“I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number you get in a diamond.”
Mae West, Actress
Advantages & Disadvantages of the Fruitarian Diet
Fruitarianism, also referred to as fruitarian diet, can be considered as a subset of the vegan diet.
However, contrary to the general vegan diet, it is only allowed to consume fruits in a botanical sense.
This means that while you are allowed to consume fruits, nuts and a few other things, you are not allowed to eat vegetables of any sort.
Even though the fruitarian diet has become quite popular and also has many advantages, there are also some issues related to it.
In this article, the pros and cons of a fruitarian diet are examined.
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Contents
Advantages of a Fruitarian Diet
- Fruits are relatively cheap
- Possible increase in life expectancy
- Fruitarians tend to suffer less from overweight
- May have a positive effect on your health
- May improve digestion
- We could feed more people on a global scale
- Less meat is needed
- Need for factory farming decreases
- Fewer antibiotics have to be used
- Mitigation of global warming
- Fish stocks may be able to recover
- Less soil pollution
- Reduction of water pollution
- Water savings
- Plenty of information about fruitarian diets out there
Fruits are relatively cheap
One advantage of the fruitarian diet is that fruits are usually rather cheap and a diet that relies solely on fruits can save you plenty of money.
However, there is a caveat to this.
It vastly depends on which kind of fruit you want to eat.
There are also some exotic fruits and depending on your taste and your preferences, you can also spend lots of money on a fruit-based diet.
Thus, even though it is possible to make your fruitarian diet rather cheap, you can also spend plenty of money on it if you are not careful.
Possible increase in life expectancy
Since fruits are considered to be healthy, a fruitarian diet might also increase your life expectancy.
Whether this is actually true or not is hard to say.
There had been many studies trying to find answers to this question.
However, there are so many other factors that affect life expectancy that it is almost impossible to figure out the true effect of fruitarianism.
For instance, fruitarians might be more aware of their health and willing to work out more compared to non-fruitarian people.
Thus, although they might have a higher life expectancy on average, this might rather be due to their higher awareness regarding their health than on the fruitarian lifestyle itself.
Fruitarians tend to suffer less from overweight
Compared to other diet forms, people who engage in the fruitarian diet are known to be rather slim and do not suffer from overweight or obesity too often.
This may be due to the fact that fruitarians might care more about their nutrition and will therefore refrain from eating too much.
Moreover, it is also rather hard to consume excessive amounts of calories with fruits since many of them only contain just low amounts of calories.
Thus, the fruitarian lifestyle might be a great way to lose weight, which may increase your overall health level as well as your quality of life significantly.
May have a positive effect on your health
The fruitarian diet is also often associated with a healthy lifestyle and is also known to improve peoples’ health, at least if this form of diet is executed properly.
The fruitarian diet can lower the risk for hearth conditions and for several forms of cancer.
However, it may also potentially harm our body since there is also a lack of vitamins and other nutrients.
Therefore, in order to stay healthy, it is necessary for fruitarians to rely on food supplements to get sufficient amounts of certain nutrients.
May improve digestion
Fruits are also known to be quite beneficial for our digestive system.
They usually improve the conditions in our gut flora.
Since a working digestive system is crucial to assure our health, fruitarianism may not only be a great way to improve our digestive system, but also to improve our overall health level.
We could feed more people on a global scale
Compared to a conventional diet that also contains meat, the fruitarian lifestyle would also make it possible to feed more people on our planet.
Since for the production of one calory of meat, multiple calories of plants have to be used, meat consumption is quite inefficient from a calory perspective.
Thus, by switching from a conventional meat-based to a fruitarian diet, we could reduce the global hunger problem to a certain extent.
Less meat is needed
If more people switch to a fruitarian diet, also the overall demand for meat would decrease.
This would be quite beneficial for many people on our planet since meat consumption implies many serious environmental problems.
Also, fewer animals have to die if we refrained from eating meat and consumed fruits instead.
