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What Are Fruitarians?

Compared to fruitarians, the diet of vegans is downright princely. Fruitarians eat only fruit and nuts. The risk of malnutrition is great. PraxisVita explains what this form of nutrition is all about.

What are fruitarians?

“Frutarier” is a German artificial word. It is made up of the terms “fruit” and “vegetarian”. Fruitarians are also referred to as fruitarians, frugal, fructans, or fruits. They follow even stricter dietary rules than vegans. “Fruitarians don’t eat produce that requires a plant to die during harvest. Therefore, they limit themselves to what plants produce, such as fruit, tomatoes, beans, nuts and seeds,” the association ProVeg Germany (formerly Vegetarian Association Germany) defines the term when asked by PraxisVita. Fruitarians, therefore, do without those parts of the plant that would kill them if harvested. This includes vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, lettuce, or leeks. This diet is a niche phenomenon. ProVeg assumes that there are 7.8 million vegetarians and 1.3 million vegans in Germany. The proportion of fruitarians in this total can only be estimated.

What exactly do fruitarians eat?

Fruitarian (also: fruganism) knows various varieties. Extreme interpreters see even the act of picking fruit as reprehensible. They feed exclusively on fallen fruit. Some fruitarians eat grain because the plant has already died by the time it is harvested. Others refuse to eat seeds as it prevents the emergence of a new plant. In addition to eating sprouts, the consumption of fruits of vegetable plants is also controversial. These include aubergines, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Depending on the definition, these “fruits” are simply edible parts of the plant or the fruit of annual plants (fruit comes from perennial plants). As a rule of thumb, the following ratio is often given for the fruitarian diet: 75 percent fruit, 25 percent nuts, or seeds. For fruitarians, the coconut often has a permanent place on the menu. It is not a real nut, but the fruit of the coconut palm. In addition, fruitarians usually only eat raw food.

Frutarian: The motives

Fruitarianism can pursue various goals. Adherents not only grant rights to animals but also to plants, which humans should not violate. Plant rights are referred to here, based on human rights and animal rights. According to this view, it would be morally reprehensible to destroy the existence of plants for one’s food. Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) briefly experimented with being a fruitarian. He even ate dried fruit at times but reverted to a vegetarian diet due to health concerns. Decidedly spiritual or religious reasons can also lead to fruitarianism. Furthermore, environmental protection reasons usually play a role. Because this lifestyle is intended to counteract the harmful consequences of factory farming and huge monocultures.

Fruitarians also cite the alleged health benefits of this diet. It is often touted as particularly “natural” and “original”, since fruit does not require any “artificial” preparation. According to this representation, the human body is ideally adjusted to a diet based predominantly on tropical fruits through evolution – man as a “frugivore” (fruit eater). Videos on the YouTube platform have recently contributed to spreading the idea. In them, supporters of fruitarianism show how healthy it should be to eat large quantities of bananas, mangoes, and other fruit. The high proportion of fructose in the daily calorie balance is presented by advocates as a decisive advantage. Accordingly, energy from carbohydrates is generally preferable to calories from fat or protein and ensures a healthier diet.

How healthy are fruitarians?

Fruitarians run the risk of eating an unbalanced diet and thus damaging their health. Doctors and ecotrophologists warn of deficiency symptoms. Critics complain about this diet, among other things, a lack of

  • Vitamin B12
  • iron
  • calcium
  • zinc
  • proteins.

According to this, fruitarians primarily lack essential amino acids that the body cannot produce itself. A famous fruitarian was Apple founder Steve Jobs. He is even said to have been inspired by fruganism when naming his company. However, like Gandhi, the technology pioneer did not stay true to the fruit diet for long. Time and again, cases of children with Fruitarian parents make headlines. In the summer of 2000, a nine-month-old girl died in Britain from complications related to malnutrition. “If the diet is balanced and varied and the body is supplied with all the necessary nutrients, there is nothing wrong with a fruity diet,” says ProVeg. However, the association assumes a menu with “lots of fresh vegetables, fruit, whole grain cereal products, and legumes”. The organization emphasizes the fundamental advantages of a vegetarian-vegan diet: “It is significantly lower in fat and cholesterol and thus reduces the risk of obesity. It also has the potential to prevent many diet-related chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.”

Conclusion

Whatever one thinks of the concept, freeganism is an extreme diet and the opposite of what is commonly referred to as a “balanced” diet. Whoever decides to take them, for whatever reason, must pay close attention to consuming all the necessary vitamins and minerals.

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Written by Tracy Norris

My name is Tracy and I am a food media superstar, specializing in freelance recipe development, editing, and food writing. In my career, I have been featured on many food blogs, constructed personalized meal plans for busy families, edited food blogs/cookbooks, and developed multicultural recipes for many reputable food companies. Creating recipes that are 100% original is my favorite part of my job.

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