I always thought the word fruitarian was like the word chocoholic—a cutesy term used to describe someone’s food preferences but not actually a real way of life. That is, until I became a vegan. Five months ago, I was inspired to convert to a plant-based diet by a community of vegan vloggers I discovered on YouTube. The more I became educated about veganism, the more invested and curious I became about the inner culture of the lifestyle. Soon I learned that there isn’t just one way to be a vegan: There are dozens. There is gluten-free vegan, raw vegan, high-carb, low-fat vegan, and more. Two months into my veganism, I was doing some research online when I discovered a faction of veganism so tiny that it was even difficult to find definitive information about it on Google. The diet? Fruitarianism.
According to certified holistic nutritionist Kelly LeVeque, the fruitarian diet is “a subset of raw veganism, where you eat botanical fruits in their natural state.” This includes all sweet fruits and seeded fruits (such as avocado, tomato, cucumber, and olives), as well as nuts and seeds. No grains, no cooked food, certainly no processed food. The strictest of fruitarians don’t even eat vegetables or starches… literally just fruit.