There are many reasons as to why people go for a fruit and vegetable diet. The reason could be anything from controlling weight, blood sugar, detoxifying the body, preventing health issues like diabetes, heart diseases, blood pressure and so on. The reason why most of the people today are going for fad diets, gym, special meal plans, supplements, and so on, is because they have realized that so far, we have been eating and living according to the need of our taste buds and not according to the need of our body. The fast and busy lifestyle leaves no time for eating a fresh salad but instead forces us to go to the nearest food stall and catch on some junk food. Don't speak about the fitness level... I mean working till late hours gives no room to wake up early and go for a jog. Joining a gym is easy, but attending it regularly is hard. At last when we realize that we don't have the 'time' to do anything else, we switch to dieting, and this probably is the case with you as well. Anyway, the question to be asked is, does the fruit and vegetable diet work? Well, it does, however, there are some conditions applied.
What is a Fruit and Vegetable Diet Plan
When you listen to the term 'fruit and vegetable diet' you think that being on a fruit and vegetable diet means to keep munching on raw fruits and vegetables all the time, right? But to your surprise, unlike this 'popular belief', a fruit and vegetable diet doesn't have to be all veggies and no meat. The main purpose of introducing lots of fruits and vegetables in your diet is to include a healthy and nutritious source of fiber that can actually help your body detoxify in a natural manner. Which means that you can still munch on nuts, relish the delicious lean meat bacon, but you have to include a considerable amount of fresh fruits and veggies.
Experts recommend to consume at least 9 servings of fruits and vegetables in a day. You can include healthy fruits like apples, oranges, all kinds of berries, papaya, grapefruit and so on. Try to avoid high calorie fruits like bananas, mangoes or grapes as they have a very high fructose content. You can choose a variety of vegetables that you can munch on. Green leafy vegetables are good source of iron, you can also munch on cabbage, carrots, mushrooms, sprouts, tomato, and so on. You can either have a combined serving of fruits and vegetables, or break it up into 4 servings of fruits and 5 servings of vegetables. Eating raw vegetables is good, but if you want you can also steam them. Do not fry them as the deep frying will lessen their nutrient value and add excessive oil into your body. Mix the ingredients, add some lean turkey or chicken meat in it and relish your healthy meal. And the best part is that you can eat these ingredients without having to worry about additional calories or weight gain!
What are the Results of a Fruit and Vegetable Diet
Well, the results are undoubtedly beneficial, provided you are following the diet in the right manner. See, it is very important to eat a balanced diet and include all sorts of nutrients in order to keep your body healthy. Therefore, make sure that you also balance your daily doze of protein by eating some dairy products like low fat cheese, milk and nuts. If you are including chicken, eggs and turkey in your fruit and vegetable salad, then you are fulfilling your protein needs. Vegetables too consist of complex carbohydrates which take more time to digest and therefore the process of converting them into fats take time. As far as the total caloric intake is concerned, the fruits and vegetables mentioned above, if taken at the prescribed quantity will definitely not contribute to additional calories.
Think of it this way, if you have completely stopped on your junk food, you are eating a low calorie, high fiber diet, then yes, this diet works. You are consuming almost 9 servings of healthy fruits and veggies throughout the day, then obviously you will lose weight. Though the degree of weight loss varies from person to person, but it sure contributes to weight management. Not only this, studies have also revealed that a fruit and vegetable diet reduces the risk of heart stroke, high blood sugar, high blood pressure to a great extent. Not only this, arteriosclerosis, which is condition which arises due to fatty deposits in the walls of the arteries, can be reduced to almost 38%. Not only this, other conditions which result from high calorie foods like gallstones, kidney stones, certain types of cancers, etc., can also be prevented by a healthy fruit and vegetable diet.
Each and every diet has come advantages and disadvantages. The only disadvantage would be neglecting other essential food items like dairy products, nuts, lean meat and, so on. Just be clear that being on a fruit and vegetable diet doesn't mean that you have to munch on only these two things, it means you have to eat more of these along with other essential food items already mentioned above. It would be a little hard to stick on to this diet as your tongue, mind and body wouldn't be used to it, but then the benefits are way beyond the initial difficulty of sticking on to it. So try eating for your body and not for your tongue, and see how your body rewards you by allowing you to live a healthy, happy and longer life.
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