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hazards and benefits of a fruitarian on CR


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[Admin Note: This thread was started (and has been chugging along for months) in the Chit Chat forum, before the "General Health and Longevity Forum" was created. I'm moving it because this is where it belongs. -Dean]

 

My diet is primarily fruit, as I am not much attracted to other foods.

There are many warnings on the Internet about a fruit-only regimen, for example one site listed these potential results:

Impaired glucose tolerance, insulin resistance, and diabetes Elevated triglycerides Abdominal obesity
Leptin resistance Inflammation and oxidative stress Endothelial dysfunction
Microvascular disease Hyperuricemia Kidney damage
Fatty liver disease High blood pressure Metabolic syndrome

I've seen warnings about damage to the pancreas and pancreatic cancer.

The element missing from all this free advice on the Internet is the role of quantity of fruit. I would guess that some problems stem from excessive consumption. For example, overeating fruit might push the pancreas too hard.

Aside from trying to get B12, I add these foods out of concern that restriction to apples, grapes, bananas, and strawberries may lead to health problems:

- flaxseed meal
- broccoli
- almonds
- brazil nuts

I would like to dispense with these foods, or at least cut down on frequency of consumption. Probably without the nuts there would be too little protein, but I wonder if that would be a health hazard aside from reduction in muscle mass.

I would like to hear comments about the hazards of a fruitarian on CR, not about the hazards to those people who eat large quantities of fruit every day. My guess is that 2000kcal per day would be a "large" quantity for a man closer to 100 than to 200 pounds.

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I would like to hear comments about the hazards of a fruitarian on CR, not about the hazards to those people who eat large quantities of fruit every day.

 

Aside from trying to get B12, I add these foods out of concern that restriction to apples, grapes, bananas, and strawberries may lead to health problems:

 

- flaxseed meal

- broccoli

- almonds

- brazil nuts

 

I would like to dispense with these foods, or at least cut down on frequency of consumption. 

 

Greg,

 

I'm a big cheerleader for fruit, and I estimate I get ~30% of my calories from fruit these days (~30% veggies, ~30% nuts/seeds, ~10% starches), and I'm certainly eating quite a bit more than 2000 kcal/day total (although not that much as fruit).

 

In short, fruit is healthy, and the negative health consequences you list are promulgated mostly by nutcases who lump all sugars and especially fructose together into the 'toxin' category. Don't believe such crap. See the Kempner Rice & Fruit diet results (discussed here and here) for evidence against the deleterious effects of fruit.

 

But at the same time, the claims of the fruitarian zealots on-line are (nearly) as greatly exaggerated as those of the fruit-bashers. And even most of them (at least the sane ones - like Doug Graham, although he barely qualifies as sane, IMO) advocate eating large amounts of vegetables along with fruit to get sufficient nutrition, esp. minerals.

 

So my question for you is why would you want to cut out any of the non-fruit foods you list above (except for Brazil nuts), which I've finally come to accept (thanks to Michael Rae's repeated warning) as potentially containing too much (and too variable) amounts of selenium to be worth eating. 

 

In short, its debatable, but it might be possible to design an adequate diet consisting of almost exclusively fruit (supplemented w/ B12 of course). But it seems like a silly thing to try to do, when there are so many other healthy foods. In fact, the question is why not add additional varieties of fruit, vegetables and nuts/seeds to the list you've given?

 

--Dean

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Hi Greg:

 

Have you checked your nutrient adequacy on CRON-o-Meter?

 

If your present diet provides the RDAs of almost all the micronutrients then no problem.  (and supplement the others up to the RDA )

 

But if you find you have many deficiencies, you probably should make some adjustments to try to fix that.

 

Google 'Dr. Bruce Ames, Triage Theory of Nutrition' if you have doubts about the importance of getting the RDAs.

 

Rodney.

Edited by nicholson
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I would like to hear comments about the hazards of a fruitarian on CR, not about the hazards to those people who eat large quantities of fruit every day.

