How much fruit do you eat a day?

[Vandy]

I always find myself drawn to eating more fruit. Normally i'll eat anywhere from 11-14 bananas in the morning and later I'll have 5-6 big pears followed by a huge 2 lb salad with lots of tahini or something... I was just wondering how much fruit you guys were consuming on a daily basis. Let me know what you think!

[JMD]

Hi,

I eat a big fruit salad in the early am... then through the morning prob. 4 more pieces of fruit~~~ ususally an apple or pear.

I find the more fruit i eat the more bloated i am but less thirsty too???

Good luck,
JMD

[Ariannah]

I snack on fruit lots, plus have about 3-4 green smoothies a day, each of which contains 2 bananas.

[Helen Of Tennessee]

I'm working at increasing my food intake. When I go all raw, I struggle to get large quanitities in. Currently on a 100% all raw day I'm eating:

3/4 cantaloupe (grandson get's the other quarter)
2 Bananas
Pear
Apple

Maybe a smoothie. Occasionally a medium size salad - lettuce and raw almonds. Or an avocado wrap.

<>< Helen of Tennessee

[Sharon in Colorado]

Bravo! That is awesome. Did it take you a while to work up to that amount of bananas?

I need to get a lot more fruit in. I do smoothies with 3-4 bananas and eat a lot of apples and melons. But need to work on my ratios, for sure!

[MoniDew]

oooh, I'm actually the opposite - naturally inclined toward greens and salads. I have to remind myself to eat more fruit! Other than the juice of a lemon that comprises part of my salad dressing, I have one "fruit-based" meal per day, typically, in the morning. I'll have a smoothie - blueberry, usually - sometimes adding pineapple. And yes, the fruit is frozen, which (I can hear it now) is not "raw". I really want to find ways to add more fruit. Snacking on fruit is a great idea, but I never have time...I'm working during the day, and studying, writing, or teaching at night. (3 jobs)

Obviously, fruit is the anatomically correct diet for us, just wish I could figure out a way to incorporate more!

[TimmyC]

11-14 bananas? That's fantastic. I wish I ate that many. I love bananas. I don't eat anywhere near that amount. Maybe 3-4 per day.

[Vandy]

I read Dr. Graham's book and he states that our diet should be mostly made of fruit since that is where the bulk of our calories are anyways, but I am just naturally drawn to eating all of that fruit...maybe it is because I am so active. Does you all find that you are getting in enough calories during the day?

[swiddweas]

I called the company who packages the frozen blueberries, and she said they do not cook them or heat them in anyway. :D

She said the only thing they have to so is wash them in a bleach soulution which is 1 teaspoon bleach per gallon of water to kill organisims,, ect.


These are Orgainic Blueberries. Maybe the regular do get cooked?

[TimmyC]

I never pay any attention. I never count calories. Raw and living food to me isn't the same as the traditional SAD diet and calorie counting. It's more about the energy units and nutritional value in organic raw and living foods as opposed to there caloric values as a result of eating them. This is just my opinion though.

All that said I eat when I'm hungry, at the various times throughout the day that I'm hungry. I don't hold back, and I try to listen to what my body is saying to me most of the time. To date, I've been happy with this approach. It's simple and easy. I try not to let the food or process of eating food get bogged down with trying to figure everything out.

BTW Vandy, I'm personally curious as to why you ask? Are you trying to increase your weight, or increase your metabolism by this or...?

Interested,

Tim



I read Dr. Graham's book and he states that our diet should be mostly made of fruit since that is where the bulk of our calories are anyways, but I am just naturally drawn to eating all of that fruit...maybe it is because I am so active. Does you all find that you are getting in enough calories during the day?

[Ariannah]

The bananas I eat are mostly in smoothies, as by themselves I've never liked the texture of bananas, but in smoothies, they lend a creamy, sweet, milky texture. I enjoy my green smoothies, and it's getting to be the bulk of whatever blended foods I eat. So I have up to 8 bananas per day that way. Sometimes more, if I do eat bananas plain.

I'm finding myself eating more bananas in winter because it's the cheapest available fruit. As soon as summer hits and the local fresh fruit becomes more available, I'll likely take a break from bananas and enjoy all the other good fruit.

