Earlier this year, did you hear about Ashton Kutcher having to spend time in hospital after he gave the fruitarian diet a shot? Playing Steve Jobs in an upcoming biopic on the Apple founder’s life, Kutcher attempted to adopt a Jobs’ style diet as well, to completely get into the skin of his character. Unfortunately, this apparently led to him being “doubled up in pain” and needing medical help.
Stories like this often give alternative diets a bad name, so today I thought I’d dig deeper and see what a fruitarian diet is really all about. Can it be bad enough to put you in hospital or can there be long term benefits of this diet?
What Is a Fruitarian Diet?
Often known as a subset of veganism, fruitarianism involves adopting a diet that is made up of 75% fruit. Further, depending on individual preferences, diets can be made of nuts and seeds and other vegan and raw food.
Animal products are an absolute no-no. Some fruitarians don’t eat grain while others do. Some only eat fruit that has naturally fallen from a plant and not been picked.
Fruitarian diets aren’t new and have been around for a very long time. In fact, many fruitarians believe being “fruitivores” or fruit eaters is the natural state for humans and by eating, whole, raw organic fruit, humans will go back to the Eden-like paradise of Adam and Eve.
The Upside of a Fruitarian Diet
So is eating fruit and mostly just fruit going to help you in any way? Fruitarians believe there can be long term benefits of adopting such a diet. The benefits of fruitarianism include:
Low in Calories
Fruit is good for you and is often recommended for being so good on the calorie scale. 1 serving of some fruits like strawberries and cantaloupe often contains less than 100 calories.
On the other hand, a fruit like banana is also a great choice because it not only contains only about 100 calories but is also very rich in a multitude of other nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and fiber.
No Cooking Required
Many fruitarians believe food should be consumed raw in its whole, natural form. And why wouldn’t they, when most fruit can be consumed without any cooking needed. Fruitarian diets can be convenient, especially for those on the go.
Health Benefits
Due to a fiber rich diet, fruitarians are often less prone to constipation. Additionally, a regular intake of vitamins and other nutrients strengthens the body’s immune system making you less susceptible to allergies and viruses.
Fiber-Rich
Fruits contain plenty of good things and are an excellent source of nutrients and fiber, as discussed above. Did you know, one cup of raspberries pack in a whopping 8g of fiber?
This is already a third of the daily recommended fiber intake for women! Additionally, fruits like prunes and berries are also all-natural anti-oxidants.
The Downside of Fruitarianism
Before you go adopting an all fruit diet, don’t forget also that a fruitarian diet has a number of pitfalls.
Not Enough Nutrients
The biggest problem most people have about fruitarianism is that you cannot possibly get all the nutrients your body needs from fruit alone.
Fruitarian diets are by their very nature, pretty restrictive and therefore you could end up with a number of mineral and vitamin deficiencies.
A fruit-based diet can enhance your chances of developing anemia due to the lack of iron in your body. Lack of iron would also lead to you constantly feeling fatigued.
Vitamin B-12 is usually only found in animal based foods and very often fruitarians develop a vitamin B-12 deficiency due to their choice of diet. Meat, poultry, eggs, fish and dairy products are common sources of the vitamin, however, fruitarians don’t consume any of these foods. Many take dietary supplements to make up for this however many end up with low levels of this crucial vitamin and this can lead to a variety of neurological problems.
As most fruitarians don’t consume dairy products, there is often a high risk of being calcium-deficient as well as low on Vitamin D. These in turn can lead to brittle bones. While Vitamin D can be derived from the sun, most of us don’t spend enough time outdoors and rely on milk or fish to supply us with our Vitamin D needs. Without these nutrients, your bones might become more susceptible to breaking.
Psychological Issues
This might sound a bit far-fetched, and in fact, many fruitarians will argue the opposite is true, but fruitarian diets have been known to lead to psychological problems too.
A common reason for this is that fruitarianism is a pretty extreme diet, and it may be hard to fit in with your friends and family, and even socialize properly if you have such strict eating habits.
Slow Metabolism
Sometimes people adopt fruitarian diets to cut down their calorie intake. With a fruit diet, if your body doesn’t get enough calories it needs from the diet, it often goes into a state of catabolism.
This means it starts to try to derive energy from it’s own tissue as it doesn’t have any food to break down for energy. As a result of this, your metabolism will slow down while your body tries to conserve as many calories as possible for energy.
This will also affect your electrolyte balance and can also have adverse effects on the way your muscles, especially heart muscles function.
Too Much Sugar
Fruit provides us with natural sugar options, yes. But if fruits make up your entire diet you are consuming way too much fructose (i.e. sugar)!
For the average person, it is recommended that you don’t consumer more than 25g of fructose per day, even less for those with diabetic problems. By consuming just 3 sweet fruits a day, you will have reached your 25g/day limit.
Going over and above these consumption amounts can lead to many problems such as insulin resistance, diabetes, obesity. fatty liver disease, high blood pressure and more.
Excessive amounts of fructose consumption have also been linked to cancer, most notably pancreatic cancer.
Here’s also a short video showing vegetable and fruit diet for weight loss!
