For the past 33 years, a woman has eaten only raw fruit. Talk about taking dieting to the extreme. Anne Osbourne says she hasn't touched vegetables, dairy, or meat in over three decades.
She calls herself a raw fruitarian and has only eaten fruit for longer than I've been alive. She first started her unique diet back in the 1990s.
"My interest in the diet started after I attended a talk in a small room above a bar back in the UK," she told news.com.au via New York Post. "A local fruitarian named David Shelley was talking about the diet and seeing his energy, fitness and vitality made me want to try it out myself. I could see that whatever David was doing was working really well for him. I was pregnant at the time with my eldest son, so I did a gradual transition from a standard diet, to a general vegan diet and eventually to a fruit diet."
From vegan diet, she moved to a raw fruit diet. Despite being raised around meat (her mother owned a butcher shop), Osbourne hasn't had any problems adjusting to her unique diet.
"Meat was a big part of our childhood," she said. "My mum was a very good cook and used to home cook all our meals. Dad used to grow fresh fruit and veggies in his garden. We ate pretty healthily and consumed very little processed food. But the day I left home at 19, I became a vegetarian.One year later, I gave up all animal products and embraced veganism. I noticed the health benefits right away. I remember I used to get so out of breath and tight in my chest just from walking up hills. Once I became vegan, I never felt that again."
Raw Fruit Diet
Osbourne says that she will only eat one type of fruit at a time. She buys all of her produce locally and is a big fan of juice.
"I usually have two big glasses of fresh squeezed orange juice after I get back from my morning run," she explained. "I use a vintage 1966 Italian hand juicer. It leaves in most of the fiber yet creates a very smooth juice. Later in the morning I'll have as much seasonal fruit as I want. Right now, I'm enjoying things like local blueberries, papayas, rockmelons and watermelons."
"For lunch, I will usually have 2 or 3 avocados. This adds good levels of macro and micronutrients into the diet.For dinner, I'll have another big plate of whatever fruit I am feeling like. Right now, papayas or blueberries are my favorite final meal," she also added.
It should be noted that physicians and dietians do not recommend following Osbourne's approach. They point out that a raw fruit diet lacks essential nutrients and is high in sugars. This can even make it dangerous to some people, especially if you have diabetes.
But Osbourne says that she has great energy on a raw fruit diet.
"My health is great. I run about 50km (31 miles) a week and regularly walk 13km (8 miles) into town. I do lots of physical work in the garden. Last time I had blood work done, everything was in normal range and the doctor said I had the best cholesterol levels he had ever seen in terms of HDL to LDL ratios," she said. " "I have great energy, any injuries or wounds heal really quickly and I went through menopause with no negative symptoms."