[DavidZaneMason]

Usually:

5 lbs of bananas
5 lbs of juiced oranges (in season)
perhaps 3 pounds of assorted grapes, apples or other snacks
-Usually 1 lb of in-season nuts

-David Mason

[Secret Heart]

I eat 3-4 fruits in the morning and then at night before bed. I've heard that fruit is "golden in the morning, silver in the afternoon and lead at night". How bad is it to eat fruit at night? I do feel rather "fermented" sometimes in the morning, esp when I run.

heather

[eatyourbroccoli]

Obviously my fruit consumption varies from day to day..as does everyones :)

But I tend to eat mostly fruit..and only occasionally veggies or nuts.

Recently I've been into more citrus-y fruits..and have been eating maybe a whole pineapple, 3 or 4 oranges, and then maybe some other fruits like a mango or a kiwi or two if I feel like it.

I really just listen to my body..and eat what I'm truly craving. Sometimes my body switches on me and I live on red peppers, carrots, and celery for a few days. Other times I'll sit there and crack open my own nuts for a week straight.

But if you're concerned about perhaps gaining weight if upping the fruit intake..my personal experience I've had no problem with this. But I'm assuming it would happen if switchy from a mostly-green diet to a mostly-fruit diet if the intake was about the same just because of caloric differences? ::shrug:: I dunno

Fruit works great for me though :) Gives me energy, fills me up, keeps me hydrated, and I love the taste :D



I eat 3-4 fruits in the morning and then at night before bed. I've heard that fruit is "golden in the morning, silver in the afternoon and lead at night". How bad is it to eat fruit at night? I do feel rather "fermented" sometimes in the morning, esp when I run.

heather


And Secret Heart...I personally do not have any problems with eating fruit at night, unless, occasionally, they're heavier fruits such as apples or maybe even pears. Usually, though, even with these if given proper time to digest afterwards before going to bed I'm alright. Maybe this website http://www.glycoexpert.com/food-combining.htm would be helpful to you with trying to better time how long the digestion process takes for different foods?

Also I was just curious..why the huge admiration of such an intake of bananas? I love bananas..is there some hidden miracle nutrition in them that I'm unaware of :cool: ?


Sorry for the long post :o

Best regards to all :)

[eatyourbroccoli]

But if you're concerned about perhaps gaining weight if upping the fruit intake..my personal experience I've had no problem with this. But I'm assuming it would happen if switchy from a mostly-green diet to a mostly-fruit diet if the intake was about the same just because of caloric differences? ::shrug:: I dunno

Actually scratch that reasoning. That's the SAD logic burried deep inside that I've yet to cleanse from my body

Calories shouldn't matter on a RAW diet

Silly me :rolleyes:

[Sharon in Colorado]

I called the company who packages the frozen blueberries, and she said they do not cook them or heat them in anyway. :D

She said the only thing they have to so is wash them in a bleach soulution which is 1 teaspoon bleach per gallon of water to kill organisims,, ect.


These are Orgainic Blueberries. Maybe the regular do get cooked?

Pattye

swiddweas :eek: not sure I wanted to hear that one! Well, I knew frozen wasn't optimal, but the bleach? Yeeesh!

I use fresh bananas usually in my smoothie, maybe adding a (home) frozen one to the mix when available as it changes the texture to a creamier one. I do use mostly frozen fruit besides that, but fresh orange juice. When strawberries are in season I like to use those fresh.

A new raw friend of mine who's been raw forever and has wife and 4 kids, all raw vegan said they started doing bananas and cranberry smoothies, nothing else added. Said that it was a nice seasonal shake. Maybe we'll try doing that one to get more bananas in.

Timmy, Dr. Graham mentioned that it takes a lot of practice to get more bananas or other fruit in. You have to work on it, like weight training. Just eat just a little bit more than comfortable each time, sooner or later you'll be able to eat 30 bananas in a sitting. :) My raw friend who eats very similarly, says that he and his family goes through their morning fruit meal in 2 hours, they don't stuff it all in at once. I'm assuming the fruit is put out and they graze on it during that period of time.