 

Aside from trying to get B12, I add these foods out of concern that restriction to apples, grapes, bananas, and strawberries may lead to health problems:

 

- flaxseed meal

- broccoli

- almonds

- brazil nuts

 

I would like to dispense with these foods, or at least cut down on frequency of consumption.

 

Greg,

 

I'm a big cheerleader for fruit, and I estimate I get ~30% of my calories from fruit these days (~30% veggies, ~30% nuts/seeds, ~10% starches), and I'm certainly eating quite a bit more than 2000 kcal/day total (although not that much as fruit).

 

Dean,

 

Thank you. Your posts are always great.

 

I would guess that at least 70% of my calories come from fruit.

 

Dean wrote:

In short, fruit is healthy, and the negative health consequences you list are promulgated mostly by nutcases who lump all sugars and especially fructose together into the 'toxin' category. Don't believe such crap. See the Kempner Rice & Fruit diet results (discussed here and here) for evidence against the deleterious effects of fruit.

That's a relief. I've been plodding along for years without much concern, but I've seen a lot of unsettling views lately. I'll read the info you noted.

 

Dean wrote:

But at the same time, the claims of the fruitarian zealots on-line are (nearly) as greatly exaggerated as those of the fruit-bashers. And even most of them (at least the sane ones - like Doug Graham, although he barely qualifies as sane, IMO) advocate eating large amounts of vegetables along with fruit to get sufficient nutrition, esp. minerals.

So I'll have to keep eating those veggies...

 

Dean wrote:

So my question for you is why would you want to cut out any of the non-fruit foods you list above (except for Brazil nuts), which I've finally come to accept (thanks to Michael Rae's repeated warning) as potentially containing too much (and too variable) amounts of selenium to be worth eating.

I just learned about Brazil nuts from Michael Rae, so I'll be dropping them. Actually they were an rare item with me, but now they are stricken from the list.

 

I want to cut out the non-fruit foods because it is a chore to buy and eat them. I am satisfied with the fruit and actually enjoy eating it. The flaxseed meal is pleasant and I think needs to stay on my list, but everything else is tiresome to me.

 

Dean wrote:

In short, its debatable, but it might be possible to design an adequate diet consisting of almost exclusively fruit (supplemented w/ B12 of course). But it seems like a silly thing to try to do, when there are so many other healthy foods. In fact, the question is why not add additional varieties of fruit, vegetables and nuts/seeds to the list you've given?

 

--Dean

I can eat a wider variety of fruit, but usually stick with those listed because they seem adequate. Some other fruits I've seen or tried are pricey compared with my favorites. As for vegetables, they require some preparation and are not pleasing. So unless there is a health reason, I won't bother with them. Nuts/seeds are great, but I usually just don't feel like bothering with them. I wonder if they are fresh enough when bought, and if there is a problem when I've had them in the fridge for a while. It's easier to evaluate with fruit. But I should add more nuts/seeds I guess.

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Hi Greg: Have you checked your nutrient adequacy on CRON-o-Meter?

Hi Rodney,No, I have not used any software. I don't like creating accounts on websites. (CRS is a rare exception)

Greg, let me be frank.

 

Given that you've just shared on another thread that your BMI is 16.5-17.5, and hence you are really pushing hard on CR, it is pretty foolish to take such a cavalier attitude towards nutrition by eating such a limited number of foods (mostly fruit) and not checking the adequacy of your diet using software like CRON-o-Meter.

 

You could quite possibly be doing yourself significant harm by eating that little of such a narrow range of foods. Seriously. If you are concerned about privacy, use a disposable email address (e.g. from 10minutemail.com) to sign up for CRON-O-Meter.

 

Just do it man. You seem like a likeable and logical guy. You owe it to yourself.

