Eating only fruit for 30 days, these are the “strange side effects” that a 36-year-old woman experienced

An extreme dieter has revealed his experience after eating only fruit for 30 days and experiencing some unusual side effects.

Shade Martin, 36, from upstate New York, turned to a radical diet after suffering from severe shoulder pain that physical therapy and medication failed to relieve.

She had read that alkaline fruits — such as pineapple, berries, bananas and mangoes — had anti-inflammatory properties, so it was believed that eating more of them could help reduce aches and pains in the body.

Martin took his restrictive diet one step further by eating only watermelon for the first week, followed by grapes for six days, before switching to a more colourful mix of fruit bowls for the rest of the challenge.

Despite such a restricted diet, Martin said she still had more energy than usual because the natural sugars were released slowly, and she was also able to think more clearly.

Research shows that fruit can improve brain function, and a Harvard Medical School study found that women who consumed two or more servings of strawberries and blueberries a week could slow memory decline by up to two and a half years.

Other benefits Martin has experienced include virtually no menstrual cramps and she has lost 10 pounds.

While Martin says the diet has more benefits than downsides, she admits it’s not for everyone.

She is a vegetarian and has done juice cleanses before, so this isn’t as big of a change as some others.

Dr. Tracey Brigman, a nutritionist and professor at the University of Georgia, told DailyMail.com that she does not recommend such an extreme approach.

‘While fruit is a great source of some nutrients, it doesn’t contain all the nutrients needed for good health,’ says the nutritionist.

This can lead to many health consequences. Eating only fruit can lead to deficiencies in protein, healthy fats, and some vitamins and minerals found in other food groups.

Additionally, most fruits are low in calories, which can lead to calorie deprivation and fatigue since it can be difficult to eat enough fruit to reach your required calorie intake.

For this reason, this diet can lead to malnutrition’.

Martin admits that her all-fruit diet didn’t do her much good. Martin says that when she only ate grapes, she coughed up a lot of phlegm.

In general, ‘eating fruit is generally effective in reducing mucus production,’ says Dr. Brigman. However, ‘it is thought that certain fruits cause the body to release histamine, which can increase mucus production. This is most common in people who are sensitive or intolerant to histamine. Examples of these fruits include citrus fruits, grapes, bananas, and strawberries.’

Because the fruit is high in fiber, Martin said she was pooping “more” than usual, but that was to be expected.

Experts at the Cleveland Clinic say increased bowel movements are a positive change because it can clean out the digestive system and ‘sweep away waste’.

Removing this waste and toxins can contribute to overall health.

When asked about some of the surprising benefits of this diet, Martin said she suffered from less menstrual cramps than usual.

Along with less pain, the dieter said her periods were “extremely light” but longer than usual.

Dr Vinni Makin from the Cleveland Clinic says periods can even stop altogether when a person goes on a restrictive diet. Explaining why this happens, she says: ‘When you go through these physical changes, the body sees it as stress. Your body is conserving all its energy. It stops the menstrual cycle and reduces hormone production because it only wants to use resources for the very, very, very important things, like breathing and digestion.’

Dr. Makin warns that missing a period could be a sign that a person is nutritionally deficient and “doesn’t have enough fat to support hormone production.” To get things back to normal, she suggests increasing your calorie intake.

Another positive for Martin as she continued her all-fruit diet was that her skin improved.

Initially, Martin said her skin was “clearer,” and then the detox helped flush out all the toxins from her skin. While it did cause some breakouts on her forehead, she said the end result was that her skin looked better and felt better.

After eating only watermelon and grapes for nearly two weeks, Martin began to eat a variety of fruits. As for her daily diet, she would start her day with a large glass of lemonade or limeade.

Then, about 20 minutes later, she’ll make a smoothie with some of her favorite ingredients including bananas, dates, blueberries, and cherries. During the day, instead of eating three fixed meals, she’ll snack on individual fruits.

She said the hardest part was watching her husband and daughter eat “normal” food around her, so she had to find ways to distract herself when this happened to stop the cravings.

Overall, she lost 4.5kg in 30 days but she stressed that weight loss was not her goal and she never counted calories.

Martin claims the biggest problem around low fruit consumption is the misconception that it is too high in sugar. ‘We need fruit, fruit should not be restricted from our diets. There is a misconception that it is the cause of all the health problems and diabetes but we don’t want to talk about unhealthy fats. 

You know, refined sugar and all that other stuff… You start eliminating some of the other things from your diet and you’ll find that [fruit] isn’t the problem but we need it for brain power, we need it for energy and body strength,’ Martin stressed.