>>Calories shouldn't matter on a RAW diet<<

I agree with this. Raw and cooked calories would affect a body quite differently.

However in my opinon WHERE calories come from *would* matter.

Compare 3000 calories through avocadoes, nuts, olives and almond butter, to the caloric equivalent from fruit and greens.

So in that sense where one gets their calories from would make more of a difference to a body.

Most raw people I know not only know that but do feel the difference in after-effects between eating a fat-based meal and fruit-based meal. The energy after-effects speaks for itself in those cases.

[Vandy]

Good point Sharon! Timmy... ya it took me a little while to be able to eat all those bananas in one sitting but I love it now. The reason why I asked about calories was because I lost too much weight to the point where I looked sickly. This was because I was always "listening to my body" and snacking all day. When I did the math at first, somedays I would only be getting in about 600 calories, which is NO where near the amount I should have been eating since I am very active and exercise a lot. Anyways that was my reasoning behind it. I wasn't insinuating that I think everyone doesn't eat enough or anything like that...I just wanted to see what everyone else was eating. Thanks!

[Beanie]

I'm a raw heretic! I follow Cousins approach and its working. He stresses greens and lots of them! I probably get 15 cups a day now. But only one fruit. NOT bananas, they are high glycemic, just grapefruit right now and occassionally an apple. I went hypoglycemic on Grahams approach and couldn't think straight. My body thrives on fats.

[GlimR]

Sharon~
I am curious as to why it would be beneficial to eat 15-30 bananas in one sitting......why would you want to work up to that much of any kind of food at one time?? I can't even imagine that being a good thing.

The great thing about raw is that you eat till satisfyed.

Vandy~
Morning smoothie w/ 2 bananas, mix of other fruit..pineapple, mango, papaya, oranges and greens. If I don't have the smoothie I just munch on fruit thru the morning...melons, bananas, oranges, etc...whatever...eating as I am hungry.

I eat most of my fruit in the morning but will snack on it in the afternoon....apples, grapes, oranges.

[Sharon in Colorado]

GlimR being able to accomplish getting proper nutrients for the body in abundance is a good thing in my opinion. :)

[ljcoolj]

I eat mostly fruit until the afternoon. Thats when I head for the big, ole salad. So far today I've had 2 bananas, 3 clementines and 1 apple. (big one too!) I've eaten more fruit today than I use to eat in a whole week as a SAD person. Thats 'sad'. I can tell you that my 2 year old naturally tends towards eating a lot of fruit...makes me wonder if thats a natural instinct that we should all follow. Although he also likes salads.....

[Vandy]

Beanie~
What are those low glycemic fruits that Cousens talks of? I actually used to have hypoglycemia, and it went away with raw food...but I don't get ANY highs or lows with fruit only with dried berries and stuff like that (b/c they are higher in sugar), but maybe do you think that your body isn't used to all of that sugar (in the fruit?). I had to work up to fitting that much in my stomach, but now I handle it great and I feel more energy. Just wondering. Take care!

[Aasyah]

I mostly eat fruit, and maybe 1-2 salads per day and drink fruit smoothies, water ( have to juice some veggies soon :rolleyes: )
4 bananas (2 for lunches, 2 for fruit smoothies)
bunches of blueberries, blackberries, raspberries
peaches, apples, grapes, oranges.

[Beanie]

Cousins states how fruits are full of sugar or have a high glycemic index which converts rapidly to sugar in the blood. He states that we must eliminate these from the diet in order to restore the biological terrain to normal and to decrease and eliminate mycosis that most of us have. Fruits tend to ferment very easily and rot and tend to develop fungus, yeast and mold. Try it!! Cut leafy greens and open fruit and watch which ferments first. So to prevent and treat mycosis you cannot eat sugars, artificial sweeteners, carob, any animal foods, all grains, yeast, corn, peanuts/cashews, cottonseed, alcohol, nama shoyu & soy sauce, coffee, caffeine, tobacco, heated oil, fermented foods, mushrooms, high glycemic fruits: banana, melons, papaya, mango, pineapple, dates, raisins, figs, sapote, rambutian, cherimoy, all dried fruits; fruit juices, high glycemic veggies: cooked parsnips and white potatoes, pumpkin, squash, beets and rutabaga.