 

--Dean

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Greg, I'm totally with you on not wanting to create web-based accounts. With something like CRON-O-Meter, it's particularly disturbing to have to create an account (the desktop version might still be available, but it's no longer supported). I want to, need to, enter massive amounts of personal data -- including lots of very personal stuff as "Notes" (how much I drank a particular evening, whether I was sick and had diarrhea (important because it affects weight, and could explain weird food entries on a particular day)). But I finally decided not to worry about it. The guy who created CRON-O-Meter seems like a very trustworthy guy.

 

And I agree with Dean about the importance of tracking nutrients. But, there ARE desktop alternatives out there. Nothing free, though, as far as I know. I haven't looked into these programs much, though. Has anyone else?

 

If money is the problem, I'd be happy to chip in.

 

Zeta

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With something like CRON-O-Meter, it's particularly disturbing to have to create an account (the desktop version might still be available, but it's no longer supported).

 

Brilliant idea Zeta! I happen to have very recently downloaded the old, but still quite functional, desktop version of CRON-O-Meter in order to do some fancy importing / converting of Michael's Megamuffin recipe which was only available in CRON-O-Meter's native XML format. The (free!) download for Mac or Windows is available here.

 

I'm happy to report it works quite adequately (at least under Windows 10), and doesn't require any sort of account, or even internet connection to function - it must store the food database locally..

 

So Greg, thanks to Zeta's good idea, you've got an easy and privacy-preserving way to check the nutrition of your diet. I strongly urge you to do it.

 

Let us know if you need help with tweaking your diet after you've entered it and seen where you may be deficient.

 

--Dean

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With something like CRON-O-Meter, it's particularly disturbing to have to create an account (the desktop version might still be available, but it's no longer supported).

 

Brilliant idea Zeta! I happen to have very recently downloaded the old, but still quite functional, desktop version of CRON-O-Meter in order to do some fancy importing / converting of Michael's Megamuffin recipe which was only available in CRON-O-Meter's native XML format. The (free!) download for Mac or Windows is available here.

 

I'm happy to report it works quite adequately (at least under Windows 10), and doesn't require any sort of account, or even internet connection to function - it must store the food database locally..

 

So Greg, thanks to Zeta's good idea, you've got an easy and privacy-preserving way to check the nutrition of your diet. I strongly urge you to do it.

 

Let us know if you need help with tweaking your diet after you've entered it and seen where you may be deficient.

 

--Dean

 

Thanks Dean and Zeta, I've been thinking on what you've written. As for "The guy who created CRON-O-Meter seems like a very trustworthy guy."; it's not saintly fellows like him that I worry about - it's his site being hacked by nosy Internet rats (apologies to members of order Rodentia).

 

I followed Dean's link and saw the message "The original version of CRON-O-Meter is still available for download.", but when clicking on the download "button" for Windows Version 0.9.9, I got this response:

HTTP Status 404 - /download/CRONOMETER-setup-0.9.9.exe

type Status report

message /download/CRONOMETER-setup-0.9.9.exe

description The requested resource (/download/CRONOMETER-setup-0.9.9.exe) is not available.

 

Dean wrote:

Let us know if you need help with tweaking your diet after you've entered it and seen where you may be deficient.

Thanks Dean. While I am very leery of advice on the Internet, I have put certain members of CRS on my whitelist. So I will ask for your help. Thank you.

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Thanks Dean and Zeta, I've been thinking on what you've written. As for "The guy who created CRON-O-Meter seems like a very trustworthy guy."; it's not saintly fellows like him that I worry about - it's his site being hacked by nosy Internet rats (apologies to members of order Rodentia).

I followed Dean's link and saw the message ... The requested resource (/download/CRONOMETER-setup-0.9.9.exe) is not available.

 

Oops - sorry. That link is broken. Here is where you can download the desktop version of CRON-O-Meter.

 

Glad to hear you're willing to dig into your diet to see if it needs tuning for nutrition.

 

--Dean

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Thanks Dean and Zeta, I've been thinking on what you've written. As for "The guy who created CRON-O-Meter seems like a very trustworthy guy."; it's not saintly fellows like him that I worry about - it's his site being hacked by nosy Internet rats (apologies to members of order Rodentia).