In Conclusion
The general consensus about the fruitarian diet seems to be a “no, don’t do it”. While eating enough fruit daily should definitely be part of your diet, a diet comprised solely of fruit can end up doing more harm than good.
Dietitians around the world strongly assert that you cannot get all the nutrients your body needs if you adopt a fruit based diet permanently.
If you’re considering a fruitarian diet because you think it might help you to lose weight, I would strongly advise you to speak to a health care professional first. Extreme dieting is never a good idea.
Personally, I am not a believer of extreme, fad diets. Moderation is the key to healthy eating and living. But I’d like to know – what are your thoughts on a fruitarian diet?
Hello,
I would like to comment on a few things in regards to this article.
“Calories”- many fruitarians eat far MORE calories than meat eaters. The average fruitarian diet is between 3000-5000 calories. The most common fruitarian diet is the raw til 4 diet which advocates eating as much faw fruit as you want and NOT calorie restricting. Can you name another lifestyle or diet that doesn’t calorie restrict?
“Not enough nutrients” – I have no idea where you got this information from? A lack of Iron in the body?? squash,pumpkin seeds,nuts,beans,lentils, leafy greens,spinach – all contain Iron. In regards to not getting enough calcium again this another misconception many plant based products are calcium rich.
Calcium is important for strong bones. Calcium is in dairy products. Therefore is would be sensible to think that dairy products things like milk are good for your bones….. If this was the case why is it that the top 4 countries that consume dairy products:
1) USA
2) UK
3) Finland
4) Sweden
are also the 4 top countries that have a population suffering with osteoporosis?
The reason is that when you consume dairy products it leeches calcium out from the bones and is urinated out. MILK GIVES YOU WEAKER BONES NOT STRONGER ONES! – This has been proven over and over in numerous studies and scientific papers. So much so you will not find an advert on any milk products in the UK claiming that milk gives you strong bones because they are not aloud to anymore.
I could go on with the other points you have made above. I would highly recommend doing some research and watching the following two documentaries :
Forks not knives
Food that kills
Both are available on youtube and explain the science behind some on the mentioned above.
The people in my family that drink milk have bad teeth and fat bellies
And? That’s a pretty useless statement in and of itself. I drank milk and I am neither fat (not even close) nor do I have bad teeth.
Hi u r so intelligent. I’m a FRUGITARIAN myself and that post was the most ignorant information I’ve seen in a while. When I saw her picture I knew why. The fruit based vegan diet saved Steve jobs life for 40 years but I’m sure all milk and innocent animals would have been far better
This article is just garbage, if you are considering becoming a fruitarian I highly recommend it. Fruit has a lot of water and fibre which will slow down the uptake of sugars into the bloodstream. It will also clean your blood and purify your body of toxic fat cells. You really just need to think on a simple level, where does fruit and vegetables come from? Then think where does meat, milk, grains etc come from? We are the only living beings on this planet that cooks and processes food to a point where it is depleted of all it’s nutrients. Fruitarians are happy people who wake up every morning feeling amazing because when you are clean on the inside it really makes a difference.
Have you heard of that person that got a heart attack because of too much fruit sugar!?
Yeah me neither
Enjoy your dental bills and fatty liver disease from excess fructose consumption.
Fruit provides vitamin levels off the charts with three exceptions. Fat soluble vitamin E is tricky (without nuts and seeds). D comes from sun exposure. B12 comes from bacteria and supplements (as for any vegan). Greens provide all necessary minerals, except perhaps zinc which is abundant in beans and seeds.
Helen, I feel what you feel when I read the previous comments. Hard to describe, words are too finite, and its not even so much as a feeling, as an ever growing sideways tilt of the head, culminating in what can be either your salvation or ……. Either way, having been so consumed with wonder to have forgotten to breath, that was one long, sad “hmmmmmm”, of an exhale. Followed by an obligatory face palm. While I am focusing on self improvement, the power of positive thinking, live and let live, and detaching from that which would normally stress me out, BUT as a health care professional, lines have to be drawn. The bottom line is humans are by nature omnivores, we have nutritional needs that cannot be met long term by a fruit only diet. suggesting to people that this is a path to health is morally irresponsible and continues to further perpetuate misinformation and confusion surrounding nutrition. The diet is severely lacking in both essential amino acids and essential fatty acids. But is sure has plenty of sugar. Notice the key word preceding that which the diet lacks, but is mysteriously missing from that which it does not?
For rational human beings wondering if this might be your ticket to health, that is as much as you need know about this diet.
But I am not going to invest my time and energy into trying to infuse logic into the irrational.
Thanks for the info, Helen. Didn’t appreciate the misinformation about calcium and vit D in dairy, though. As you should know, dairy is a very poor source of calcium and actually causes bone brittleness due to acidifying the blood (same with all animal “food”). Also, of course, the association scientifically made between dairy and other ailments. Plus the antibiotic horrors (ie so much antibiotics in meat that we have now developed antibiotic resistance). Then the moral cruelty of keeping cows pregnant and milking them and tearing them away from their babies. Think again before you post lies. Sincerely, Hortense
Much more research and experience is required before you are qualified in writing about this subject… Youtube channels: Loren Lockman (great logic and experience), the Fruitarian (great logic)