FRUIT-EATING - ITS
BENEFITS AND PROBLEMS
by Dr. Lawrence Wilson
© October 2021, LD
Wilson Consultants, Inc.
All
information in this article is for educational purposes only. It is not for the diagnosis, treatment,
prescription or cure of any disease or health condition.
SUMMARY
Most people
enjoy eating fruit, and most health authorities recommend it. After all, it is a natural food that
contains many nutrients. It is
also tasty and convenient because it does not require cooking. Children will often eat it, and this is
another benefit for parents.
However, we
find that fruit is harmful for development, especially for children.
Fruit is
mainly sugar and water, with a small amount of minerals and other
nutrients. The potassium and some
of the phosphorus fruit contains today is toxic, and the balance of its
minerals is not correct for most people.
Fructose
found in most fruit is a very harmful sugar that puts on weight, causes AGES,
feeds parasites in the body, and contributes to cancer, heart disease and
diabetes. Fruit is also much too yin for regular use. This article discusses these and other aspects of eating
fruit.
PROBLEMS WITH EATING FRUIT
This section incorporates our own
research findings and that of many others who have worked with those who eat
fruit or have eaten a lot of fruit for a period of some years, in most cases.
Formation of AGES. We wish more doctors would discuss AGES with their
patients. AGES
stands for advanced glycation end products. They literally age the body and cause
heart disease, cancer, diabetes and many other serious health conditions. More of them form when a person eats
anything containing sugar, which includes fruit. For details, read AGES.
Birth defects.
Mothers of unborn children are deeply affected by vegetarian, vegan and
fruitarian diets. This can cause
more birth defects. This is due
mainly to very low zinc in fruits, and a deficiency of the sulfur-bearing
and other amino acids in fruitarian and vegetarian diets. Vegan diets are among the worst.
Attention deficit disorders, autism, cancers and other problems in
children. Eating fruit is particularly harmful for fast oxidizers,
which includes most young children.
Fast oxidizers must eat fat with each meal. The sugar in fruit upsets the metabolism severely.
Deranged digestion.
Eating fruit seriously deranges the digestive system in many
people. Sugar in all fruit feeds
yeasts, parasites, and other harmful pathogens in the intestines. The digestive tract becomes more yin,
more fragile and often more ÒleakyÓ.
This affect the digestion and absorption of all
nutrients. It always seems to
aggravate or cause overgrowth of yeasts such as candida
albicans.
Fruit acids and the toxic potassium found
in todayÕs fruit also irritate the intestines. Most fruit is also sprayed with pesticides, and the residues
often also irritate the intestines, even with organically grown fruit. Fruit requires pesticides in many areas
to grow it at all. Even the natural
pesticides used on organic fruit are somewhat toxic.
Interferes with sulfur
metabolism. This may sound esoteric, but it is
extremely important. Fruit is very
low in sulfur, and sulfur is a critical nutrient. Many fruits also contain copper, a sulfur antagonist.
Cardiovascular problems.
Fruit can weaken this body system and can cause a shortened lifespan,
among other disorders and problems.
Fructose affects copper metabolism, which may be the reason for its
negative effects on the cardiovascular system.
Pain syndromes. Stopping all fruit and returning to a
diet with plenty of cooked, and not raw, vegetables often
stops joint pain and other types of pain within a few weeks. Causes for pain with fruit-eating
may be a zinc deficiency, inflammation due to fruit acids, toxic potassium, too
much sugar, or possibly other causes.
Diabetic symptoms. The combination of low zinc, a
higher-sugar diet, and B-vitamin deficiencies that can develop from eating too
much fruit may result in diabetic symptoms. The most prominent is often peripheral neuropathy, which
causes tingling, burning or numbness in the legs and feet and rarely in the
hands or elsewhere. Other symptoms
may include frequent urination, fatigue, depression and others.
Weight gain. Many people believe that eating fruit
will cause weight loss, and they are seriously disappointed. Fruit is not a low-calorie food. Also, eating sugar in any form causes
weight gain by many mechanisms, such as stressing the insulin mechanism of the
body, impairing the activity of the thyroid and adrenal glands, causing some
water retention, and perhaps other mechanisms, as well. Yeast infestation from eating fruit can
also cause bloating and weight gain.
Parasitic infections.
Eating fruit makes the digestive tract much more yin and toxic with
chemicals, in some cases. This
makes the gut much more susceptible to parasites, which are ÒcoldÓ infective
organisms that love sugar. Other
reasons may be that fruit may carry some parasitic organisms if it is not
washed properly and is eaten raw.
