Fruitarianism

Yeah, don't laugh, it's a real word. Anyway, are there any fruitarians out there (people who don't eat animals OR plants)? If not, are there any vegetarians/vegans who might consider it one day?

Edit: Just to clarify...
fruit
('früt) noun
1 a : a product of plant growth
b : the usually edible reproductive body of a seed plant
So "fruit" = tomatoes, eggplant, beans, nuts, rice, etc ...any reproductive part of the plant that falls off naturally.

 

Never heard of it before. Please tell me a little more about it.

 

It's basically a refusal to kill anything. Plants, mushrooms, etc. are valued just as highly as animals. Yeah, pretty extreme. At first I didn't think it was possible, but you'd be surprised at how easy it is (if you're already a vegetarian).

 

you basically just eat the peaces of plants that are meant to eat. Apples are sweet because evolution made them sweet. animals eat them, usually with the seeds, the seeds survive the intestinal track and come out of the animal at a totally different place: the place for a new apple tree. So fruits are meant to be eaten :-D

 

there is a raw vegan/fruitarian room on yahoo chats that i visit regularly. lots of nice folks with good info if you are interested more.

 

i have heard of that too, it's intense. i tried being vegan and it was hard for me becuase i took it seriously and followed it by the book. that was hard.

i think fruitarians are a bit extreme, and you would be living off suppliments for the rest of your live. pills aren't fun. and are sometimes coated in animals.

 

Intense, I agree. But honestly, vegans are 90% of the way there. All you have to do is give up onions, potatoes & carrots. (Well... maybe there are a few others :H ). As for suppliments: Brazil nuts for vitamin E, and wheat bread for B12. No pills necessary. I'm going on 2 years, and I haven't had any health problems yet. Course, if I drop dead, I'll let you guys know. Boogabah, I'll check out that yahoo chat. Thanks

 

i dont know too much about fruitarians specificly, other than it is one of 3 forms of raw live foods diets, fruitarian, macrobiotic, and raw foodists(i think, dont quote me on those). which is something i definatley see myself evolving into here soon. what i read though is that raw foods diet include only organic produce so i think it would be kindof difficult to incorporate the range of different fruits you need to be healthy without sacraficing the organic idealism.

claire that is definatley not true about the living off of supplements, the people eating cooked food are the people who need to be living off of supplements, and even then your body doesnt utilize all the nutrients in vitamin pills because it doesnt recognize it. its much better to eat more raw foods and lots of different kinds of them so that they have direct nutrients and enzymes that are still alive and your body knows what to do with them. plus, if you live on an alkaline diet your supposed to be a LOT healthier and your immune system strengthens a lot since your body has leftover energy to spend not balancing all the cooked junk making you a lot less prone to sickness and disease. its actually the way our bodies are meant to eat but were so used to and almost addicted to processed and cooked gunk that it does seem 'intense' to us. a good day of fasting and then transistioning into eating almost all raw foods has proven really effective and fun for me(the fasting part is REALLY cool, very healthy too to regenerate and let the body heal, almost like getting high too in a way really) but i still have lots of cooked junk to finish off and stuff to learn before i make the complete switch.
i definatley see myself eating a lot less cooked foods in the future knowing what i do now. also see myself growing a lot more food so it is fresh and not soaked with pesticides or preservatives or whatever else they put on the typical market produce around here since i havent been able to find any organic produce or coops. i would also like to learn about edible plants and common weeds, so far i know of 2 which are chickweed and dandelion, both which are incredibly healthy and very nutritious and common all over the place. dandelions tastes sordove off, but chickweed is delicious and so healthy and abundant. nature really can provide us abundance and what we need without us walking heavily upon or damaging her or diminishing her resources or upsetting her balance.

 

So, you're allowed to pick bits off of plants? Like fruits and so on? So wheat must be forbidden; you harvest the whole plant, afaik. No bread? No flour at all? This seems a bit extreme... What are you allowed? Only fruits and nuts? You do realize that commercial apple trees are only allowed to live for ~2 years? So you should only eat fruits that you personally have grown or seen grown, so that you know the trees aren't just being cut down once they've been harvested.