I'm trying phase one which is for higly mycotoxic since I had a yeast infection and trying to get rid of all fungai that maybe in my system. The only fruits allowed on that are veggie fruits such as avocados, tomatoes, cucumbers, summer squash and red bell pepper, lemon and lime. I do add a level 1.5 fruit once in awhile which is the lowest gycemic grapefruit, and all berries. I was eating a lot of fruit and some raw desserts and thats how I got a yeast infection. Never had one beforehand but always been sensitive to sugars. If you crave sweets, grains, have hypoglycemia, and many other problems like PMS, depression, anxiety, allergies, digestive issues, cravings, etc. all can be related to candida and fungai. I would go further but I'm probably talking to the wall here and in the middle of examines! But read about Gabriel Cousins and symptoms of candida, etc. 80% of americans have it and don't know it!!

I did phase one and on the SECOND day my yeast infection was GONE!! He has cured cancer even. I did Grahams approach and couldn't think straight, was irritable, and had some serious blood sugar issues. Now I am fine eating fruit only for breakfast, but need some grounding greens and some fats in my diet to remain stable.

[TimmyC]

Cool!! That's what I thought. That's interesting about the 600 calories. Thanks for responding back!

Sharon, thanks for the info! I'm going to check it out.

Tim



Good point Sharon! Timmy... ya it took me a little while to be able to eat all those bananas in one sitting but I love it now. The reason why I asked about calories was because I lost too much weight to the point where I looked sickly. This was because I was always "listening to my body" and snacking all day. When I did the math at first, somedays I would only be getting in about 600 calories, which is NO where near the amount I should have been eating since I am very active and exercise a lot. Anyways that was my reasoning behind it. I wasn't insinuating that I think everyone doesn't eat enough or anything like that...I just wanted to see what everyone else was eating. Thanks!

[Vandy]

Beanie~ I don't feel like it's bad to eat all that fruit...it is our natural diet. I had to work up to it, but I don't have any bad side effects...I feel like most of those side effects were directed towards SAD eaters. ... i dunno


Timmy~ When did u become a certified live food teacher? That's awesome! Congrats!

[TimmyC]

Yesterday LOL. Thanks Vandy!






Timmy~ When did u become a certified live food teacher? That's awesome! Congrats!

[ladybug]

Name that tune if your old enough!! Anyhow I am new to raw and I make a fruit smoothie, enough fruit to fill Vita-Mix, 2 schoops Hemp protein powder, 3Tb 14 grain musilex and water. I drink this all morning while working. Before this I have a glass of 1tsp green powder in carrott/spinach juice (with a lid on so I don't smell it, the green smelled make me gag.) Wait a while and have some tea. I know tea is not raw but I was (not for 3 weeks, only one day of crisis ) a coffee drinking junkee. This works for me.

[Sharon in Colorado]

I drink white tea. It is sun dried. I try not to use too hot water to steep it. I prefer the taste over green & black tea. It is much lighter. It's lower in caffeine as well.

[Fruitarianone]

Pretty much depends on my needs and the weather but right now I'm averaging something like 5 bananas and a quart of OJ or a bunch of grapes in a day :)

[Autumn]

I eat about 6 pieces of fruit a day. I mostly have a morning smoothie, but sometimes not. I eat a mix, but it nearly always includes bananas (my favs), such as strawberries, pears, clementines, apples, blackberries, grapes, peaches, etc. I'm not a big fan of melon (except watermelon and I'm nearly always disappointed in them lately).

[Secret Heart]

I average about 6 fruits a day...4 for breakfast and two before bed.

[ReneeSC]

I've yet to be able to eat fruits _smoothied_ alone - without a protein source for immediate back up; that's why I either do a green leafy smoothy or a superfood one. I can eat fruits alone not smoothied, and pretty much feel okay.