Also, a damaged and somewhat delicate
digestive tract cannot protect itself against some parasites that are found
commonly in some foods and water supplies.
Pesticide poisoning.
This occurs because most fruit is sprayed heavily, even if it is
advertised as being organically grown.
Even natural pesticides that must be used on fruit can build up in the
body in a toxic fashion, affecting the liver and kidneys, in particular.
Toxic metal poisoning. Those who
eat a lot of fruit seem to be particularly prone to the accumulation of mercury
and copper, perhaps because fruits lack the balancing element of zinc. High-fruit diets also lack
sulfur-containing amino acids that are needed for liver detoxification of the
metals and of many toxic chemicals as well.
Mental/emotional
symptoms. These are very common and include
anxiety, depression, irritability, and even panic attacks. We know this because when a person who
is eating a lot of fruit and having any of these symptoms stops eating fruit,
often these symptoms vanish within a few days to a few weeks. If a person has eaten fruit for a long
time, symptoms may take longer to reverse.
The cause of the symptoms can be the
upsetting effects of a high-sugar diet, or perhaps the effects of candida albicans infection, which
produces alcohol and acetaldehyde in the body.
Anger and belligerence. Another
interesting symptom that occurs at times from eating a lot of fruit is the
development of a stubborn, and often belligerent and angry nature. This could be due to a zinc deficiency
or perhaps a B-vitamin deficiency of some type. It may be due to a more yin condition, which makes a person
more fearful and anxious.
Loss of mental acuity. This symptom, also called brain
fog, is very common in those who eat a lot of fruit and sometimes seen in
those who eat any fruit at all. It
is often due to yeast overgrowth in the brain.
Low iodine may also play a role, or
perhaps low levels of some of the B-complex vitamins. Taking supplements of these nutrients may help, but
frequently they are not enough to stop the progress of this mental degeneration
that is very sad to observe.
Yin disease. This is a harmful alteration of the body toward a more yin condition. It is a very serious imbalance in the body. Modern Western medicine does not yet accept
it.
Yin is an ancient word in Chinese,
Japanese and Hebrew. The English
language does not have an equivalent word. It is a physics term that means cold, expanded, too damp, and
today it means much more ill.
The word is also used in Macrobiotics.
This is a teaching we make use of in many aspects of the development program.
Eating fruit is one of
the most worst ways to upset the balance of the basic physical
forces in the body that in older books are called yin and yang.
Symptoms usually include a feeling of
malaise or weakness, often coupled with many of the symptoms mentioned
above. For details, read Yin Disease.
Slower development. Eating fruit slows the process that on
this website only is called development.
For details,
read Introduction To Development and
other articles on this subject on this website.
Low in etheric
energy. This is a way
to assess the value of many foods.
It has mainly to do with the mineral content of the food. Fruit is very low in this energy.
Low in souls. Fruit is relatively low in souls. Vegetables, meats, dairy products
contain many more souls. This is
an unusual topic, but an important one.
For more details about souls, read Soul
Science.
A shorter lifespan. In our experience, vegetarians
and fruitarians live shorter lives.
They may live apparently healthfully for years, but suddenly their
health declines and they die quickly at an earlier age than most other people.
We do not know exactly why this occurs, but it may
have to do with depletion of vital nutrients or the accumulation of a toxic
substance due to fruit-eating. Eating food
containing sugars also causes glycation, a
toxic process that eventually destroys the body.
WHY DOES FRUIT-EATING CAUSE THESE
PROBLEMS?
1. Fruit is one of the most yin foods
one can eat. In the Macrobiotic conception of yin
and yang, fruit is an extremely yin food.
Yin refers to certain qualities such as cold, expanded, and sweet-tasting or sugary. Fruit also grows above ground and often up in the air,
another quality associated with yin.
In botanical terms, fruits are expanded
ovaries of plants. This Òbody
partÓ appears to make them even more yin.
In the traditional Chinese conception of yin and
yang, fruit is not uniformly yin.
However, it is uniformly yin in the macrobiotic view of yin and yang,
and we find this to be most accurate.
The problems with yin foods are:
1. Most peopleÕs bodies today are already extremely
yin. Eating more yin food tends to
unbalance their bodies even more.
This tends to cause more weakness and illness in the body, even though
fruit is a source of certain vitamins and other nutrients. This is very important to know!
