“Fructose, the sugar commonly found in all fruit, is the gentlest sugar to enter the bloodstream, requiring the least amount of insulin.”
Surprisingly, a fruit diet is lower in calories than juice fasting, hence resulting in a deeper detoxification. Also, unlike juice or water fasting, the digestive system does not shut down. This means there is no drop in metabolism as is the case with fasting, where the body is forced into a low-metabolism state to conserve energy resources. An uncompromised metabolism plus a lower calorie intake equals detoxification and safe weight loss. It’s important to be aware, however, that due to the cleansing effect of fruit and the subsequent release of toxins, your tongue will become coated, your breath foul, and you may experience times of weakness. A fruit diet is carried out for a limited period of time to allow the body to detoxify and cleanse while flooding every cell with a clean source of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Learn more about Detoxification
A Fruit Diet for Weight Loss
When looking at weight loss, it is helpful to class foods into two categories: high-concentration foods and low-concentration foods. Meat, dairy foods, grains, and most junk foods are highly concentrated in calories, whereas fruit and vegetables are high in water content and fiber, making them far lower in calories. In other words, you don’t have to eat less, just eat more from the low-concentration food categories.
But what about all that fruit sugar? How does that fit into that now famous glycemic index diet which involves eating foods low on the index? Doing this helps prevent a spike in blood sugar, which we now know produces body fat. See if you can answer this question: what enters more gradually into the bloodstream, a complex carbohydrate or fruit? Most of us would answer confidently that fruit enters the bloodstream more quickly because it is a simple sugar, whereas complex carbohydrates like bread, potatoes, rice and pasta are gradually digested and broken down into glucose. But this is a misconception.
According to the blood glucose response table given as a guide to diabetics, bread, beans, white potatoes, and brown rice all break down to glucose in the bloodstream more quickly than most fruit. White sugar has a less dramatic shock to blood sugar levels than whole wheat bread!
Fructose, the sugar commonly found in all fruit, is the gentlest sugar to enter the bloodstream, requiring the least amount of insulin.
Complex carbohydrates melt in your mouth into simple sugars because of the digestive enzyme alpha-amylase that is present in the saliva. Chewing a slice of whole wheat bread will transform up to 50% of the starch into glucose before it even hits the stomach. Fruit is a better source of fuel than bread because of its ability to sustain energy without overtaxing the pancreas for insulin production. Fructose does not need insulin to break down as it is slowly absorbed through the lower intestinal wall.
All starch is composed of long chains of sugar molecules. Through digestion, these chains are broken down into simple sugars. Fruit, bread, potatoes, rice, and beans are all reduced to glucose. Of these foods, fruit requires the least digestion to supply the body’s need for glucose fuel.
How to Stay on Your Fruit Diet
Because the digestive system is still active and you have drastically reduced caloric intake, for the first few days on a fruit diet you may experience intense hunger. Hunger is good! Welcome it like a friend, as it is a sign that the body is turning to your body fat for energy, which translates into weight loss. Face the fear of hunger with courage. Show who’s in control. What a glorious joy it is to overcome hunger’s control over your life. That victory and the confidence that follows it will lead to a lifetime of weight management and good health.
A 30-day all-fruit diet will provide a benefit similar to juice fasting and is a great alternative. However, eating a diet made up exclusively of fruit takes far more discipline and self-control than fasting. I have gone on many fasts but still find it hard to accomplish a lengthy diet of fruit. During fasting, your digestive system shuts down, and psychologically and spiritually you have become resolved not to eat. But an all-fruit diet is very different in that your digestive system is fully active and you are still engaged in eating. For most of us who are accustomed to living on a highly concentrated diet of meats and starches, fruit can often feel physically unsatisfying because our digestive system is still producing large amounts of hydrochloric acid, resulting in a grumbly stomach for the first two or three days of a fruit diet. Also, physiologically, fruit does not give that heavy, full-belly feeling, and cravings can rise powerfully to the surface.
Try to detect the difference between hunger and craving. Food cravings are far more attached to emotions than body hunger. Fat, sugar and salt cravings will also subside in a few days, making the fruit diet more manageable—even enjoyable—as the physical benefits become obvious. Emotional cravings are another story. They are going to take more work to overcome, but are well worth the effort.
Some quick tips for managing an all-fruit diet: stay focused and excited about the health benefits of a fruit diet. Remember: “no pain, no gain.” The emotional pain is a sign you are doing something powerful. I have found that all powerful changes involve some pain.
Related Article: Fruit Diet Meal Plan