There are many attributed variations of the fruit diet which make ownership difficult to pin down.  To be certain there are a broad range of variations of which the primary if not the only food source is fruit.  These fruit diets are often billed as detoxification diets and are recommended for anywhere from 3 to 30 days, once or several times per year.  To the extreme side of the spectrum are the fruitarians who make the fruit diet their own to the exclusion of meats and vegetables as well.  Some versions of the fruit diet acknowledge rapid weight loss is primarily from water.  More complete versions of the fruit diet encourage lean protein to be consumed as well to prevent the body from attacking muscle mass instead of fat.

The majority of these diets have a long list of restricted foods.  If it has anything artificial (sweeteners, colors, flavors, etc) it’s excluded from the diet.  Caffeine, white (refined) sugar, alcohol, dairy, red meats, hydrogenated oils (margarine) and many other fats are also excluded.  What is in are the fruits and vegetables, lean protein or protein shakes so long as they don’t include anything artificial, and all the water that can be drank.  Water is used to help fiber pass through the digestive system without causing constipation, and is also intended to help with the detoxification process.

According to the fruit diet, the most common detoxification symptoms include weakness, headaches, irregular bowel movements and severe food cravings specifically for things like caffeine, sugar, salt, or fat.  These cravings are to become less noticeable as the detoxification process nears completion and the diet of fruit and protein is supposed to allow for clearer thinking and greater concentration.  If protein isn’t plentiful enough then a feeling of weakness will persist, and as a general rule exercise should not be undertaken while in the fasting phase.

The medical community agrees pretty much in unison when they say that detoxification diets such as the fruit diet are not shown to cleanse the body of toxins any better than the bowels, kidneys, or liver already do.  They agree that adding more fruit to a daily diet is medically sound but certainly not to the exclusion of other food groups.  In terms of long term dangers of following a fruit diet it depends on how long the dietary restrictions are followed.  Nutritionists indicate that a three day fruit fast may be no more harmful on a diet than say, having the flu and not being able to eat much for a few days.  They do see many long term vitamin and mineral deficiencies develop in diets such as the fruit diet.  It is recommended that a complete multivitamin is taken during a long term fruit diet to minimize the effects of unbalanced nutrition.

Certain fruit diet variants attempt to buttress their diets with more than just fruit.  One variation encourages drinking two to three glasses of vegetable juice each day while mixing in a teaspoon of flaxseed oil.  While the fruits are rich in vitamins, the vegetables are rich in minerals and the flaxseed oil provides fatty acids such as Omega 3 and Omega 6.  Thus the claim is that balanced nutrition can be provided.  Many such diets encourage dieters to weigh themselves at the beginning of the diet and at the end of the diet but not to become wrapped up with keeping track of it.  It is also recommended during the fruit diet that the dieter begins to study up on balanced nutrition and begin to take notes as to what kinds of substitutions they can make when returning to normal eating.  The claim of the fruit diet is that by the end the body will be free of the physical contaminants of fast food and junk food.  The physical craving for these foods should pass and the dieter should have better control over their emotional urges.

From this platform the dieter will have lost some weight, feel confident about returning to regular foods, knows they have the will power to restrict and watch the foods they eat and will have a better idea of how to eat a balanced diet.  Though more weight loss might be the goal the idea is simply to provide a stable footing for the dieter to move into greater weight loss and healthier eating.  Though this diet may be unsustainable in the long term there are certainly some kernels of wisdom that can be gleaned from such a dietary approach.  First, adding more fruits and vegetables to a diet may help aid in weight loss.  Second, eating habits do have to change if long term weight loss is to be achieved and maintained.

And lastly, the many variations of the fruit diet show that it is a diet that can be followed with a varying degree of strictures, meaning that the dieter can come and go from the diet without a false sense of guilt about breaking from their diet before they completed it.  Many fad diets have formed around the idea of having fruit as a base, which is not a bad start, but the body does need protein.  Some of the most popular diet trends like the grapefruit diet and the banana diet also follow this pattern.

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