 

You're very knowledgeable, Frac. Thanks for the tip. I'll check it out. Oops, I just realized that I quoted you

You're totally right & I'm glad you pointed that out. There are 2 kinds of fruitarians: casuals & hardcores. The casuals go by theory ("it's ok to eat wheat, because I'm only eating the seed of the plant"). The hardcores go by principle ("it's NOT ok to eat wheat, because harvesting kills the plant"). It's the same with vegetarians & vegans. Vegetarians say "it's ok to drink milk, because it's not meat" while vegans say "it's NOT ok to drink milk, because cows are abused."

I confess, I'm still a casual fruitarian. Yeah, I eat wheat & commercially-grown apples. But at least once a month, I knock something off my list (last month was peanuts. Oh how I miss my pbj). Within 10 years, I intend to be eating only what I personally grow & harvest.

I figure that diet is a constant evolution. No one has ever reached the ideal diet, but as long as we keep asking these questions, it can only get better.

 

i tried it out for 6 months or so, but that wasnt a choice on the poll, so i voted that i do it, even though i dont anymore.

 

dude, who said anything about supplements? Some animals only eat fruits and nuts and NEVER supplements, and most eat the same fruits most of the time. If it's good for them, it's good for me, I say.

I'm going total fruitarian starting today. Anyone with me?

 

Tamee, you rawk!!

 

I'll just mention that the actual word for it is a frugivore. Not a pretty word, but still. Anyways, that said, I'd be frugivorous...I dislike vegetables, and I love all fruit. But I have a hard time right now having any choice over my diet...what with school lunches, soon to be my only choice, as I'm going to boarding school, and no money to actually but my own food...so I eat what I'm given.

 

Hi, i dont mean to sound one sided in my reply, i have lived on a raw diet for about 6 months. EDIT; i am no longer on a raw food diet for the reasons bellow.

http://www.vegansociety.com/html/food/raw_food.php

read this link first, in my experences there are to many nutritional sacrifices both in terms of callerie intake and vitimen/mineral intake and the quantities of foods must decrease if not cooked eg. i can eat a whole plate (and more) of steamed runner beans as opposed to just a handfull raw, why not just eat more fruit and salads and cut out any junk foods from you present diet? for one thing this is sure to help you and will definatly not harm you, such as total changes to any diet can (with gut bacteria for just one example), be it a good or bad change that is just my experience. Remember this is what sustains you and it can seriously effect you to your detriment if you just happen to get it wrong. I ate lots but still lost weight as most people seem to. It is expensive and enviromentally damaging to eat exotic fruits,
vegtables nuts cold pressed olis est est, and just small increases in spending onec a week add up to houndreads a year.
''The longest-living population in the world, the Japanese Okinawans, make extensive use of cooked grains, sweet potatoes, vegetables and soy products...''
id would say eat wholefoods vegetables and fruit, and get on with your life.

best intentions and wishes

 

I have nothing but fruit for this week, so yeah..i'll be on that path.

 

Good luck, Outcast! Give it a shot for a week, and then you'll know if it's right for you.

I agree, no one should jump into a radical dietary change without doing extensive research first. Thanks for the link; every bit of knowledge helps. One thing to remember:

"FRUIT" is not just apples & oranges. "Fruit" is also squash, zucchini, tomatoes, beans, eggplant, peppers, etc! Fruit is defined as "the reproductive offshoot of a plant" ... or basically, the part that falls off naturally. With that definition in mind, I bet a lot of you are fruitarians, and you don't even know it.

 

''I agree, no one should jump into a radical dietary change without doing extensive research first.'' ----extensive research still wont tell you how your body will react. This is another off the cuff remark

''I bet a lot of you are fruitarians,''
but its got to be raw so the list of 'fruit' you can not eat, or eat a lot of because of the high ruffage content (uncooked) is massive, eg; rhubarb large pieces of squash runner french beans potatoes kashew and roasted pea nuts lots of oils grains breads pulses cooking apples morello cheries ect... and no root vegtables no greens cabbages lettice cellerie mushrooms ect.... All of the above and far more being good for you so why not eat them! If you are doing it not to harm the plant or tree chances are you are living so out of context with this idea that you are doing far more damage than good. we do not live in a hunter gatherer environment even those who do/recently have use fire (and most eat animal products, which personally i dont. and never just raw fruit) The disposessed from this living because of globilisations exploitive energy, are hungrey for bread, for food. And you will only eat apples and peaches and plumes ect flown in out of season detriment to the enviroment!

Raw food is good for you eat salads and fruit every day 9 pieces at least but eat wholefoods pulses rice bread potatoes steamed brocolie stirfrys soup!