Eating only fruits and vegetables is one potential way to lose weight quickly, but it also involves some risks. The diet is unbalanced, so even though it is likely to reduce your daily calorie intake, it isn't necessarily a sustainable or healthy choice. Eating fruits and vegetables every day as part of a more varied diet, however, can help you lose weight safely and improve your health.
Health and Weight Benefits
There are serious benefits to eating more fruits and vegetables, and they're not limited to only weight loss and weight maintenance. According to the MyPyramid website, increasing your daily servings of fruits and vegetables can cut risks of diabetes, cancer, stroke, bone loss, heart attack and kidney stones. Veggies and fruits are likely to encourage weight loss because of their low energy density, which means they have high fiber and water contents and very low calorie and fat counts.
Calories
Although a fruit and veggie diet can reduce your daily calorie totals, it's not guaranteed to deliver results. According to the National Institutes of Health, the only proven weight loss strategy is to consistently eat fewer calories than you burn. If you're not physically active and don't strive to limit your portion sizes, you can end up overeating on any diet. However, if you can manage to cut your daily calorie intake by at least 500 while following a fruit and vegetable diet, you'll lose at least a pound per week.
Nutrition Facts
Single servings of fruits and vegetables tend to contain fewer calories and less fat than other foods, which is why you may lose weight quickly if you limit your diet so dramatically. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that one medium banana has about 105 calories, a medium apple has about 95, a cup of sliced strawberries has 50 and a cup of watermelon chunks has only 45. Many vegetables are even lower in calories. A cup of carrots has 50 calories and a cup of broccoli florets has just 30.
Considerations
Following a diet that imposes rules and restrictions on the food groups you may eat has the potential to result in nutrient deficiencies and other serious health problems. For safe weight loss, the NIH recommends daily servings of whole grains, low-fat dairy products and lean proteins in addition to fruits and vegetables, since those items alone are unlikely to provide all the protein, healthy fat and other nutrients that the body requires. Before you begin any new diet for weight loss, speak with your doctor or a registered dietitian.
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