Fruitarianism

Just read about Fruitarians: they will only eat fruit and nuts and seeds that have fallen naturally from the plant and not
picked or cut, motivated by a desire not to harm anything, not even plants.

Inserted edit to clarify:
A diet high in eating raw wild growing organic fruit and nuts will deliver health benefits. The science on whether wild and organic is essential to the outcome is open. Should the diet also include grains and vegetables including in ground food, eg carrots? It may be more complex?

The following suggests just how complex the issue is, why there is more to being healthy than just diet, and the range of scientific views on healthy diet.

_Dr Michael Mosley: Anti-age your body! | Daily Mail Online

Without challenging the underlying value of fruit and nuts in a diet does adopting fruitarian principles in a diet lead to other considerations?

Taken to the extreme of zero environmental impact, is this a realistic proposition for how we might all live together today? It would seem to ask that we revert back tens of thousands of years, but even there it would appear at odds with our current knowledge of hunter gather societies. The diet would need also to exclude eating honey ants and white grubs that live in acacia trees too!

That sounds very challenging?
It would seem somewhat impractical?
But perhaps worthy of a Dr Who or Startrek episode?

No ants were crushed walking to gather the fallen fruit?

Fallen fruit is not left to rot hence robbing the tree of offspring, and fewer nutrients left by the birds and insects eating the fallen fruit and seeds?

While some animals survive on a diet of fruit and or seeds, is it also that simple for humans? You need to assume no grass was burnt, nor tree felled nor holes dug to plant fruit trees etc?

I assume you need also to live in a home made purely from shed bark and piled stones, semi naked and with only foot tracks to follow?

And critically, where to I charge my iPad?

Edit insert.
I’m surprised with these principles in mind there would be any need to read or write given the destruction of plant matter to create paper? There would be no need or purpose in doing so. However as there are notable books written by exponents of Frutarianism available from Amazon et al it seems reasonable there are numerous expert practitioners of Fruitarianism who do not subscribe to the zero harm philosophy? Perhaps ‘lesser harm is more correct’?

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It is a real movement, although there is no precise definition. For one overview

You might do well to survey movements you seem unfamiliar with prior to making light and jest of ‘them’ as a whole.

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Thanks for the feedback. I’ve added some further and revised some comment, hopefully putting all in context. I had read a number of articles some time previously on the ideas behind the diet, although the principles of taking this one step further had not been the focus of the reports.

Adapting some of the principles to the modern world might add value. While choosing organic products is becoming more common, realistically all cultivars of modern fruits, nuts and vegetables are likely hybrids genetically lacking in diversity and different from the original wild plants in numerous ways. Even the humble macadamia is a cultivar removed from the now rare wild varieties found in Qld and NSW.

What does Wikipedia think?

There are issues and risks!

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From the link provided by @PhilT, I was concerned about ramifications of following the diet (and perhaps what might be called a lifestyle choice) and I have copied some of it to here in case others did not follow the link.
"

Is a fruitarian diet safe to follow in the long term?

Adopting a fruitarian diet is not safe as a long term dietary strategy. Restricting your diet to such a limited range of foods means you are unlikely to achieve a balanced diet and are at risk of malnutrition. Furthermore, fructose – the natural sugar in fruit – at high consumption levels, may be associated with health issues including digestive issues and possible dental erosion.

Is it effective for weight loss?

Some people may lose weight because they are severely restricting the amount of food they eat. However, as a result they are also likely to experience anaemia, tiredness and a weakened immune system. When normal dietary patterns are resumed they are likely to put any lost weight back on.

It should also be noted that some people actually put on weight when they start to eat high quantities of fruit – this is because fruit is high in natural sugars. "

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It would be a daily challenge to not give yourself a deficiency disease, maybe several. Several vitamins and essential amino acids would be in very scarce supply in such a diet. Oz is not noted for the prevalence of kawshiorkor or the several diseases from lack of B-group vitamins but without supplements and/or much care you could get them all. Would the practitioners refuse tablet or injected supplements too?

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While considering the concept of ‘Not harming’ (ie: not killing animals) anything for human consumption, I stumbled upon
Fruitarianism which believes in not harvesting or cutting or picking fruit and vegetables but only gathering what has already fallen away from the tree or plant.

I agree with the belief that such foods would not be enough to sustain healthy human life.

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This is an interesting point as it is highly likely that these fruit have been stung by insects waiting for their opportunity to eat the fruit on ripening. I imagine that the fruit wouldn’t be sprayed as it would go against their principles?

It must be a diabolical dilemma for fruitarians, to eat fruit which still has living cells (as one can see under a microscope) and potentially larvae/eggs in the same fruit.

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It doesn’t appear to be that simple?
The cautions about the dietary risks are important.

Objectively.
Some may choose to eat only fruit and nuts and perhaps a few other natural foods, because of a belief it is closest to an ancient natural diet. This may or may not be a valid proposition. There are 2.5M years plus of recent history that we can’t read first hand accounts of.

Others who choose the fruit and nut diet may have emotionally connected with their preference and justify the choice by a concern for all living things. This is very different in thinking?

These are two distinctly different reasons for adopting a fruitarian lifestyle. It appears you can be a Fruitarian and pick ripe fruit, dig holes and plant trees to provide your fruit. Some insects and other invertebrates will suffer in this process. Other Fruitarians would not agree in part or in full.

Science and logic might suggest the diet, and various objectives are conflicted. It depends on how you see the prospects of a life without meat, living proteins, etc. Or for some how you reconcile modern lifestyles and cultivation practices that are impacting on the environment.

Ask Steve Jobs if you would like to know more.

It appears it is ok to have your Apple and eat one too! :yum:

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Not a problem. All types of vegetarians prefer to consume their prey alive, unlike carnivores who generally wait until they are dead.

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