Fruitarian Diet

The fruitarian diet is an extreme form of a raw vegan diet. Those who follow a fruitarian way of life eat only ripe fruits, and what they eat is limited to the parts of the plant that does not require killing the plant.

Fruitarianism is a form of raw diet in which people eat predominantly raw fruit. How much of the diet is raw fruit will depend on the type of fruitarian. Just as there are different types of vegetarians, there are also a different types of fruitarians. Some people follow the diet for ethical reasons while others embrace it for better health.

One thing that all types of fruitarians have in common is that if at all possible, they eat only organically grown or biologically cultivated fruits. Those who fully embrace the fruitarian lifestyle eat only fruit along with live seeds and nuts. A second type of fruitarian eats about 75 percent raw fruit while the rest of their diet is made up of a raw vegan diet. The difference is that a raw vegan diet includes creative dishes made up of dehydrated foods which can be made into an endless number of dishes.

The most extreme of the fruitarians limit what they can and cannot eat by choosing to eat only foods that fall to the ground naturally. They will not eat fruit that requires killing the plant. For example, a radish is a root vegetable, and picking it would "kill" the plant. This limits the selections of fruits that are normally available to those who eat a vegetarian or vegan diet.

Like the raw vegan diet, fruitarians avoid all cooked food. The reasons behind this stem from a number of beliefs. These include:

• Eating cooking food initiates both physical and emotional addictions.
• Ingesting cooked food weakens your immune system.
• Cooked food causes people to age internally and externally.
• Over time, those who eat cooked food develop serious illnesses.
• Societal incorporation of cooked food establishes practices that pollute the environment.

Not all fruitarians eat 100 percent fruit. This is attributed to a number of different reasons. Just as some who claim to be vegetarians may eat animal products and others don't, some fruitarian diets are made up of more fruit than others. As long as your dietary intake includes 50 percent or more of fruit, you are considered a fruitarian.

Some people choose to eat only fruit as a form of detoxification or as a spiritual exercise. In the short term, eating as a fruitarian can have positive effects such as weight loss or healing. It's a cleansing diet. However, not many people successfully follow a fruitarian diet for the long term.

It's important to talk with your doctor before changing to fruitarian diet. Talk about the diet's suitability with your current health. This is especially important for people who suffer from sugar metabolism disorders such as:

• Diabetes
• Hypoglycemia
• Pancreas disorders
• Renal (kidney) disorders

Those who don't understand vegetarianism, much less fruitarianism, often don't realize that fruits, nuts and seeds provide protein, vitamins, phytochemcials, enzymes, minerals, water, as well as fiber. The fruitarian diet consists of only raw foods but take things even further than a raw vegetarian diet. Foods allowed on a fruitarian diet include but are not limited to:

• Apples
• Oranges
• Limes
• Lemons
• Grapefruit
• Peaches
• Pineapples
• Mangoes
• Kiwis
• Papayas
• Grapes
• Tangerines
• Bananas
• Plums
• Apricots
• Figs
• Cherries
• Persimmons
• Dates
• Pears
• Watermelons
• Cantaloupes
• Honey Dews
• Galia

• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Huckleberries
• Raspberries
• Blackberries
• Gooseberries
• Elderberries

• Vegetable Fruits Including:
• Avocados
• Cucumbers
• Nuts
• Olives
• Orange Peppers
• Red peppers
• Seeds
• Yellow Squash
• Tomatoes
• Yellow Peppers
• Zucchini
• Egg Plant

• Hazelnuts
• Cashews
• Chestnuts
• Brazil nuts
• Walnuts
• Pecans
• Filberts
• Sprouted seeds

The limited selection of foods available for those who choose to be fruitarian makes it a difficult diet to follow for more than one reason. First of all, socially it's hard to interact with others around the dinner table, at luncheons, and other gatherings and as a result the diet tends to encourage social isolation.

Other disadvantages include:

• Some people don't find the diet physically or emotionally satisfying and as a result they become irritable.
• Due to the high amount of natural sugar found in fruit, fruitarians can become addicted to a high sugar intake and can even lead to cravings and binge eating.
• Extreme weight loss in strict fruitarians can cross over to anorexia.
• Finding an adequate supply of fruits year round can be troublesome in some areas.
• Eating only fresh fruits can be more expensive than some budgets can afford.

Often, fruitarians grow weary of how difficult it is to follow this diet. This along with the social isolation and psychological deprivation leads them to give up.

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