I followed Dean's link and saw the message ... The requested resource (/download/CRONOMETER-setup-0.9.9.exe) is not available.

 

 

Oops - sorry. That link is broken. Here is where you can download the desktop version of CRON-O-Meter.

 

Glad to hear you're willing to dig into your diet to see if it needs tuning for nutrition.

 

--Dean

 

Dean,

 

I'm giving up on the desktop version (details below). Based on your endorsement, I'm thinking to live dangerously and create the account so I can use the online version.

 

I don't want to waste more time on the desktop version, but in case you're curious I provide these details:

 

Installed without problems, but when I tried to run it a message box popped up saying the PC does not have a JVM, so please install the JRE. But that Windows 7 PC has the latest JRE (checked that it was up to date with "Java Update").

 

When I uninstalled CRON-O-Meter, it wasn't as clean as I like. I had to manually delete the CRON-O-Meter folder. Not a big deal though.

 

I won't slam CRON-O-Meter, since the desktop version has been retired. I'll think about the online version now.

 

Thanks for providing the link for me. It was worth a try.

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I'm giving up on the desktop version (details below). 

 

Sorry to have wasted your time Greg. Windows 7 is a ways behind. Works fine under Windows 10.

 

Please do seriously consider trying the on-line version of CRON-O-Meter (with phony name and email if you're concerned about privacy), or some other nutrition tracking software.

 

--Dean

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Greg, I've just now seen this thread. I take it that the danger is now past, but let me echo (or magnify) nicholson and Dean: it is insane to be eating as extreme a diet as you are, and more so at your BMI and implied energy intake, without using nutrition software! It is routine for people who first start CR who are eating what are by all signs very healthy diets to discover multiple modest deficiencies and imbalances in their diets once they plug them into nutrition software: fruits being the least micronutrient-dense of all major classes of healthy foods (aside from oils, arguably), I am genuinely alarmed to think that you've been eating this way without looking at good nutrition software, and greatly relieved that yu're finally using itT!

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Hi Michael,

I've kept healthy on a very limited diet for over 40 years. I'm guessing the small variety of vegetables I've always eaten has saved me from the ill health arising from a pure fruitarian dietary.

I have started to add foods to CRON-O-Meter. Just because I've stayed healthy so far is no guarantee of longevity.

Thanks for your expert input to the forums.

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All,

 

Here is more good evidence (with references) from Dr. Greger about why whole fruits are not the demon food group that many so-called experts in the nutrition field make it out to be:

 

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/if-fructose-is-bad-what-about-fruit.html

 

I won't belabor the point - but fruit in general, and berries in particular, come out looking particularly healthy on a number of metrics.

 

--Dean

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Have either of you guys had advanced lipids checked while on this sort of diet (NMR Lipoprofile / VAP) ?  (or others on a high fruit diet?)

 

I would be very curious to see where triglycerides / HDL / apoB or LDL particles sit on such a diet.  If A1C is in an optimal range while TGs are low and under HDL, and LDL particles are few and large while eating 30-70% calories as fruit, this would make me feel much more comfortable about a higher fruit diet.

 

It seems like the 'type' of fruit might be important.  Avocados, olives, olive oil, red palm oil, cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, bell peppers, etc could all contribute toward a very high fruit diet by calories, while this would be a fairly low fructose diet as compared with one that uses apple sauce / ripe bananas / raisins / date sugar / etc. for a bulk of the calories.

Edited by sirtuin
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I would be very curious to see where triglycerides / HDL / apoB or LDL particles sit on such a diet.  If A1C is in an optimal range while TGs are low and under HDL, and LDL particles are few and large while eating 30-70% calories as fruit, this would make me feel much more comfortable about a higher fruit diet.

 

I haven't had an NMR or VAP test. I don't feel much of a need based on my latest bloodwork.

