A fruit diet is any diet that includes eating only fruit or mostly fruit for a designated period of time. There are many of these diets plans available online and in books, all with different health claim benefits and instructions. Most fruit diets claim that fruits have the power to flush out toxins from the body. Knowing where and how the fruit has been grown as well as taking needed nutritional supplements are keys to successfully following a fruit diet.
The fruit flush diet advocates a fruit diet with a few raw vegetables and just a little protein for a three-day period. The creator of this program claims that this diet will flush the body of toxins and that dieters can lose up to nine pounds over the three days of dieting. The weight lost, however, is water weight, not fat. Because of this, most people will gain the weight right back after the dieting period is over.
A fruitarian diet is a fruit diet that can also include nuts and seeds. Most fruitarians do not cook their food, so it is also a raw diet. According to fruitarians, a strictly fruit diet is the natural diet for humans, and the diet our early hominid ancestors followed.
A commonly proclaimed benefit of a fruit diet is the power to detoxify the body. Many health practitioners dispute this claim, because toxins are naturally eliminated by the kidneys, liver, and colon. Instead, the claim might be made because a strictly fruit diet does not introduce many new toxins into the body.
Those choosing a fruit diet should be aware of the source of the fruit. Modern, commercially grown fruit is very high in sugar. Frequent consumption of this sugar causes symptoms similar to those of diabetes, such as increased thirst, increased urination, and fatigue. Consumption of all types of sugar requires adequate insulin production to offset it. To avoid this, purchasing fruit from farmers' markets or natural food stores is recommended.
Nutritional deficiency is an important concern for those following a fruit diet. A diet that does not include grains or any animal products is lacking in important vitamins, as well as needed calcium and protein. Fruitarians should take supplements to make up for what their diet does not include. Symptoms of malnutrition include dizziness, fainting, hair loss, rapid or extreme weight loss, bloating, and cessation of the menstrual period in females.
Due to lack of needed nutrients, people on an all-fruit diet may reach an altered mental state. This is mistaken by some as a kind of spiritual enlightenment, but in reality is akin to the altered mental state experienced in anorexia nervosa. Deficiencies in minerals, such as zinc, have been theorized as possible causes of this mental condition.