Five months ago, I was inspired to convert to a plant-based diet by a community of vegan vloggers I discovered on YouTube. The more I became educated about veganism, the more invested and curious I became about the inner culture of the lifestyle. Soon I learned that there isn’t just one way to be a vegan: There are dozens. There is gluten-free vegan; raw vegan; high-carb, low-fat vegan; and more. Two months into my veganism, I was doing some research online, when I discovered a faction of veganism so tiny that it was even difficult to find definitive information about it on Google. The diet? Fruitarianism.
According to certified holistic nutritionist Kelly LeVeque, the fruitarian diet is “a subset of raw veganism where you eat botanical fruits in their natural state.” This includes all sweet fruits and seeded fruits (such as avocado, tomato, cucumber, and olives), as well as nuts and seeds. No grains, no cooked food. Certainly no processed food. The strictest of fruitarians don’t even eat vegetables or starches… literally just fruit.
At first, I was horrified, and then I was fascinated—enough to want to give the diet a try myself. To see how my week-long stab at the fruitarian diet went, keep reading.
One of the most prominent fruitarian spokespeople is a YouTuber who goes by Freelee the Banana Girl. To all of her 670K subscribers, Freelee preaches the benefits of a fruit-heavy lifestyle, downing 30 (sometimes 50!) bananas in a single day. (Watching her do this on camera is oddly gripping.) Freelee’s view is that eating low-calorie fruits in large quantities delivers maximum glucose to the brain, fueling our minds and bodies while keeping us slim. From the looks of her flat, washboard abs and fiery demeanor, she seems to be on a constant sugar high.
But even Freelee’s diet isn't 100% fruit. “Depending on who you talk to, you can be a fruitarian if you eat at least 50%–75% of your calories this way,” says LeVeque. In other words, there’s no official definition of the diet. That’s not to say someone who eats fruit salad for breakfast and lunch and then a Taco Bell feast for dinner would be considered a fruitarian, but the term is somewhat up to interpretation.
Certified nutritionist Dana James says that even though fruitarianism is better than the standard American diet, which is packed with hyperprocessed foods, it’s still far from ideal. In the long run, the diet’s drawbacks are significant. “The sugar from the excessive amount of fruit destabilizes blood sugar levels, which can lead to lethargy, cravings, lack of concentration, a disrupted microbiome, and more,” she says. Plus, it’s impossible to get complete nutrition from fruit alone. “You’ll need to supplement with protein powders, B complex, omega 3, iron, zinc, vitamin D, and iron,” James advises. LeVeque agrees, saying, “I really don't love this diet. The benefits don’t outweigh the drawbacks that include lack of amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals, increased fructose metabolism, tooth decay and increased cravings.” She also points out the pitfall of excess sugar, explaining that all the fructose from the fruit efficiently stores as fat and glucose, which can negatively effect blood sugar regulation. (As a note: LeVeque recommends her clients limit themselves to only 1/2 cup of fruit daily.)
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