 

More specifically, my A1C is normal (5.2, RR 4.8-5.6), my triglycerides are low (46 mg/dL) and well below my HDL (62 mg/dL).

 

Without NMR or VAP, I don't have info on LDL particle count or size. But at 61 mg/dL, my LDL is lower than my HDL, and my total cholesterol was 132 mg/dL.

 

I'd say I'm at pretty low risk of CVD, despite (or perhaps more accurately, because of!) the preponderance of fruit in my diet. 

 

--Dean

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Let us know if you need help with tweaking your diet after you've entered it and seen where you may be deficient.

Hi Dean,

 

I added my day's foods to the online CRON-O-Meter.

 

It showed Prot-Fat-Carb as 11%-11%-78%.

 

The bars beside the insufficient nutrients were yellow. I had expected to see red for those at very low levels (especially vitamin D at 0%).

 

The most striking deficiencies are:

  • vitamin D=0%
  • omega-6=8% (omega-3=156%)
  • selenium=14%
  • calcium=21%
I don't know what to do for omega-6 without adding too many calories.

 

I get enough sunshine for vitamin D much of the year, but need a source for darkest winter.

 

If Brazil nuts are out, selenium is a problem since I don't eat grains or cereals and can't stand any more broccoli (my primary source now).

 

Most of my calcium comes from broccoli, and I'm maxed out on that. Adding kale boosts vitamin A into the red at 366% and only moved calcium up to 27% at amounts of kale that I could tolerate. Collard greens would move calcium to 43%, but would boost vitamin A to 714%. So I don't favor kale or collards.

 

The easiest fix would be a supplemental pill or capsule, especially if Amazon carries it.

 

I normally prefer raw food sources, but I'm eating all I can handle and would welcome a tablet. I've been pleased with the B12 tablets that you recommended.

 

The selenium level is 47% on days that I eat yeast flakes, so the deficiency isn't as alarming as it looks today. I plan to discontinue yeast flakes when they run out, so I am interested in an alternative vegan source. One thing I didn't like about yeast flakes is that they boost vitamin B1/B2/B3 levels to anywhere from 380% to 850% (and the bars are red).

 

Thank you.

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I would be very curious to see where triglycerides / HDL / apoB or LDL particles sit on such a diet.  If A1C is in an optimal range while TGs are low and under HDL, and LDL particles are few and large while eating 30-70% calories as fruit, this would make me feel much more comfortable about a higher fruit diet.

 

I haven't had an NMR or VAP test. I don't feel much of a need based on my latest bloodwork.

 

More specifically, my A1C is normal (5.2, RR 4.8-5.6), my triglycerides are low (46 mg/dL) and well below my HDL (62 mg/dL).

 

Without NMR or VAP, I don't have info on LDL particle count or size. But at 61 mg/dL, my LDL is lower than my HDL, and my total cholesterol was 132 mg/dL.

 

I'd say I'm at pretty low risk of CVD, despite (or perhaps more accurately, because of!) the preponderance of fruit in my diet. 

 

--Dean

 

Very nice!  With LDL down under HDL and low trigs, you should be most excellent there.  So, at 30% fruit in your diet does this work out to something like 100+ grams of sugar per day (50+g of fructose?)  Which fruits are the largest contributors to your fruit calories?

 

It looks like fruit supplied around 39% of my calories yesterday, providing around 20.3 grams of fructose, 20 grams of glucose, 5.1 grams of sucrose, 29.3 grams of fiber, and 43.4 grams of fat.

Edited by sirtuin
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Hi Greg!

 

Glad to see you're taking advantage of CRON-O-Meter. It is a great tool!

 

I added my day's foods to the online CRON-O-Meter.


It showed Prot-Fat-Carb as 11%-11%-78%.