At first I didn't know what was going on between Alissa-Cousens-Graham, and was a big fraught with the suggestion from Cousens for those with blood sugar issues to not eat high-gi fruits while raw. It wasn't until I experienced serious blood sugar crashes did I understand. That's _not_ to say that Alissa doesn't care - she cares! But, she allows you to find your own way. Cousens is there for backup ( around here - and Alissa counts him as a friend )

I went through a period recently when I didn't eat any fruit at all. I suffered for it, but certainly didn't _want it_... but, looking back.. maybe I should have forced myself. ( dunno )

Yah..and the 30 bananas... How does one eat 30 bananas?? Serious question. Do you blend them? I use them mostly in smoothies and ice cream

[Vandy]

Renee~ What do you mean you experienced blood sugar crashes? Just curious.

[ReneeSC]

Vandy,

After many years of blood sugar problems - hypoglycemic to gestational diabetic - to borderline diabetic - to Problem X - to Insulin resistant.. etc......
I began to have other related/secondary health problems; which, frankly is 50 percent why I went raw.

When your blood sugar "crashes" - what that means is that your pancreas will be stimulated to put out too much insulin which destabilizes the proper amounts of sugars in your bloodstream/tissues and you become either sick, dizzy, light-headed, angry, blurried vision, muscle aches, confused, and heart erythmias and other scary things. Depending on the person or the level of "crash" - it can be a light feeling or it can be dangerous.
I was getting dizzy, light-headed, confused, very upset...and just downright sick.

I do still eat fruit. I've always loved it, but I have to have a protein in my body within an hour or two ( if whole fruit ), or within about 15 minutes if smoothied. I guess that's just how my body is working _now_. I wonder if it will change some day?

[rawpriestess]

On average I eat between 3 to 5 pieces of fruit a day

Maybe 1 cantaloup or 1/2 a pineapple for breakfast
1 banana for snack
1 tomato with greens for lunch
1or two kiwis or pears or peaches or oranges for snack
and another tomatoe for dinner maybe

Thats' about as much food as I can get into my body in one day.

I do like to eat tomatoes with my nut pate' or in salads or tacos (raw) and i do like fruits to just eat all day long. But I can't sit down and eat two or three pieces of fruit unless I'm starving.

Maybe one whole one, or two smaller ones, like kiwis.

I can eat a lot of raspberries though. mmmmmmmmmmmmmm
thank goodness we have our own bushes.

[fiddler]

Well, here's what I had today:
BarleyMax
2 Banana Berry Smoothies (Each smoothie is 4 or 5 cups worth - almost a full blender)
3 large California navel oranges
3 large Fuji apples
1/4 cup almonds
1 head of romaine lettuce

The banana-berry smoothie is roughly made up of: 3 cups Fresh OJ, 3 bananas, 1 cup berries.

I'm doing the Graham 80-10-10 thingy and that approach is really concentrated on fruit consumption. I've only been on it for a few days but I've already noticed a big difference... :)

[jax]

I always start my day with fruit, either an apple or two with raw almond butter or a smoothie with 1-2 bananas a bunch of strawberries, blueberries, peaches, whatever and oj (home juiced if possible). The rest of the day is usually greens, nuts and seeds. I am not in good health right now and I don't have much of an appetite so I probably don't eat enough but I do eat when I'm hungry and I guess that will have to do for now. :(

Jax

[Vandy]

Fiddler~ I've been on Graham's 80-10-10 for about 3 months now and I have so much energy! Some people need more fats and vegetables, but I feel as if my body needs the fruit...

I always have some gas after I eat a large salad at night however...any suggestions for this?

[fiddler]

Fiddler~ I've been on Graham's 80-10-10 for about 3 months now and I have so much energy! Some people need more fats and vegetables, but I feel as if my body needs the fruit...

I always have some gas after I eat a large salad at night however...any suggestions for this?

Vandy, I'm still a rookie on all this stuff but I'm trying to read quite a bit. Some authors say the gas can be caused by impaired digestion ability or via improperly digested food left in the tract. Namely, carbohydrates not processed quickly will ferment causing an odorless gas and proteins that aren't assimilated will putrefy and cause a foul smelling gas.
Fats can slow down this digestion. In other words, if fatty foods are in the tract, the body can not "push" the other foods through as fast. If you've only been on RAW food for 3 months, depending on what your diet was before raw, maybe the gas is still part of the detox - some matter still impacted in the digestive tract?