2. The problem of becoming
yin is even worse if a person is a slow oxidizer (even more yin), if a person
is ill (also more yin) or if the person eats large amounts of fruit. Eating more of a yin food tends to make
the body even more yin.
3. Tropical fruits are even more yin, and thus the
worst from this perspective. They
include common fruits such as bananas, pineapple, coconut in all forms and
preparations, dates, figs, papaya, citrus fruits and others. It also includes the tropical fruit
drinks such as noni, goji, nopal, acai and others (see Tropical
Fruit Drinks for more on this subject). A little of these is not too bad, but a lot is definitely
very yin.
4. Eating anything raw is
even more yin, and fruit is often eaten in the uncooked state.
5. Fruit juice is even more yin. It is more concentrated, contains much
more sugar and less fiber to buffer the acids and sugars in the fruit.
For
much more on the serious problem of yin with fruit, read Yin Disease and other articles about yin and yang
on this website.
2. Fruit upsets the blood sugar level
and causes excessive insulin release. The relatively high sugar content of
almost all fruit causes this reaction.
This adds stress to the body, can cause weight gain or impair weight
loss, and causes other imbalances deep inside the cells.
Many people are unaware of the high sugar content
of most fruit. It can be extremely
high, especially with fruit juices, dried fruit or fruit that is packed or
dipped in sugar. These are even
worse than eating fresh fruit.
3. Fruit-eating often
contributes to yeast overgrowth. Most people, even
those who do not eat much fruit, already have an overgrowth of intestinal yeast
such as candida albicans
and others. This is due to toxic
metal poisoning, and especially copper imbalance. Other mineral imbalances may also contribute, as does
overeating on carbohydrate foods.
The high sugar content of most fruit
worsens this important condition.
The yin nature of fruit also tends to worsen all fungal and parasitic
infections because fungus and yeast conditions are yin infections. That is, they tend to be cold and
parasitic in nature. For more on
this subject, read Candida Albicans
Infections and Parasites on this website.
4. Fruit is a
carbohydrate food, and most people are overeating on carbohydrates already.
5. Fruit dehydrates the body. This may seem very strange. Some health authorities even tell their
followers that the water in fruits is Ònaturally distilledÓ and that one does
not need to drink other water.
This
is very bad advice. First, eating
anything that contains sugar, including fruit, tends to cause dehydration due
to an osmotic process in which sugar draws water with it wherever it goes.
Also, the water that is in fruits is not distilled
at all. It contains many minerals,
and unfortunately it often contains residues of pesticides, which are often
used on fruits even if the fruit is supposedly organically grown. For more on this important subject,
read Hydration on this site.
6. Fruit seems to send the bodyÕs
energy in an outward and upward direction. This is a very subtle,
but critical problem perhaps related to the yin quality of fruit, and also with
its sugar content.
Our bodies are polarized. Downward moving energy is healthy and life-giving, while
upward moving energy and outward-moving energy is not as healthful. For more on this, read Downward-moving Energy And Healing.
7. Fruit is extremely harmful for babies
and children because it enhances the oxidation rate, especially in the short term. This is a stimulatory effect due to its
low fat content and higher sugar content.
This is particularly harmful for younger children, whose oxidation rate
is already too fast.
For this reason, please do not give
babies and children ANY fruit or fruit juices, or for that matter, any sweets
at all. This is hard for many parents, since children often love
sweets and doctors and television personalities often recommend it highly. They are wrong! It will help your childÕs health
immensely if you keep them away from all sweet foods, including fruit and fruit
juices of all kinds. This is very
important for children.
Some
people may respond to the above by saying that milk is sweet, and milk is good
for babies. This is true. However, milk also contains a lot of
fat and protein. This counteracts
some of the yin and the other effects of the milk sugar. Also, milk sugar or lactose is a
disaccharide and is therefore burned or utilized more slowly than fructose or
glucose found in fruit.
8. Fruit can actually be acid-forming
in the body. I know that this
statement goes against that which is found in most nutrition books. However, we find it to be true in
clinical practice. Several reasons
for this are:
A. Fruit acids. Textbooks of nutrition often say that even though
fruit contains some mild acids, the mineral content of the fruit eventually
causes an alkaline reaction in the body.
However, we find that this is no longer the case because of the genetic
modification of fruit and its lower mineral content today.
As a result, the acids in the fruit can give many
fruits an overall acidic reaction, which is not healthful at all. This applies particularly to acidic
fruits such as citrus, which is often picked unripe and never ripens
properly. However, it applies to
other fruits, as well.