Need for factory farming decreases
In order to meet our enormous global food supply, a high fraction of our meat comes from factory farming.
However, factory farming is often criticized since it implies a quite poor treatment of animals.
If more people switch from a meat-based to a fruitarian diet, the need for factory farming would decrease, which would be quite desirable from an ethical standpoint since we could save plenty of animals to grow up under those adverse conditions.
Fewer antibiotics have to be used
If we are able to reduce our overall meat consumption through a switch to fruitarianism, also fewer antibiotics have to be used.
Antibiotics are a quite convenient way to keep a high number of animals on a confined space healthy in the factory farming process.
However, this excessive use of antibiotics also implies serious issues.
For instance, our medical treatment often relies on antibiotics to cure diseases.
We as humans can become antibiotic-resistant through the consumption of meat that is contaminated with high levels of antibiotics.
If this is the case, the medical treatment with antibiotics might no longer work properly and many people might die due to this issue in the long run.
Therefore, it might make sense for you to switch from a meat-based to a fruitarian diet in order to avoid antibiotic resistance.
Mitigation of global warming
If more people switched from a meat-based to a fruitarian diet, we might also be able to slow down global warming to a certain extent.
The production of meat implies significant levels of greenhouse gas emissions, which in turn contributes to climate change.
For the production of fruits, far fewer greenhouse gases have to be emitted into our atmosphere and we could mitigate the climate change issue to a certain extent due to that.
Fish stocks may be able to recover
Overfishing has also been a big problem over the past decades.
Many fish species are now endangered and may even be at risk to become extinct in the near future if we continue our fishing behavior like we do today.
Hence, it is crucial to take measures in order to stabilize our fish stocks.
Apart from the protection of certain fish species, another effective way to reduce the overfishing problem would be to switch from a conventional to a fruitarian diet since by doing so, fewer amounts of fish would be consumed since fish is not allowed in a fruitarian diet.
Less soil pollution
Meat production also implies significant soil pollution.
For the production of large amounts of meat, plenty of fertilizer has to be used to ensure enough feed for animals.
However, the use of excessive amounts of fertilizer also implies that the soil may lose its fertility sooner or later.
At one point, the soil pollution might be that severe that the land may no longer be suitable for farming at all.
Thus, by avoiding meat and eating fruits instead, we could reduce the soil pollution problem to a certain extent.
Reduction of water pollution
The soil pollution that is implied by our excessive meat consumption also implies a certain level of groundwater pollution.
Sooner or later, harmful components that are contained in chemical fertilizers will be washed through the soil into our groundwater.
This will be especially harmful in regions where people rely on groundwater for cooking purposes.
In those regions, groundwater pollution would be a great problem and many people might even lose their livelihood due to that.
Thus, by switching from a meat-based to a fruitarian diet, we could also improve our groundwater quality, which may benefit many people on a global scale.
Water savings
Since in the meat production process, large amounts of water have to be used, refraining from meat consumption and going fruitarian would also be beneficial in terms of water conservation.
Water is an underestimated resource that is crucial for all life on earth.
In the future, water may become quite scarce in some regions of our planet due to global warming.
Especially in those regions, it will be crucial that water is conserved whenever possible.
Therefore, going for a fruitarian diet could also conserve plenty of water and may ensure the livelihood of millions of people worldwide.
Plenty of information about fruitarian diets out there
Compared to previous decades or even centuries, it is quite easy right now to switch from a conventional to a fruit-based diet since there is so much information around.
For instance, you can get all the information you need for your fruitarian diet using the internet without even having to pay for it.
Thus, if you invest a little bit of time, chances are that you might be able to live a fruitarian lifestyle even without the help of an expert.