Have you tried keeping a food journal? Are you consuming your fruit on an empty stomach? Do you track your food consumption to assure you're really at the 80-10-10 levels? It is so easy to spike the fat content. I started entering my food menus in livingcookbook software and I'm amazed at how little 10% fat really is on a 2500 calorie diet. I can certainly understand how most people that leave a SAD diet actually increase their fat intake when going to a RAW diet with all the nut/oil based gourmet recipes.

You might consider approaching this solution by keeping a journal and noting the quantity, types and time of food consumption compared to levels of gas you experience. Sorry, I'm really not "qualified" to provide dietary consultation -- just offering up some thoughts... But then again, most dieticians I've read don't have the answers either :(

Best wishes for your health.
HTH, fiddler

[Vandy]

No, actually I have been raw for about 6 months now, and I feel as if I am pretty detoxed, I have gone on about 2 or 3 small juice fasts. I acutally do keep a journal of EVERYTHING, and it is odd that I get gas after eating salads. I always eat mono meals when it comes to fruit, and the only thing I ever put on my salads are sesame tahini or tomatoes. Do you think maybe vegetables are just more difficult to digest, and therefore, cause gas? well, let me know what you think!

[fiddler]

No, actually I have been raw for about 6 months now, and I feel as if I am pretty detoxed, I have gone on about 2 or 3 small juice fasts. I acutally do keep a journal of EVERYTHING, and it is odd that I get gas after eating salads. I always eat mono meals when it comes to fruit, and the only thing I ever put on my salads are sesame tahini or tomatoes. Do you think maybe vegetables are just more difficult to digest, and therefore, cause gas? well, let me know what you think!

David Wolfe wrote that it generally takes one month of eating raw for every year one has eaten cooked food. I don't have any clue how he arrived at that conclusion though (right or wrong.)

The journal suggestion is a way to monitor through trial and error what foods cause gas in your body. But since you're already doing that, you probably already know how your body responds to the quality, quantity and combinations of food and at what hours of the day you're consuming this food.

I've read that vegetables are harder than fruit to digest and assimilate.
BTW, I just had a tomato/tahini salad dressing over greens this week and it was satisfying and tasty.

Again, I'm just a rookie at all this and claim no expertise on any of this stuff. Hope you find your answers.

Best wishes,
fiddler

[HydroRaw]

Hello -- I used to follow 80-10-10 lifestyle for several months. It worked absolutely great until the weather started to get cold. I was basically shivering all the time. In order to overcome the feeling of coldness, I simply added more fats to my daily food consumption -- only temporary until spring. The ratio is now more like 75-20-5 and I have no problem getting my body warmed in a cold surrounding these days. My daily menu (2565 calories -- average) basically looks something like this:

15 bananas
1 whole pink grapefruit
4 tablespoon whole flax seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds (soaked and rinsed)
1 brazil nut
1/2 lb dandelion greens
4 celery stalks
1 whole avocado
1/3 cup Total cereal (whole grain)
Plenty of water

Breakfast Smoothie -- 5 bananas, 4 tablespoon flax seeds, 1/3 cup Total cereal, 2 cups water and a liberal dash of ground cinnamon (tastes far better than SAD candy bars, indeed!)

Morning Salad -- 1 whole grapefruit (chopped), 1 whole avocado (mashed) and a generous dash of cumin

Late Lunch Smoothie -- 5 bananas, 1/4 lb dandelion greens, 2 celery stalks, 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds and 2 cups water

Supper Smoothie -- 5 bananas, 1/4 lb dandelion greens, 2 celery stalks, 1 brazil nut and 2 cups water

Of course, this particular menu is not completely raw because of the inclusion of cereal -- less than 2% of total caloric intake for the day (only 43 calories). Mind you, I need to have a small amount of cereal to fulfill some nutrient requirments such as zinc -- more bioavailable compared to many little hard generic multi-vitamin pills.

For those who are wondering why all those smoothies, I finally got my VitaMix 5000. It is a great blender! I thoroughly enjoy blending my meals -- quick and easy.

Cheers,

Wayne