Although fruits and vegetables provide essential nutrients, they are meant to be part of a balanced diet that also contains proteins, fats and grains. If you avoid all other food groups and concentrate only on fruits and vegetables, your diet might suffer imbalances in the process. Whether you want to concentrate on fruits and vegetables for weight loss or health reasons, always talk to your doctor or a nutritionist to find out if a drastic diet change is acceptable for your particular health and lifestyle.
Benefits
If you eat only fruits and vegetables, you'll be getting lots of vitamins A, C and E. These are important antioxidants that can help your cells stay young and fight free radicals. Fruits and vegetables are rich in most B vitamins, except for B-12. They'll also provide you with good amounts of vitamin K, which helps regulate blood calcium. Fruits and vegetables are an excellent source of fiber. A diet rich in fiber can help you control cholesterol, lose weight and stabilize blood sugar levels.
Deficiencies
A number of nutrients essential for your body cannot be obtained from fruits or vegetables. Iron, calcium, vitamin B-12 and essential fatty acids are all absent or present in only very small amounts in fruits and vegetables. You might also develop a protein deficiency if you eat only fruits and vegetables for a long time. Protein deficiency is a common malnutrition problem known as Kwashiorkor. It affects millions of people in Africa. If you don't get enough protein, you might experience loss of muscle, swelling and water retention, diarrhea, a distended belly, an increased risk of developing infections, skin rashes, and shock or coma in the later stages.
Dietary Options
Fruitarians and raw foodists are two groups that focus most of their eating on fruits or vegetables. Despite their name, fruitarians also eat nuts and seeds. This allows them to get protein and fat into their diets, although they might still suffer from certain deficiencies. Raw foodists eat only raw food, which usually means animal products and grains are excluded. However, they can still get essential nutrients like vitamin B-12 from fortified raw almond milk or iron from sea vegetables.
Who Shouldn't Do It
People with a medical condition or taking medications should not switch to a diet of only fruits and vegetables without medical supervision. Skipping carbohydrates and proteins could affect your energy levels. Although fruits are a good source of carbs, they are simple carbs. This means they contain sugars that will provide a quick burst of energy that will fade equally fast. Whole grains, on the other hand, provide a slower, steadier source of energy. People who have diabetes shouldn't consume too many fruits to avoid severe ups and downs of sugar. If you do a lot of weight training or resistance training, you'll need protein to help retain or build muscle.
References
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Kwashiorkor
- The Cook's Thesaurus; Sea Vegetables; Lori Alden; 2005
- Go Ask Alice!; Fruitarian Teens: Are They Stunting Their Growth, or Just Another Boy Band?; August 2002
- Health Alternatives 2000; Vitamin Chart; Dr. J.D. Decuypere
- MayoClinic.com: Dietary Fiber: Essential for a Healthy Diet
- ABC News; The Best Foods for Energy; Melinda T. Willis; May 2011
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