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Fruitarians (or fructarians) eat in principle only the fruit of plants. Some people consider themselves fruitarians even if their diet is not 100% fruit. Usually fruitarians who include foods other than fruit follow a vegan diet.

Definitions

Fruitarian definition of fruit

When discussing food, the term "fruit" usually refers to just those plant fruits that are sweet and fleshy (for example, plums, apples, and oranges). Botanically, though, some foods not typically considered fruits—including bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, nuts and grains—are fruits.

Fruitarians use differing definitions of what is considered a "fruit."

Definition of fruitarian

Some fruitarians will eat only what falls (or would fall) naturally from a plant, that is: foods that can be harvested without killing the plant. These foods consist primarily of culinary fruits, nuts, and seeds. Some do not eat grains, believing it is unnatural to do so, and some fruitarians feel that it is improper for humans to eat seeds. Others believe they should eat only plants that spread seeds when the plant is eaten. Others eat seeds and some cooked foods.

Some fruitarians use the botanical definitions of fruits and consume pulses, such as many beans and peas, while others include green leafy vegetables and/or root vegetables in their diet.

Motivation

Some fruitarians believe fruitarianism was the original diet of mankind in the form of Adam and Eve based on Genesis 1:29. They believe that a return to an Eden-like paradise will require simple living and a holistic approach to health and diet. Some fruitarians wish to avoid killing in all its forms, including plants.

Some fruitarians say that eating some types of fruit does the parent plant a favor and that fleshy fruit has evolved to be eaten by animals, to achieve seed dispersal.

Criticisms

The Health Promotion Program at Columbia University reports that a fruitarian diet can cause deficiencies in calcium, protein, iron, zinc, vitamin D, most B vitamins (especially B-12), and essential fatty acids. Additionally, the Health Promotion Program at Columbia reports that food restrictions in general may lead to hunger, cravings, food obsessions, social disruptions and social isolation.

Lack of protein in fleshy fruit can make the lifestyle difficult to sustain, and can lead to the condition of hypoproteinemia or kwashiorkor. Nuts (if included) are a good source of protein. Due to the lower digestibility of plant proteins, however, the American Dietetic Association (ADA) states "protein needs might be higher than the RDA (when) dietary protein sources are mainly those that are less well digested, such as some cereals and legumes."

Vitamin B12, a bacterial product, is not found in any fruits. According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health "natural food sources of vitamin B12 are limited to foods that come from animals." Like vegans who do not consume B12-fortified foods (certain plant milks and breakfast cereals, for example), fruitarians need to include a B12 supplement in their diet. This may pose a health risk for strict fruitarians, as the B12 in fortified foods and supplements is derived from bacteria, not fruits. It is also contrary to the philosophy that humans are perfectly evolved to live off fruit.

Claims made by fruitarian advocates have led some to classify the diet as a form of outright quackery. Many notable advocates of fruitarianism in the past, including Morris Krok, Johnny Lovewisdom, Walter Siegmeister/Raymond Bernard, and Viktoras Kulvinskas did not adhere to a strict fruitarian diet. Some, like Johnny Lovewisdom, switched to other unorthodox lifestyles (including breatharianism and liquitarianism, juices only), while others, like Morris Krok, recommended against the diet once they stopped.

The fact that many humans suffer from acid erosion of teeth lend furthur to the idea that humans are not ideally evolved to eat just fruit. The amount and strength of enamel on teeth is indicative of whether they tend to eat a lot of fruit in nature, for example the Orangutan eats a diet with a very high percentage of acidy fruit and so has a large amount of enamel to cope with it.

Rebuttals to Criticisms

Many nutritionalists argue that the so-called "deficiencies" alleged of the fruitarian diet are rarely found in people who actively practice the diet. Vitamin B12 synthesis is known to occur naturally in the human small intestine (in the ileum), which is the primary site of B12 absorption. As long as gut bacteria have cobalt and certain other nutrients, they produce vitamin B12. Other "deficiences" are normally only seen in populations eating high quantaties of meat or processed foods.

Even the acid erosion of teeth in humans has been shown to be largely caused by refined foods. It's been shown that teeth have the ability to repair themselves.

Famous fruitarians

• Mahatma Gandhi political and spiritual leader, briefly followed a diet similar to fruitarianism. He and his followers repeatedly discontinued these diets as in the long term they proved unsustainable.
• Ben Klassen founder of the Creativity Movement.
• The nuns in the Anglican Order of St Elizabeth of Hungary followed a fruitarian diet.

Fictional

• Ayesha ("She-who-must-be-obeyed") of H. Rider Haggard's She and its sequels
• The Eloi from HG Wells's The Time Machine
• The evil Medusa Johnson in Leonard Part 6
• Keziah in Notting Hill (film)

See also

• Christian vegetarianism
• Inedia
• Juice fasting
• Naturalistic fallacy
• Raw foodism
• Raw veganism
• Veganism

References

1. "fruitarian. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000".
2. "Living and Raw Foods: Types of Raw Food Diets: A Brief Survey".
3. "Vegetarian Times — Great Food, Good Health, Smart Living".
4. "definition of fruit".
5. "The Vegetarian Society UK — Information Sheet — Definitions".
6. "Human Dietetic Character, I — Are We Grain Eeaters?".
7. "To Those Considering A Fruitarian Diet".
8. ^ Living and Raw Foods: Alternative Eating Plans - USA TODAY
9. ^ What is a Fruitarian?
10. "Fruitarian — What is Fruitarianism?".
11. "Our Mission".
12. "Satya June/July 03: Raw History by Rynn Berry".
13. Alice!, Health Promotion Program at Columbia University, Health Services at Columbia, August 23, 2002."Go Ask Alice!: Fruitarian teens". Accessed May 20, 2008.
14. “Position of the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada: Vegetarian diets”. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 2003, 06. Accessed 22 January 2008.
15. "Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Vitamin B12".
16. "Peaches and a Guitar: Morris Krok Passed Away".
17. "Tom Billings: dietary bio, Part B".
18. Jennifer McNulty (17 March 2008). "Anthropologists confirm link between diet and teeth of orangutans". Orangutan Outreach. Retrieved 14 April 2009.
19. Dr Gina Shaw. "THE VITAMIN B12 ISSUE". Living-Foods.com. Retrieved 14 April 2009.
20. Wiley, Kristina (1 February 2008). "Toddler teeth". The Exceptional Parent. AllBusiness.com Inc. Retrieved 14 April 2009.
21. "Dr. Stanley S. Bass: In search of the ultimate vegetarian diet".
22. Gandhi experimented with this diet for the purpose of Brahmacharya. He discovered the best diet in the light of ahimsa for a Brahmacharya was fruit and nuts, he did however see the need to drink milk, which would no longer make him a fruitarian. Brahmacharya I Brahmacharya II
23. Berlet, Chip, Vysotsky, Stanislavstated. "Overview of U.S. White Supremacist Groups", Journal of Political and Military Sociology, Summer 2006.

External links

• Template:Dmoz

• Veganism
• Fruit
• Sustainable agriculture
• Philosophy of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi