Fasting with fruits may be a good option for beginners, particularly if you do a short-term fruit fast. To decide if fasting with fruits is right for you, you should know a few things.
Water Fast Vs. Fruit Fast
Fasting is incredibly healing for the body. It’s empowering and enlightening. Plus, more and more people are experiencing its tremendous benefits.
Water Fasting
Water fasting is as simple as it sounds: you drink only water for a set period. It may be in the context of intermittent fasting for your overnight window or while practicing alternate-day fasting (read my post: Alternate Day Fasting for Weight Loss: Is It Safe for Women?). Or, you may decide to fast for a few days with water only. Either way, water fasting is a powerful tool you can use as you see fit.
While you go on a water fast, your body will start eating itself. Don’t worry! It’s not as scary as it sounds! It simply means that it will be cleaning out dead cells and replacing them with new ones. The process is called autophagy. I created a chart to help you visualize how this timeline works. Check it out in my post How Long Should I Fast for Maximum Benefits?
Fruit Fasting
Fruits are high in polyphenols, vitamins, and minerals that help fight inflammation. Furthermore, the fiber will nourish your good gut bacteria. These benefits may be just what you need. However, be aware that eating fruits will keep you from entering ketosis because your liver will always have a supply of glycogen from the fructose in the fruit. Ketosis is necessary for autophagy.
When to Eat Fruit
Fasting with fruits will increase your fiber consumption, decrease your overall calorie intake, and eliminate the need to cook. Moreover, it will help you overcome the mental hurdle associated with water fasting. If you need to cleanse, fight off inflammation, and lose weight, you may want to consider a fruit fast.
Guidelines for Fasting With Fruits
Fasting on fruits doesn’t give you a “carte blanche” to eat whenever and wherever you want. To get the full benefits, I recommend you follow these guidelines:
- Consume about 2.2 pounds (1 kg) of fruits per day. Spread your consumption as needed, but try to last as long as possible without eating. This amount of fruit will provide fewer calories than you are used to (between 500-600 calories), but it will help ensure you are not overloading on fructose.
- Eat slowly and with intention. Notice when you are full.
- You may find that some fruits don’t digest well together. Experiment with that. When eaten together, acid and sweet fruits don’t agree with some people. Melons don’t combine well with anything; you may find it hard to digest them if you try combining them. Limiting the number of fruits you consume to four a day may be a good idea.
- Favor organic and locally grown fruits.
- Fruit fasting is better suited for the Summer months.
- Avoid eating on the go.
- Make sure you drink enough water, at least 2 quarts (2 liters) each day.
Fruits to Eat While Fasting
When fasting with fruits, you can limit yourself to one fruit for a period. This is called a mono diet. Or, you can eat any fruit you want. However, some fruits are considered more “cleansing,” like apples, grapes, berries, and citrus. Bananas are not cleansing in nature, but you may still eat them.
Fruit Fasting for Healing
I mentioned that fasting with fruits would prevent autophagy, which is the process that allows your body to heal itself. However, that’s not to say that it will prevent any healing from occurring. Many anecdotal cases of healing diseases through fruit fasting exist.
Fruit Only Fast for Weight Loss
If your goal is weight loss, you need to understand that even though fasting with fruits may help you achieve the results you want, you will regain the weight if you go straight back to your regular diet afterward.
A fruit-only fast for weight loss can enable you to lose weight fast because fruits are fairly low in calories and contain enough fiber to make you feel full.
Many of us suffer from food addiction and a load of toxicity, which will make us unable to lose weight. If you are thinking about going on a fruit-only fast for weight loss, be aware that you should maintain your fruit fast for at least seven days to see real results. Here are a few more things to take into account:
- If you are really toxic, you may want to start with a few days a week. You may experience very uncomfortable detox symptoms. You can try fasting with fruits for up to 3 days, then going back to your regular healthy eating for a few days. Increase the duration of your fruit fasts as you can.
- To maintain weight loss, you have to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Dropping weight fast only to gain it back will not benefit you in the long run. Whatever weight-loss method you choose has to be sustainable for you.
- Fruit-only fasts for weight loss will be effective for some, but they amplify cravings for others. If that’s you, consider trying other weight loss strategies (keep reading, I have some suggestions).
- Not eating too much is still important for weight loss, even on a fruit-only fast. That’s why some recommend a maximum of 1 kg of fruits daily (refer to this Fruit Calories Chart to know how many calories you are consuming).
- Drink herbal teas if you feel hungry between meals.
Other Fasting Options for Weight Loss
If weight loss is your main health goal, a fruit fast may work for you. You can also try other fasting options like intermittent fasting, the fasting-mimicking diet (read about my Fasting Mimicking Diet Results), a 10-Day Challenge Diet, or water fasting.
I wrote a whole blog post and created a video to talk about exactly How Long You Should Fast for Weight Loss. I talk about all the different types of fasting and my experience with some of them.
I even recommend the occasional keto cycle to reset your metabolism and become fat-adapted if weight loss is one of your goals.
7-Day Weight Loss Plan
If you are ready to start your fruit-only fast for weight loss, here’s a 7-Day Weight Loss Plan you can use. Each day provides between 500 and 600 calories. Water fasting is good practice since you eat much less but can eat fruit if you get too hungry. However, if you are ready to give up because you are too hungry, eat more fruit or have a dose of healthy fat.
Furthermore, I recommend you last as long as possible without eating. You don’t need to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Instead, you could eat all your daily fruits in one meal.
DAY 1
Breakfast:
- Lemon water
- 1 cup of blueberries
- 2 oranges
Lunch:
- 2 pears
Dinner:
- 1 cup of strawberries
- 3 apples
DAY 2:
Breakfast:
- Lemon water
- 2 pears
Lunch:
- About a pound of grapes
Dinner:
- 2 cups of blueberries
DAY 3
Breakfast:
- Lemon water
- 2 cups of blackberries
Lunch:
- 1 pear
- 1 banana
Dinner:
- 2 oranges
DAY 4
Breakfast:
- Lemon water
- 2 cups of strawberries
Lunch:
- 1 orange
- 2 bananas
Dinner:
- 1 pound of grapes
DAY 5
Breakfast:
- Lemon water
- 2 cups of blueberries
Lunch:
- 3 oranges
Dinner:
- 1 banana
- 1 pear
DAY 6
Breakfast:
- Lemon water
- 3 cups of watermelon
Lunch:
- 1 banana
- 2 oranges
Dinner:
- 1 pound of grapes
DAY 7
Breakfast:
- Lemon water
- 2 cups of blueberries
Lunch:
- 3 cups of watermelon
- 1 banana
Dinner:
- 1 pound of grapes
Fruit Fasting and Weight Loss Video
How to Decide If You Should Try Fasting With Fruits
After reading this, you may be intrigued. Maybe you might want to try fasting with fruits, but you are not sure it’s the right approach. Maybe you have heard that fruits and complex carbs may be detrimental to your weight loss efforts.
What About Your Insulin Level?
Fruit has a fairly low glycemic response. However, the fructose found in fruits may disrupt leptin production in some people. This means that even though you may have consumed enough calories, you don’t feel full. Moreover, excessive consumption of fructose may contribute to Type 2 diabetes.
That said, fasting with fruit, or a fruitarian diet in general, may not cause any issue with your blood sugar or insulin. Why? Because this type of diet will be low in fat. When it comes to controlling your insulin level, it is very important to avoid mixing fat and carbohydrate because they both can cause an insulin spike. Focusing on one or the other helps maintain a healthy insulin level.
I have read many stories from people who healed from Type 2 diabetes on a raw vegan or fruitarian diet. Fruit is not the enemy here, but you must choose your fuel wisely.
What If I Crave More Food When I Eat Fruit?
Some people find their appetite increases when they include too many carbs in their diet. A fruit fast may not be the best option if this is you. However, it doesn’t mean you should never consider fasting with fruit. Your body may need some healing before you can undergo this type of fasting. I know that I used to find that eating too many fruits would give me more cravings and exacerbate my tendency to get yeast infections. A fruit fast would not have been appropriate for me.
Now that I have been healing through the fasting mimicking diet and intermittent fasting over the last 6 months or so, I find my body handles carbs a lot better. My appetite has stabilized, and I feel great and satisfied even after eating fruits and other sweets.
In Summary
A fruit-only fast is not the best option for everyone, but it may be right for you. Fasting fruits doesn’t mean you are stuffing yourself with fruit daily. Instead, it means eating enough to sustain your body and give it some vitamins and minerals while reducing your calorie intake. That’s what makes it a fast!
When it comes to finding the most suitable fasting option, it’s all about experimentation. Make sure you listen to your body! If you find fasting with fruits makes you feel hungry and stressed out, try another fasting option. A 12-hour daily overnight fast is an excellent starting point for most beginners.