What Is Fruitarian Diet

A fruitarian diet comprises of fruits, nuts and seeds, while excluding animal products, vegetables and grains from its purview. A person following a fruitarian diet is called a fruitarian and the practice of following this diet is known as fruitarianism. Herein, people are adapted to a lifestyle and nutrition system that consists of eating only raw and dried fruit, nuts and seeds. A fruitarian diet comes along with various nutritional and health benefits, such as enhancing your mental abilities and making you beautiful and pure inside and out. However, it has a few disadvantages as well. There are seven basic fruits groups that fruitarians choose from, each of which has been detailed below. Read on further to know more about a fruitarian diet, its benefits as well as the drawbacks.

Fruit Types (Groups)

The first group contains all acid fruits, like pineapples, strawberries, kiwis, pomegranates, cranberries and sour apples.
The second group contains sub-acid fruits, such as sweet apples, sweet cherries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, peaches, pears, cheri-moyas, papayas, figs, apricots and mangoes.
Sweet fruits, like bananas, grapes, melons and persimmons, form the third group of fruits.
The fourth group consists of nuts, such as pecans, almonds, Brazil, cashews, walnuts, macadamias, pistachios, pine nuts, hazelnuts, beechnuts and hickory.
Seeds such as sunflower, sesame, squash, and pumpkin make up the fifth fruit group.
The sixth group comprises of dry fruits, which include dates, figs, apricots, apples, raisins, cherries, prunes, bananas and cranberries.
The last and seventh group includes oily fruits, like avocados, coconuts and olives.

Pros & Cons Of A Fruitarian Diet

Pros

A fruitarian diet is known to bring great benefits to physical, mental and spiritual well-being. It helps in short-term cleansing and losing weight.
Focusing on raw food on a daily basis is known to prevent or reverse many common diseases and illnesses, as cooking fresh and living foods destroy the vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and other nutrients present in them.
Fruitarians claim that this diet reduces the effects of aging, promotes physical, intellectual and emotional vitality, and leads to overall excellent health and stability.
It detoxifies toxins from the body and purifies brain, cardiovascular system, respiratory system, nervous system, endocrine system and digestive system.
It induces more creativity, energy, happiness, rejuvenation and mental clarity in a person.
The diet cures and improves bad health symptoms, like constipation, insomnia, depressive cycles, stress and hunger.
Fruitarian diet revitalizes the sexual organs and increases the sensual feelings as well as fertility.
It helps in getting clearer skin, brighter eyes, stronger and beautiful nails, better body smell, improved senses and general sensation of well-being.
The diet improves muscular coordination, balance of the body, capacity to work and professional skills.

Cons

Since a fruitarian diet is extremely restrictive, it makes the nutritional adequacy impossible to a large extent.
A fruitarian diet is known to cause deficiencies in calcium, protein, iron, zinc, vitamin D, most vitamins B (especially B12) and essential fatty acids.
A diet comprising of only fruits can also lead to hunger, cravings, food obsessions, social disruptions and social isolation.
Various nutritional problems can occur in children, such as severe protein energy malnutrition, anemia and a wide range of vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Lack of proteins can make it difficult to sustain the lifestyle, hence resulting in hypoproteinemia or kwashiorkor.

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