Going on a fruit diet, otherwise known as a fruitarian diet, involves eating mostly or entirely fruit for a period of time ranging from several days to months or more. While there are significant advantages to including more fruits, restricting your diet in such a notable way can also be harmful to your health.
Benefits
Upping the number of servings of fruit you eat every day can decrease your risk of a number of serious health conditions, including bone loss, heart attack, cancer, stroke, diabetes and kidney stones, according to MyPyramid.gov. The dietary fiber present in fruit can also help reduce risks of constipation and high cholesterol, and encourage healthy weight loss and weight maintenance.
Risks
The problem with a fruitarian diet is that it can also result in nutrient deficiencies and other negative health issues because it is inherently restrictive and unbalanced. Most fruits do not contain enough protein or healthy fat to meet all of the body's needs, and eating only or primarily fruits provides no chance to get the healthy vitamins, minerals and nutrients that whole grains, vegetables, lean proteins and low-fat dairy products have to offer. Eating too many fruits can also backfire and result in weight gain rather than weight loss or weight maintenance. CNN.com's physician nutrition specialist, Dr. Melina Jampolis, notes that fruits have about three times the calorie count per serving as most vegetables, and suggests limiting the amount you eat to three servings per day.
Nutrition Facts
Fruits tend to have low energy densities, which means they have high fiber and water contents and low fat and calorie amounts. That may make them more conducive to weight loss, but it is still possible to overeat and gain weight with fruit. According to the USDA, a medium banana has approximately 105 calories, a medium apple has 95, a cup of raspberries has 60 and a cup of watermelon pieces has just 45.
Considerations
Before you begin a fruitarian diet or make any significant changes to your current eating plan, speak with your physician or a registered dietitian, especially if you have a chronic health condition. Eating only fruits is considered a fad diet because it has such rigid rules and restrictions, and the Weight Control Information Network notes that fad diets do not meet all of the body's nutritional needs and are not the best way to lose weight or keep it off over time.
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