B. Fruit sugars. Sugars tend to be acid-forming
in their internal reaction, especially fructose.
C. Imbalanced minerals in most fruit
today. The mineral content of fruit is not optimum for our
bodies. Today, this is due in part
to the use of superphosphate fertilizers used on most farms, including organic fruit orchards. The mineral content seems to cause
unpleasant reactions and deficiencies of zinc, in particular, especially if one
eats a lot of it. It does not seem
to matter if the fruit is organically grown. More on this topic is found in the article entitled The Acid-Alkaline Balance.
9. Fructose, a prominent sugar in fruit, is
one of the worst sugars to consume.
Fructose does not directly raise the blood sugar as fast as glucose, for
example. Instead, it is sent
directly to the liver, where it should be converted to glucose. However, most people cannot process it
very well and it can instead be converted to triglycerides and other fats. This is related to obesity, in some
cases.
Medical evidence also indicates that fructose may
interfere with copper metabolism, is inflammatory, and may contribute to
metabolic syndrome and Type 2 diabetes.
Read more about fructose in the article entitled Fructose.
10. Fruit-eating is often damaging to the
enamel of the teeth. Fruit
acids can damage the dentin or outside layer of the teeth. This is well known by some dentists,
and is another reason be careful with eating
fruit. The worst offenders are the
acid fruits, such as citrus – oranges, tangerines, grapefruit, lemons,
and limes.
11. Fruit is often sprayed with pesticides,
even if labeled organic. In
order for fruit to grow in most areas, particularly some parts of the United
States, it needs to be sprayed.
Even if fruit is labeled organic, it is often laced with some pesticides
and insecticides, even if they are natural ones. Many of them, even the natural sprays, add more toxins to
the fruit.
One of the most commonly sprayed fruits are grapes grown to make wines. We find that people who drink a lot of wine usually have
higher levels of arsenic and often lead in their hair. Lead arsenate and other compounds
containing these metals are often sprayed on grapes.
Also, even organically grown fruit can suffer from
the residues of pesticides and other chemicals that had formerly been sprayed
on the fruit, or small quantities that somehow find their way into the
fruit. Because fruit is so yin, it
picks up more of some toxic metals that are less yin
such as lead and some chemicals.
12. Genetic Modification and
Hybridization. Fruit today is not the same as it was
100 years ago. Modern fruit is
often hybridized and genetically modified. Few people realize this unless, perhaps, you have an old
crab apple tree where the fruit was small and it was not as sweet as it is
today.
Most fruit today is grown for mass consumption and
is larger, sweeter, less nutritious, lower in mineral
content, and for these reasons even more expanded or yin. For more, read GMO
Foods on this site.
13. Fruit
seems to tire out the body. Fruit seems to have
an irritating quality for many people. Perhaps this is due to upsetting the
yin and yang balance, or just its higher sugar content.
Also, the seeds of some fruits are slightly toxic,
such as seeds of apples, peaches, pears, strawberries, blueberries and
others. This may also tire the
body somewhat when eaten regularly.
Eating very cold foods, such as fruit kept in a refrigerator, is even
worse. The body literally has to
warm up the food, which may also tire it somewhat.
14. Fruit is rich in potassium, but a
lot of it is a toxic form of potassium. People
who eat a lot of fruit, when placed on a nutritional balancing program, often
begin to eliminate a biounavailable form of
potassium. When it is gone, the person feels
much better.
Fruit, more than any other food, takes up a lot of
toxic potassium from N-P-K fertilizers or superphosphate fertilizers that are
used on almost all fruit trees, even organic commercial fruit-growing
operations. Not only does this
form of potassium cause physical illness, it also influences the mind and slows
development and maturity.
For details, read Toxic
Potassium, Superphosphate Fertilizers and
The Child Minerals.
15. Cleanliness is often a problem
with fruit. Fruit may be picked by hand by workers
whose cleanliness is not always the best.
The surface of the fruit always contains bacteria, viruses and other micro-organisms.
If it is not washed thoroughly, eating it can cause hepatitis, parasites
and other subtle infections.
If you must eat fruit, always wash it carefully and
never eat it right from the store or even from a tree, without washing it
carefully. Also, do not leave
fruit sitting out on the kitchen counter overnight and then eat it without
washing it again. Fruit attracts
flies, mites, ticks and other tiny insects that can quickly infect the fruit
with disease.
