My Health Manifesto

Sorry, but there are plenty of hunter-gatherers who don't eat fruit, because it doesn't grow where they live. Particularly in arctic and subarctic climates. Examine a traditional Inuit diet for example, which contains almost nothing but animal products.

Green vegetables, for their part, are a combination of cellulose and a few vitamins, usually A, C and K. They have no nutritive value, i.e. calories. The vitamins they provide are readily obtained from other sources. They can't be digested except in the large intestine, so the few nutrients they contain have low bioavailability. Unbeknownst to most of the public, they are the food product most likely to be contaminated with salmonella. The "fiber" benefit of vegetables and whole grains is supported by the same sort of studies you say usually turn out to be false. And theories for why fiber is supposedly good depend on the gut fermenting large amounts of starch, which doesn't apply to a carnivorous diet.
 
Hi bf in az,
citation from your article:
"Gradually, I gave up the foods in group 4, then group 3, and finally group 2, so that now my diet is comprised almost entirely of fresh fruits and vegetables."

In theory this sounds quite nice and about 20 years ago, when I was obsessed with healthy nutrition, I used to live like that as well.
A couple of years later I suffered from a severe protein deficiency with its various symptoms. My digestive system wasn't sufficiently able to metabolize proteins from vegetables. Though even if my mind believed in the health of what I was doing, my body clearly did not. Now I'm back to occasional meat, daily wholegrain bread and regular organic eggs and dairy products plus homegrown veggies (but they are clearly not in the majority) As for fresh fruit, I ate that much in the past, I can't get them down any more ...
For some people a long term diet composed exclusively of fruit and vegetables might be good, for others it might be bad: It depends on what a person individually is able to digest and metabolize. And on this level everybody is different.
It seems, this could become yet another "listen to your body" - thread...:D
 
There are many social and cultural factors that influence our notion of what healthy eating is.
My parents grew up in WW2 and things like fruit and nuts just weren't available to them so their perception of what healthy food constitutes is vastly different to mine.
 
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I enjoyed the blog. I enjoy hearing other people's thoughts on nutrition and what works for them.

Personally, I just try to eat a healthy, well rounded diet.
 
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The 'Cracked' influence is palpable ;-)
 
"I believe that deep down we all know what we're supposed to be doing, we just don't want to do it. And like a kid who puts off homework until the last minute in the hope that somehow there will be a snow day or the school will burn down, we all secretly cling to the hope that someday science will justify our current lifestyle." (from John's blog post)

Perfect John. This quote could be used for many other things as well, not just diet. Enjoyed the blog post. I like your categories of food, but I am no where near the top tier. Do you have concerns about shorting yourself of nutrients with your activity level? I would think that you would need some B vitamins from grains, oils from seeds, proteins from legumes and nuts, etc. I'm not arguing your choice, if it works for you, great. I admire your dedication.
 
Sorry, but there are plenty of hunter-gatherers who don't eat fruit, because it doesn't grow where they live. Particularly in arctic and subarctic climates. Examine a traditional Inuit diet for example, which contains almost nothing but animal products.

Green vegetables, for their part, are a combination of cellulose and a few vitamins, usually A, C and K. They have no nutritive value, i.e. calories. The vitamins they provide are readily obtained from other sources. They can't be digested except in the large intestine, so the few nutrients they contain have low bioavailability. Unbeknownst to most of the public, they are the food product most likely to be contaminated with salmonella. The "fiber" benefit of vegetables and whole grains is supported by the same sort of studies you say usually turn out to be false. And theories for why fiber is supposedly good depend on the gut fermenting large amounts of starch, which doesn't apply to a carnivorous diet.

Nothing like a diet discussion to stir the pot. Just a few points for friendly discussion.

A traditional Inuit diet probably doesn't exist anymore. Food companies and government has successfully bombarded them with soda and junk food along with every other culture.

I would argue that vegetables have a high nutritive value. Calories is energy, not nutrition. Having low calories is a good thing for people trying to lose or maintain weight.

"The vitamins they provide are readily obtained from other sources". That is debatable. I would rather eat something than take a supplement.

Vegetables do have a high risk of being contaminated. Just research the source, growing, handling conditions. The small risk is not worth swearing off all leafy vegetables. When in doubt, grow your own.

Good point about basing decisions on studies. I'm all for science and studies, but until we get some consistency, I'm not going to base my food choices on any one study.
 
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Sorry, but there are plenty of hunter-gatherers who don't eat fruit, because it doesn't grow where they live. Particularly in arctic and subarctic climates. Examine a traditional Inuit diet for example, which contains almost nothing but animal products.

What I said was that there aren't any hunter-gatherers who refuse to eat fruit. Fruit may not always be available, but the notion that any of them would turn their noses up at a tasty, nutrient-dense food which doesn't require preparation is just silly (which is the implication of the variant of paleo that bans fruit).
 
Do you have concerns about shorting yourself of nutrients with your activity level? I would think that you would need some B vitamins from grains, oils from seeds, proteins from legumes and nuts, etc. I'm not arguing your choice, if it works for you, great. I admire your dedication.


I've been experimenting with fruitarianism for the last 6 weeks and from a daily performance standpoint I actually feel a lot better. (I'll be writing a post about it soon). I find I don't need anywhere near as much fat and protein as I used to think I did, though fat is readily available in avocados and there's a lot more protein in fruit than people think (I average about 40 grams per 1800 calories). Long term nutritional deficiencies are definitely something to think about. My current strategy is to splurge occasionally on other foods (if I go to a restaurant I don't restrict what I can order); I guess I'll see how that works =).