Health - Wellness
Eating Fruit Every Day Has An Unexpected Effect On Your Metabolism
By JENNIFER ANANDANAYAGAM
A healthy metabolism means your body quickly burns calories to meet energy needs. Eating only fruit daily, as in a fruitarian diet, can affect your metabolism.
A fruitarian diet lacks many vital nutrients, which can cause the body to enter starvation mode. Your metabolism slows down to conserve energy and burn fewer calories.
Protein not only boosts metabolism but also increases muscle mass. Given that fruits are a poor source of protein, a fruitarian diet can weaken muscle strength and mass.
This is particularly problematic since your resting energy expenditure, or the rate at which your body burns energy at rest, is directly related to muscle mass.
Despite these concerns, fruits should still be a part of your diet, ideally comprising about 25% to 30% of daily food intake. They offer fiber, folate, vitamin C, and potassium.
In fact, including fruits high in vitamin C, such as strawberries, blueberries, avocados, apricots, citrus fruits, and apples, in a balanced diet can actually boost metabolism.