Facts on Fruit Diets

1. The Body's Reaction to Fruit

Loaded with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, fruit is not only sweet, refreshing and delicious, it does the body good. Fruit is full of natural living enzymes which can help ease digestion, giving your body a break. Additionally, fruit is one of the few food sources that does not create mucous in the body. The soft fibers travel through the colon helping to cleanse and eliminate years of built-up mucus.

2. Make it Easy on Yourself

A fruit diet requires proper preparation, both mentally and physically. Plan for success by clearing your kitchen of tempting food items. It is also important to prepare yourself mentally, as many people who have performed a fruit fast have claimed to have heightened sensitivity to emotional distress. Create a calm and stress-free environment during your diet, even taking a short vacation from work if necessary. Curb cravings and ease slowly into your diet by eliminating hard to digest foods, such as red meats and grains as well as alcohol, tobacco and caffeine at least 1 week before beginning.

3. Flushing With Fruit

Performing a fruit flush diet for a short period of time can stimulate weight loss and help to eliminate toxins. Our regular diets are full of processed foods, refined sugars and chemical additives which fruit helps to eliminate. While a fruit diet for detox and weight loss can be a productive and gratifying means of cleansing the system and dropping a few pounds, it also takes will power. Fruit will not give you the heavy, full feeling of other foods and you may experience strong cravings. Additionally, there may be some unpleasant side effects due to the detoxification process, such as a coated tongue, bad breath, body odor and weakness.

4. Choosing Fruit

Virtually any fruit can be enjoyed during a fruit diet; however, there are a few things to consider. High acid fruits such as grapefruit, lemon and oranges will speed the rate of detoxification, therefore they may increase your unpleasant symptoms. They may also upset your stomach and cause excess grumbling, enhancing your cravings. If you feel that you are constantly fighting hunger during your fruit diet, you may consider eating fruits with less pulp, such as melon, or even blending your fruits. The more your digestive tract is made to work, the more your hunger will be stimulated.

5. Your Health Comes First

A fruit diet is not for everyone, therefore you should consider risk factors before beginning. Diabetics or others concerned about blood sugar levels should not perform a fruit diet. Additionally, no one should perform a fruit diet for longer than 7 days without first consulting a medical professional, as after 7 days your body will have used up it's protein stores. When your body has no protein available as an extra energy source, you will begin to lose muscle mass instead of fat and you may do your body more harm than good.