Well its the 21st century and what looks good is considered good. In order to be healthy and in an attempt to lose weight, people try a variety of diet routines. Fruitarian diet is a type of diet that comes under the category of a strict vegan diet. It basically means surviving only on fruits which excludes intake of any kind of dairy product or animal product.
Though vegetables, nuts, dried fruits can be eaten in between the diet to get essential nutrients which fruits are unable to give. Grains and legumes are completely restricted and so are tubers. The basic need of a fruitarian diet is to consume raw staple diet.
No matter how healthy it sounds, a fruitarian diet has many risks involved. Many people end up losing their health instead of getting the glow and health that they were aiming to achieve. Let us look at a few details of the fruitarian diet.
Benefits
Proper benefits of a fruitarian diet can be endured when consumed with a few moderations and it can prove to be a nutritious diet.
Listed below are few of its benefits:
- Fibre is something which is common in all fruits and hence it can help you lower your cholesterol level and can improve your bowel movements. For example, fruits like apples, raspberries, blackberries etc.
- Some fruits like orange and strawberries are rich in vitamin C and will help in betterment of your immune system, teeth and bones.
- Fruits like mango, bananas, papaya have high potassium content and can help in regulating blood pressure and fluid flow in your body.
- Some fruits which are rich in folate like orange also help in increasing red blood cell content in your body.
- Fruits also act as good anti-oxidants like berries and plums can help you get rid of free radicals in your body.
What are the risks included?
Though a fruitarian diet provides you with many nutrients and health benefits but it lacks in some of the most essential nutrients like protein, fat, B-vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids.
Since the diet is excessively restrictive in nature, it can easily result in malnourishment. Starvation can make you easily fall ill. Due to starvation, you might also experience fatigue and women might also fall prey to anaemia if they follow the diet during their periods.
Since a fruit based diet is more on the side of sugar, it can be extremely harmful for the people suffering with diabetes and blood pressure problem.
What to do?
It is not compulsory to follow the restricted fruit diet for a long time since it can harm you more than it benefits you. Instead of undergoing a 100 percent fruitarian diet, try to increase your fruit intake up to 50 percent and keep consuming other food products which are important to fulfil your needs for the remaining nutrients.
Don’t take up the diet immediately but try to transition towards it gradually and avoid doing it all at once. Changing your diet completely all of a sudden can lead you to become weak and ill. Also, try to include fruit juices as well and choose wisely which fruit to eat according to your nutrient and calorie needs.
