MON22MAY2017
yesterday i ran out of avocadoes that were soft enough to eat.  in desperation i bought 4 large fuerte, rather than hass, avocadoes that were very soft.  i have to say that i'm not that inspired by the fuerte.  it simply lacks the rich flavour of the hass, and even these vary quite significantly.  i've found that the ones that have the best flavour are the darkest green, a scarab green, which is almost black.  also, they have a more greeny yellow flesh, rather than the creamy yellow flesh of the fuerte.  i've been pondering, a little, the ideal avocado to lemon juice ratio.  usually, i just fill the stone hole with lemon juice but stones vary in size so much that this is hardly consistent, especially for very small stones, and i do like plenty of lemon juice with my avocado.  perhaps there is no ideal here.  nevertheless, i do find that it help to try to achieve some balance of flavours.  this seems to me to be somewhere in the medium to large stone range.  i really doubt i'd enjoy this diet anywhere near as much without being able to eat avocadoes, they really are that essential.

SAT29APR2017
the latest addition to my fruitarian diet is freshly squeezed orange juice.  i'm drinking about a litre a day.

FRUITARIAN by BARB STONE (ISBN 978-1-539919-01-8)

this book is quite short and fails to provide any explanations of its claims.  indeed, the disclaimer in the front would be sufficient to deter any sceptic from reading further.  there isn't even a single reference.

that said, it's not such a bad little book.  i personally feel that some of the claims made are a little misleading.  within that context, i do think this ought to be read with a much broader understanding of the health implications of diet than is on offer here.

the other aspect that i found a little disconcerting was the notion that fruitarianism isn't a raw food diet.  this seems to indicate a certain naivety.  but, if you'll forgive the very liberal interpretation of what constitutes fruitarianism, the bit that genuinely took my breath away was the inclusion of salt.  now, admittedly this is only the odd pinch here and there but salt has no place in a fruitarian diet.  it's a preservative.  and that kind of clinched it for me.

perhaps the rather overly culinary style, to my way of thinking, featured here will appeal to some.  i can't help but feel it misses the point.  what should be a truly liberatingly simple diet is obscured with blending and dicing and mixing.  it's trying too hard to be conventional.  even ice and vegan cheese get included.  and this, we are to believe, is the modern interpretation of fruitarianism.

there are some interesting bits here but, sadly, it could have been so much better.

EDEN FRUITARIANISM by MANGO WODZAK (ISBN 978-1-940184-25-8)

it had been many years since i'd last read a 'new to me' book on fruitarianism, so i was eagerly looking forward to reading this one.  i wanted to like it.

yet, from the beginning i found it just a bit too 'edgy' for my liking.  now, i've no doubt that to most people 'edgy' will be lost in translation, and i'm a little reluctant to pin my colours too firmly to the mast here.  nevertheless, i'll try to explain tactfully.  having been lacto-ovo-vegetarian for 27 years now, i was a little dismayed at how easily my efforts at an ethical diet were dismissed as virtually meaningless.  at the time i took this choice i was dependent on pre-prepared food.  being vegan just didn't seem practical to me.  i'm sure that the criticisms leveled at this diet are perfectly valid, however, it was the best that i felt i could do at the time.  indeed, i've never been vegan, per se.  i've always oscillated between being lacto-ovo-vegetarian and an interpretation of fruitarian, previously including nuts and seeds.  if i were to hit this nail more squarely on the head, there is undoubtedly an air of moral superiority to it.  perhaps that's inevitable given that the case for fruitarianism is based almost exclusively on moral arguments.

but it's not just this that i found a little disturbing.  there are aspects of the vision presented of a fruitarian future that just don't ring true to me, and the underlying reason for this seems to be the almost total rejection of science in favour of what seems to me to be a somewhat wishful view of reality, no doubt based on what i would consider to be an over-reliance on faith.

now, having stated all that, i feel it worth pointing out that there are some very good aspects here too.  if what you want is your horizon expanding a little, or possibly even a lot, this could indeed be for you.

but the bottom line for me is that this isn't so much, as the sub-title suggests, a book on explaining fruitarianism as it is a book that takes fruitarianism as its foundation and extrapolates that concept to what i would consider to be beyond the bounds of credibility in certain places.

FRI07APR2017
i had some cherries and raspberries recently.  these are quite expensive for their weight.  nevertheless, a nice change from my usual fruit.  i'm sure i'm spending well over my £50 per week budget.  i think it's nearer £70 per week, or £10 per day.  4 avocadoes are £1 each.  6 nectarines are £2 for 3.  red or black grapes are £2 for 500g.  so, that's £10, excluding lemons.

SAT18MAR2017
since my last post here my life has changed dramatically.  towards the end of last year my father had a fall.  this left me caring for my mother.  as my father is now home again i'm caring for both of them.  needless to say, my diet took something of a backseat to all of this.  i just didn't have the time or the energy to keep strictly to a fruitarian diet.  however, now things have become more settled i'm once again trying to get back to a fruitarian diet.  mostly i'm eating red grapes, yellow nectarines and avocados with lemon juice.  i'd have to say that i still find this diet quite challenging on my very limited budget.  and good fruit is still hard to find, hence my rather limited selection.

WED14SEP2016
it’s just over 4 weeks since i decided to try to go fruitarian again.  after a period of 1 year being fruitarian, about 3 years ago now, i’ve struggled to get back to this diet.  mostly, i think, the reasons have been psychological, rather than physiological.  it’s just too easy to eat comfort foods when i’m feeling a bit down.  this time i’ve decided to take a slightly different approach.  i’m sticking to all organic fruits, and vegetable fruits, and abstaining from any water.  i’m also, to date, avoiding anything dried or cooked.  i started with just black grapes.  i did 2 weeks of that and then decided to add a bit of variety by including apples, oranges, courgettes and tomatoes.  i’ve also, now, added avocados and nectarines, though these have come from an organic supplier as they aren’t currently available in any of the supermarkets i’ve tried.  sadly, the variety of organic fruit in supermarkets has substantially declined since i was last fruitarian.  at the moment i’m just taking this on a day to day basis.  i’m not really sure what i want to achieve, though i do recall that i used to sleep far better when i was on this diet previously.  i think my main motivation is simply to be happier with my diet.  and, certainly, the happiest i’ve ever been, diet wise, was as a fruitarian.