Disadvantages of Fruitarianism
- Problems with high levels of acidity
- Vitamin deficiencies
- Challenge to implement in your daily life
- High level of confinement
- Physical and mental power may suffer
- Motivation may be a problem
- Health problems
- May not be suitable for physically exhausting jobs
- May be harmful to children
- Feeling of hunger
- Social isolation issues
- Unnatural diet
- High amounts of sugar
- Tooth decay
- Fruitarianism requires that you educate yourself
- Mental issues
Problems with high levels of acidity
Apart from the advantages of fruitarianism, there are also some problems related to a fruitarian diet.
One downside of fruitarianism is that it might lead to problems with your stomach.
For instance, through the consumption of large amounts of fruits, the acidity levels in your stomach will be quite high.
Some people are quite sensitive to high acidity levels and might suffer from serious discomfort.
Moreover, excessive acidity may also lead to a state where the body might no longer be able to process the vitamins and nutrients properly, which may lead to additional health issues in the long run.
Vitamin deficiencies
In general, fruitarians are at greater risk of vitamin and nutrient deficiency compared to people engaging in conventional diets.
There are some components in meat that are crucial for our health that are only insufficiently available through fruits.
Therefore, people who engage in a fruitarian diet may suffer from shortages of those substances sooner or later.
In order to prevent nutrient deficiencies, there are some food supplements out there that can be used.
Thus, before going fruitarian, make sure to check out those supplements in order to avoid any health issues related to vitamin deficiencies.
Challenge to implement in your daily life
It might also be quite a challenge to live a fruitarian lifestyle, especially in regions where it is not popular yet.
For instance, if you grow up in a region where meat is quite popular and everything else is considered to be dodgy, chances are that you might have a rather hard time to effectively practice a fruitarian diet.
It may also be quite hard to find a store which supplies you with certain kinds of fruits that are needed for your diet to work.
Thus, depending on your area and the level of tolerance towards fruitarianism, it may be hard for you to implement this kind of lifestyle in an efficient manner.
High level of confinement
Since the fruitarian lifestyle is mainly based on fruits and nuts, you will be quite confined regarding your choices in the grocery store.
On the one hand, it may be hard to refrain from all the other delicious foods that would be available to you.
On the other hand, you might also have problems to find a store that offers a variety of foods that are suitable for a fruitarian lifestyle since some exotic fruits might be quite hard to get.
Therefore, you might be pretty confined in your choices and may also have to take additional efforts to get everything you need for your diet.
Physical and mental power may suffer
Depending on your level of experience and your knowledge regarding your fruitarian diet, you might also suffer from a decline of mental as well as of physical power.
If you are a beginner in the fruitarian world, chances are that your nutrition will not be well-composed and that you will suffer from a lack of certain nutrients and minerals.
This will take away some of your power since our body only works optimally if it gets an optimal nutrient mix.
Therefore, especially if people are inexperienced with the fruitarian lifestyle, they might suffer from a serious drop in power.
Motivation may be a problem
It may also be quite hard to stay on track with your fruitarian diet.
Especially if you love meat and consumed plenty of it in the past, it will be hard for you to refrain from buying it in the long run.
Chances are that one day, you may break with the rules of fruitarianism and get yourself a nice steak.
Thus, it will also need a great level of motivation to refrain from meat and other delicious foods in the long run.
Health problems
Even though fruitarianism is often considered to be quite healthy, it can also lead to serious health issues if it is not practiced correctly.
Since some nutrients are not available without meat consumption in a sufficient manner, they have to be replaced by using food supplements.
If people miss using those supplements, chances are that those people may suffer from serious nutrient deficiencies, which might eventually translate into serious health issues.
May not be suitable for physically exhausting jobs
Opponents of the fruitarian diet also often claim that it might lead to a loss of physical strength.
This might be an important downside for people who work in jobs that require plenty of physical work.
Those people urgently need their high levels of energy in order to carry out their job and they might not be able or willing to lose part of their energy due to a switch from a meat-based to a fruitarian diet.
Thus, depending on your job, a fruitarian diet might rather hurt than benefit you.