16. Eating a lot of fruit can demineralize the body. This appears to occur
because eating a lot of fruit raises the sodium and potassium level of the
tissues. This, in turn, lowers
calcium and magnesium in the soft tissues, in part because sodium and potassium
are solvents.
There may be other reasons for mineral depletion as
well, such as the upsetting effects of sugar on the body, the pH of fruit, the
improper balance of minerals in many fruits, and more. The two minerals most affected are
calcium and magnesium, which are already somewhat low in most people. This, in fact, is a tragedy.
FRUIT-EATING AND HAIR MINERAL ANALYSIS
1. The oxidation rate. Fruit
tends to unbalance the oxidation rate, in general. Therefore, those who eat a lot of fruit may have a very fast
oxidation rate, or a very slow oxidation rate. Many factors can do this, however, so it is just an
observation.
2. Beam Me Up
pattern. Those who eat a lot
of fruit sometimes have a hair mineral analysis pattern I call Beam
me up, Scottie pattern. It
is a fast oxidation rate, often with a good or fair sodium/potassium
ratio. It is a tipoff that a
person may be consuming a lot of fruit.
For more on this pattern, please read Beam
Me Up Pattern on this website.
WHAT IF I CRAVE FRUITS?
When the body is out of balance or ill, food
cravings are common. These slowly
disappear with the development program.
Sometimes the cause is low protein or low fat in the diet. This is common with vegetarians, for
example, who do not eat enough meat or eggs. Other reasons are low levels of zinc, manganese or chromium,
which is also very common.
To
reduce cravings for fruit, be sure to eat every few hours and be sure to
include some animal protein and perhaps a little fat or oil with most meals,
especially if you are in a fast oxidation state.
If you
must eat a little fruit. For those who cannot stop their fruit intake immediately, here are some guidelines:
a) Eat as little fruit as possible.
b)
Eat fruit from
heirloom (or very old) trees, as it will be less hybridized.
c) Eat smaller,
cold-weather fruits such as a little apple, peach, pear or a few berries either
by themselves or perhaps added to some raw milk yogurt.
d)
Ideally, eat
fruit alone as a snack. It does
not combine well with other foods.
e) Totally avoid all fruit juices, dried fruit, canned fruit packed in sugar, and all tropical and
citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruit. Sub-tropical fruit to definitely avoid
are coconut, avocado, dates, figs and other sub-tropical fruits. This is true for babies and children as
well.
f)
Dried fruit is
more yin in some ways, and certainly more sugary. Avoid it, please, even as a snack. It is far better to eat some leftover cooked vegetables,
turkey or beef jerky, almond butter, blue corn chips, a piece of cheese or
other protein-rich snacks, than a piece of dried or fresh fruit.
WHAT ABOUT EATING VEGETABLES THAT ARE
REALLY FRUITS?
In a word, avoid most of them except for green
beans, winter squashes and one or two botija olives
per week! So-called vegetables
that are really fruit are those with seeds, such as:
All tomatoes (red, green, cherry, and others).
All peppers (red, green,
and hot chili peppers).
All squashes (zucchini,
summer squash, butternut, spaghetti, acorn and perhaps others).
Others include okra, cucumbers, eggplant, olives, peas
and string beans.
Recommendations.
String beans are a preferred food for development and are excellent to
eat as often as one likes.
Winter squashes (spaghetti squash, butternut squash
and acorn squash) are not too yin, and may be eaten up to twice a week if one
wishes. However, summer squashes
(zucchini, sunburst, yellow squash or others) are more yin. They are not recommended at all, or
only on rare occasions.
I suggest avoiding the other vegetables that are
really fruits. These are all of
the nightshade family vegetables.
These include all tomatoes, white and red potatoes, peppers of all
kinds, and eggplant. These foods
are all quite yin, and they contain a toxin called solanin
that is irritating and inflammatory.
Always cook vegetables and do not eat
them raw.
WHAT ABOUT CONSUMING FRUIT OILS SUCH
AS OLIVE, GRAPE SEED, COCONUT AND PALM OILS?
Olive oil is okay, but not as good as butter. Grapeseed oil
is another fruit oil. It is also
okay, but not as good as butter, a much more yang fat.
Coconut oil is not good, no matter what other
benefits they have. A little is
okay now and then, but do not use it regularly, no matter how nutritious it may
seem. It leaves a toxin in the
liver.
One can also buy walnut oil, hazelnut oil and other
nut oils. These are also fruit
oils, and they are also very yin.
We suggest avoiding them for rapid development.