by Anne Osborne

Nine years ago I began an adventure that is still exciting me today, and is one from which I continue to learn. In a small meeting room, above a bar, I attended a talk on “fruitarianism” by a local author, David Shelley.

I loved his book, and I found the writer to be inspiring as he was bursting with health and enthusiasm. He was a superb advert for the fruit diet, with a clear, vibrant skin, glowing eyes, and a strong, yet lean physique.

By the time I had met Shelley, I was already on a whole-food vegan diet. After being inspired by Shelley, I started to eat more and more fruit, and less and less cooked fare, until, after a transition period of about 18 months, I was on a fruit diet.

The following winter I traveled to the Canary Islands. I was with other fruit-lovers, and we lived for two months on the tastiest oranges, bananas, and avocados — all of which grew in splendid profusion around us.

This venture helped to re-enforce my beliefs in the bounties and benefits of a diet consisting of fruit alone. For myself, part of the enjoyment of this lifestyle is trying things out, conducting my own experiments, and having new experiences.

Over the next few years I had some great ventures. One included going on a 52-day orange juice mono-diet. This period was full of spiritual and physical highs. My vision also improved, and I found reds and greens taking on an interesting luminosity. My strength and endurance also increased, even though my weight was down by 28 pounds. It was as if previous blockages had been cleared, and any ingested energy could now just flow through me.

After going through the mono diet, I felt better equipped to assimilate the goodness from fruit. I found that I ate less than before, and simply felt the fruit was benefiting me so much more.

I also went on two 21-day grape mono-diets. And, in 1997, I fasted every other day for the whole year.

In 1998 I spent 150 days on a melon mono-diet, which was a time of great joy and wellness. I am currently on another melon mono-diet that I began in early March.

Not surprisingly, my eight-year-old son, Camlo, has been a fruit-eater since birth. He had breast milk for three-and-a-half years, and currently eats fruits and raw nuts.

Camlo is a great ambassador for the diet. He is strong, healthy, bright, easy-going, and calm. He never had the “terrible two’s” or temper tantrums that other children often go through. He was never destructive as a young child, and is always kind and respectful to plants and animals.

He has had none of the common childhood illnesses, despite close contact with other children suffering from them.

He is often in group situations with 20 or more children who are all eating chips and candy, and, so far, he has simply not been interested in eating the types of unhealthy things other children eat. But you should see how excited he gets over a good Mali mango, or a succulent fresh fig.

By their being in contact with Camlo, other children are made aware that one of their peers can be happy and healthy while easily subsisting on fruit. Maybe his example will affect one or more of the children on a conscious or subconscious level to live and eat more in tune with Nature.

What is so special about the fruit diet?

I have found that once the natural “high” has been experienced, that beautiful state of unblocked free-flowing energy, and the accompanying positivity that eating fruit brings, there is no desire to fall. Why go back to anything less than a healthy state?

I often find that people associate fruit diets with denial — a sackcloth and ashes experience — a negative, denying state. When the reality I have experienced with a fruit diet is of a luxurious, Edenic, and glorious lifestyle bursting with the most intense, delicious flavors and feelings of Nature.

I feel like a princess, with the riches of health all around, and the beautiful fruits and berries being my priceless jewels and treasures.

Once you have eaten a perfectly ripe Indian mango, and had its perfumed juices wash your body, or savored the creamy depths of a sublime Spanish cherimoya, there is no going back to baked beans or sliced white bread — dead and uniform food that always tastes the same. And yet people ask me, “don’t you get bored?” But I think, “Bored? On the foods of Paradise?” And consider having such a thought to be blasphemous. And an insult to the wonders of Creation. In my experiences of long mono-diets of fruit, each day is unique, and a revelation of flavors.

Once one “tunes in” and starts hunting them out, they will likely find many varieties for each fruit. And within each variety, each individual fruit has its own nuances of flavor, and its own special characteristics. And they all seem to bless the body with their own variety of nutrients — bringing health and vitality to the human being.

I could live off Charentais melons alone for a while, and each day have a myriad of taste sensations. Then changing to a different variety of melon feels like experiencing a whole new fruit, and opens up a whole new lot of flavors.

I find that when I eat fruits, my tastes seem to refine, and I become more aware of subtle flavors. I appreciate simple combinations and mono-meals. Fruits eaten on their own become more complex and satisfying in their own right. I have developed a special relationship with fruits, and also with individual fruits. I have learned which fruits suit me, and have developed a real enthusiasm for learning about all aspects of fruit, including how they grow, their history, and their appearance.

I have also found myself doing what I refer to as “fruit grazing.” Fruit now looks so wonderful to me. A good display being the best ornamentation. From the vibrant hues on a mango skin, changing from red to green to orange, to the deepest red blush of a fully tree-ripened apple, fruit visually rewards and pleases me.

When I consume mono-meals, I find that I can really “focus in” on that particular fruit, its energy, and flavor. This changes when lots of foods are mixed together. Mixing foods seems to cause a loss of the simple uniqueness I experience when eating singular fruits.

Eating fruit has simplified my life. It has become possible to live off wild or locally grown foods, if I am in the right environment. I also find that I need few tools to live this way. My hands are now my primary tools for preparing food, sometimes assisted by a spoon or knife.

Now that I follow a fruit diet, the only preparation I need before eating is a little visual or nasal stimulation for my salivary glands. I find fruit so wonderful that I just think Mother Nature in her bounties cannot be improved upon. I am now free not only from the stove, but also from the refrigerator, and many kitchen tools. I can also travel light, especially as I journey through lands where there are many fruit trees.

Through my experiences, I have gained deep faith in the fruit diet. This diet may not be the best or most appropriate for everyone however. Everybody is unique and special, and we have differing needs at different stages of our lives. We need to listen to our bodies and see how each food affects us mentally, spiritually, and physically. Mono-diets can help show these effects.

When one relies on fruits for nourishment, you make sure to get the best melon off the pile, and you seek out and are attracted to the most vital, alive, and nutritious fruits. Food selection becomes an instinctive thing — each little mark or subtle coloration on a fruit’s skin tells us something of the secrets within.

I believe if fruit is of excellent quality it can give us everything we need to furnish a superbly healthy and happy body.

This journey is a great one. I feel that by taking this route I have learned so many valuable lessons and yet I have so much more to discover. But the most important thing is that it is a really enjoyable experience, and a whole lot of fun.

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