
- Abdominal/intestinal surgery or disorders affecting the production or absorption of intrinsic factor
- Chronic alcoholism
- Crohn’s disease
- Fish tape worm
- Pernicious anemia, due to a lack of intrinsic factor
- Diabetic or hypoglycemic-type symptoms, due to the high sugar content of the fruitarian diet, which also lacks protein, minerals, and fat-soluble vitamins.
- Eating disorder symptoms – long-term fruitarians are prone to food cravings and consequent binge-eating of either ‘allowed’ or ‘illegal’ foods, and often become addicted to dates (for their high sugar content) and avocados (for their high fat content). Some may develop a type of eating disorder for which a name has been coined, “orthorexia nervosa”
(“ortho” meaning straight, correct, and true), which has similarities to “anorexia nervosa”. Orthorexia nervosa refers to a pathological fixation on eating so-called ‘proper’ food.
Maintaining nutrient levels
Care should be taken with a fruitarian diet to ensure sufficient consumption of certain nutrients, by identifying and including the appropriate sources of:
- calcium
- energy
- An iron supplement
- riboflavin
- vitamin B12
- vitamin D
Look for healthy vegetarian and fruit recipes here.
See Also
Fruitarianism: The Path To Paradise by Anne Osborne
Hey there Gina.
First of all, calling somebody “mentally handicapped” is not nice. Congenital cognitive development disorders are a serious condition that you shouldn’t use as an insult.
Secondly, for someone who is old enough to use the internet, you really need to go back to grade school and learn some maths. Like multiplication. 10% = 1/10 a certain amount. 10% of your DAILY CALORIE intake means 1/10th of what you’re TOTAL calorie intake. Percentage = gram/ total gram. Seriously…have some protein. You’re brain cells are dying.
When people want to start a diet to lose weight, they immediately think of a fruit and salad diet. The reason behind this is that fruits and vegetables have plenty of vitamins and minerals, but very few calories.
I will try to underline here some of the positive reasons, and why should you follow a fruit diet.
•They strengthen your immune system;
•Fight against aging;
•Help you lose weight without starving yourself;
•Fruits play a great role in the detoxification of your organism.
Wow, this Robert person might be mentally handicapped. He just said percentage of daily calories doesn’t matter, and grams do. I don’t think he knows anything about nutrition. If humans need 10% of their calories from protein, and they are consuming enough calories, they are consuming enough protein. Protein deficiencies only exist when not enough overall calories are consumed.
I have had gout for years, and tried just about everything without success.I reduced meat to, minimum once
a week, stopped alcohol altogether.I was having LOTS of fruit and vegetables and my gout was worsening.
Finally I have read something about Excessive fructose increasing uric acid.I experimented reducing my fruit
intake to 2 a day, and bingo within days I saw a dramatic improvement
“Eggs may also be eaten if from organically grown chickens.”
Who said you can eat eggs on a fruitarian diet?!?
I think a fruitarian would be a good diet to follow especially if you do it properly. Eating the fruit along with nuts, seeds etc. I am going to do it for a while to see how I feel with it.
i love this diet
i’ve lost like 18 lbs and its only been a week, i just eat fruit when im hungry and drink lots of water. i don’t really excerise, i walk to places i go, but not like power walking just laid back walking from my different classes around campus. this diet shows me to be aware of what i’m putting into my body, its not bad to have sweets and processed food every once in awhile, just be aware of how much and what you’re eating. i got three more weeks to go! 
i plan to try and keep this weight off as well. soo wish me luck! 
Anonymous,
Fruits and vegetables may be 10% protein but the percentage is meaningless. How many GRAMS of protein are provided in a piece of fruit or vegetable? Perhaps 1 gram, 2 grams if you’re lucky. You would have to eat a truckload of fruits and vegetables to meet your requirements. So you eat an apple and get 1 gram of protein and I’ll eat 3 ouces of sardines and get 18 grams.
@Esther, I would think not because a lot of the benefit would be lost in the canning process and fruit skins are highly nutritious.. Frozen berries would be fine.
on this fruit diet, can i replace fresh fruit with canned fruit?
Fruitarian, my boss is a the fruitarian and has the most unbelievable mood swings, he is hyper, runs aeound trying to do everything and gets nothing done, I am sure he is high on sugar and gets really nasty to all the staff when his sugar is low, he goes thru staff like a person deficating twice and hour. What a horror, a better human being he is shot, or should be, after the holidays most of us are getting out of here…he can eat his fruit and graze all day by himself.
I have taken to fruitarianism, it is easy here in the tropics near Goa, India. What I have found is that it is impossible to starve on this diet as there are nearly 20 major fruiting seasons of different local fruit as well as some brought from further north like apples, cherries, etc. Plus there are some fruit available throughout the year that pack a lot of calories like bananas, dates, coconuts.
Now for the effect this fruit diet had on me.
Firstly, my skin cleared and improved to the extent I have a sort of smooth sheen that was never there before.
My winter respiratory problems (bronchitis, asthma) have all but disappeared and the rest of the year, summer and rainy season my breathing is perfect.
Exercise which used to be a chore is now routine and does not seem to take much effort unlike earlier on an omnivore diet.
Work is a breeze and I can do a full day’s work compressed into almost half a day with no strain on eyes or any other faculty like hands, wrist etc
Personal hygiene is much improved. Sweat is odorless, motions are regular, breath is fresh.
I had thought of trying this diet for a limited period. But I think i will stick. I don’t take the B12 vitamin issue too seriously. I get enough vitamin D by sunbathing an hour daily BTW
How ignorant can people get? Sure this may provide excellent results for weight loss, but c’mon a long-term fruit diet? Anyone who decides to live their life this way for the sake of not harming anything, is just making an excuse for an eating disorder. How ridiculous!
oh i LOVE the fruit diet. i went on it for 30 days, and i had lost 10kg. for me, that was a huge acomplishment, as i didnt really have much weight to lose in the first place. but my eyes were clearer, skin was perfect and i was always happy. i always suggest it to people. and to add to all this, i didnt exercise at all while i was on it. so if i had exercised, i would have lost a lot more.
go ahead and try it!
i eat mainly fruit and some nuts. it is a deep seeded belief system that we do better on fruit; i know it has changed my self esteem from a 2 to an 8, it has improved aches and pains (there ARE none), it has improved my quality of life from a 2 to a 6, i enjoy people more than before, etc etc etc. maybe i have orthorexia, but it works for ME!!!! i’ll take it any day – over conventional food – if i can have the discipline to stay on it!!!!
You know the fruit diet does work and it is not a sin not to eat meat once and a while if so then all of rome is sinning because easter is apon us. I took the fruit diet for one month and lost 25 lbs that stayed off. It works and my doctor is the one that told me about it. Friut will help you lose wieght if you need weight loss and if you are to underwieght it will help you gain back.
to those who think that eating only fruit will cause a ‘protein deficiency’: The recommended daily intake of protein is 10% of daily caloric intake. Pretty much all fruits and vegetables have about 10% protein in them… and many have much more. Plus its the most efficient protein for our bodies, much more complete than animal products.
On a side not, nearly every food we eat has enough protein anyway so its impossible to have a protein deficiency. Even if we only at rice we would still be getting 8% of our daily caloric intake from protein. Read the 80/10/10 book and get informed!!
Just try it for a few weeks and then see how you feel. Definitely clears your mind. You can think about it philosophically all day but you’ll never really know until you try it. It won’t kill you. Mind what you are truly craving, is unseasoned meat or bread appealing to your tastes? Also, try and realize when you are really truly hungry, not just craving, because when you are truly hungry even raw carrots and lettuce are appetizing. Eat to live