We've written about Michael Arnstein before but the below (from Dean Karnazes' blog) is new to us.A very fit looking young man approached me at the finish of the Napa Valley International Marathon. He asked if I had a moment to talk, and we began a discussion on diet and training. What I learned blew my mind.
I should let you know that he happened to be the winner of the marathon, and that he sometimes eats 40-50 bananas a day (no, that’s not a typo). In fact, other than oranges and the periodic tomato and stalk of celery, that’s pretty much all he eats.
Mike Arnstein is a “Fruitarian.” That is to say, he only eats fruit and the occasional raw vegetable. He doesn’t even eat nuts. Okay, that’s because, you’re thinking, he is one.
Wait, don’t be so quick to write the man off. Listen to these stats. Mike’s been a fruitarian for the past two and a half years. In that time: he’s watched his percent body fat naturally fall to around 3%, he’s bumped up his training mileage to 20-30 miles a day (often logging 160-mile training weeks), he’s watched his half-marathon PR drop from 1:17 to 1:10, and he runs a successful software company with 20 employees. All on bananas.
I was skeptical when he first explained his dietary regime to me, of which 80% of the calories come from carbohydrates, 10% from protein and 10% from fat. What about nutritional deficiencies? Anemia, protein shortage, insufficient vitamin B12; these are but a few of the nutritional issues associated with such restrictive diets. But Mike claims so to show no symptoms of any of these. He says his blood tests are ideal, and he hasn’t suffered a cold or a cough since changing his diet.
“No pills, powders, supplements, nothing at all, no grains, rice, oats, nothing but food as it is fresh from the earth,” he says. Then he adds, “This stuff is real. I’m a Fruitarian – not a fruit cake!”
His incredible state of fitness and stellar race performances seem to validate this claim.
Clearly, this topic is bound to stir controversy. I say, bring it! We’ve never shied away from debate and spirited dialog in this blog.
So what are your thoughts on Fruitarianism? Do you think it’s sustainable? Healthy, or potentially dangerous? Do you have any firsthand experience with such radical dietary shifts?
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