May be harmful to children
Especially for children, a balanced diet is crucial in order to grow up in a healthy manner.
Thus, if parents try to feed their children on a fruitarian diet, this might lead to serious health issues and adverse long-term health effects.
Therefore, parents should rather refrain from fruitarian diets for their kids and wait until their children turn into adults.
When they turn into grownups, they can decide by themselves whether they want to engage in a fruitarian diet or not.
Feeling of hunger
Although fruitarians often claim that their diet will be suitable to feel saturated, the opposite is true for many people engaging in this kind of diet.
Therefore, many people may feel uncomfortable since they suffer from the feeling of hunger on a constant basis.
You should try it yourself and evaluate if a fruitarian diet will be sufficient in order to feel saturated or not.
Social isolation issues
In some areas of our planet, fruitarianism may also not be socially accepted yet.
Especially in regions with a high density of meat lovers, you might have a quite hard time to practice your fruitarian diet since people may simply not accept your lifestyle.
Moreover, you might also get socially isolated since many restaurants will not offer food that would be suitable for a fruitarian lifestyle.
Thus, depending on your country and your region, you may have problems to integrate into society if you practice fruitarianism.
Unnatural diet
Fruitarianism may also be considered kind of unnatural since our ancestors relied on a variety of different foods and our body and our brain evolved millions of years.
Thus, refraining from meat and other foods seems to be kind of unnatural and against our natural development.
High amounts of sugar
Even though it is not known by many people, fruits contain plenty of natural sugar.
Excessive amounts of sugar are not good for our body at all and can lead to serious health issues like diabetes.
Thus, although fruits are often considered to be quite healthy, the opposite is true when too much of them are consumed.
Tooth decay
Another downside of the fruitarian diet is that it also contributes to tooth decay.
Since in fruits, plenty of natural sugar is contained, this sugar may also contribute to the development of caries.
Hence, the fruitarian diet might be quite costly and painful since you might have to attend the dentist more often.
Fruitarianism requires that you educate yourself
It is also crucial that you invest your time and effort into your knowledge regarding the fruitarian lifestyle in order to avoid nutrient deficiencies and related health issues.
Only then will it be possible to adjust your diet in a healthy manner and to ensure your health in the long run.
Mental issues
Due to an unbalanced fruitarian diet, many people also suffer from mental issues.
Our body and brain are closely connected and a lack of vitamins and other nutrients can also significantly affect the mood of people.
Thus, people might suffer from depression and other mental problems due to a switch to the fruitarian diet.
Top 10 Fruitarian Diet Pros & Cons – Summary List
| Fruitarian Diet Pros | Fruitarian Diet Cons |
|---|---|
| Can be a cheap diet | Vitamin deficiencies |
| Possible health improvements | May harm your stomach |
| Higher life expectancy | Health issues if not done properly |
| Less meat has to be produced | Mental problems |
| Water conservation | Loss in power |
| May mitigate global hunger | Social isolation |
| Less soil pollution | May be considered to be unnatural |
| Less groundwater pollution | Hard to implement |
| Avoidance of antibiotics use | High level of motivation needed |
| Improvements in digestion | May not be suitable for children |
Conclusion
Fruitarianism has become quite popular over the past decade and will likely continue to play an important role in the life of many people.
Even though there are several advantages related to the fruitarian diet, there are also plenty of issues.
Thus, if you consider practicing the fruitarian lifestyle, you should take into account all the pros and cons in order to protect your health.
Sources
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/what-fruitarian-diet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruitarianism
About the author
My name is Andreas and my mission is to educate people of all ages about our environmental problems and how everyone can make a contribution to mitigate these issues.
As I went to university and got my Master’s degree in Economics, I did plenty of research in the field of Development Economics.
After finishing university, I traveled around the world. From this time on, I wanted to make a contribution to ensure a livable future for the next generations in every part of our beautiful planet.
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