 

That's about where I expected you to be, based on your previous summary of your diet. Not a bad place to start, given your carbs are coming from whole fruits and veggies. Most people would advocate somewhat more fat in place of carbs, and a little bit more protein. The amount of extra fat people would recommend varies, but I personally target 15-20% of calories from fat, keeping saturated low, Omega-6:Omega-3 around 3:1, and the balance from MUFA (from nuts and avocados).

 
The bars beside the insufficient nutrients were yellow. I had expected to see red for those at very low levels (especially vitamin D at 0%).
 
CRON-O-Meter is a little bit weird about the color code of its bars. It would seem like red should be reserved for frank deficits, and maybe excess quantities in specific cases where upper limits are documented. But as you've observed, that's not the way it works. More on excesses below.
 
The most striking deficiencies are:
  • vitamin D=0%
  • omega-6=8% (omega-3=156%)
  • selenium=14%
  • calcium=21%
I don't know what to do for omega-6 without adding too many calories.

 

The idea is substitution Greg. If you want to keep your calories constant, then reduce something (like some of the fruit you are eating), and substitute something with the missing nutrients. In the case of Omega-6, adding some more walnuts might be a good choice. Take a look at the Omega-6 column of Zeta's nut table and see which nuts/seeds you think look best. Remember, target about 3:1 ratio of Omega-6:Omega-3. Walnuts have a good amount of Omega-3, but will still probably move you in the direction of 3:1. That substitution should also bump up your % calories from fat towards the 15-20% range, which I personally consider reasonable, although some (like Michael Rae) recommend more.
 
vitamin D=0%
I get enough sunshine for vitamin D much of the year, but need a source for darkest winter.

 

Yes, vitamin D is a tough one for everyone, but especially vegans. I supplement, with about 1200 IU / day in the winter months. See this thread for my vegan supplement regime.

 
selenium=14%

If Brazil nuts are out, selenium is a problem since I don't eat grains or cereals and can't stand any more broccoli (my primary source now).

 

I recommend diversifying from broccoli (see below) which should bump it up some. But selenium is another one I supplement with, to the tune of 50% of the RDA of selenium. The rest I get from a diverse diet of fruits, vegetables, nuts / seeds & legumes & other starches (rice, barley, sweet potatoes, quinoa). You might consider substituting in brown rice and/or beans as a dietary source.

 

 

  • calcium=21%
Most of my calcium comes from broccoli, and I'm maxed out on that. Adding kale boosts vitamin A into the red at 366% and only moved calcium up to 27% at amounts of kale that I could tolerate. Collard greens would move calcium to 43%, but would boost vitamin A to 714%. So I don't favor kale or collards.
 
First off, don't worry about high percentages of natural vitamin A from plant foods, or B vitamins for that matter. I regularly get many hundreds of percent for these, and there are no known detrimental effects, except perhaps orange skin in the case of vitamin A. Note this is not the case for supplemental vitamin A or vitamin A from animal sources which is in the form of retinol, and has been shown to be actively detrimental in dosages greater than the RDA. Get your Vitamin A from plants (as carotenoids), and don't worry that it looks high in terms of the percent RDI. This is a case to ignore the red bar in CRON-O-Meter.
 
So I would recommend eating more leafy greens for calcium substituting some fruit if you want to keep calories constant (or just add more greens if you can find the room!). Collards are a good choice. I eat a lot of those (raw and/or blended up as part of my salad dressing). But I also take 250mg of calcium per day as well in supplement form. See my supplement regime post for type / brand.
 

 

  • I normally prefer raw food sources, but I'm eating all I can handle and would welcome a tablet. I've been pleased with the B12 tablets that you recommended.
 
I hear you Greg. Sometimes it is not easy to eat enough to fulfill nutritional requirements when your diet is mostly raw fruits and vegetables. But the idea is to substitute to keep the quantity of food manageable while meeting nutritional requirements from food as much as possible, and only supplement when necessary.
 

 

  • The selenium level is 47% on days that I eat yeast flakes, so the deficiency isn't as alarming as it looks today. I plan to discontinue yeast flakes when they run out, so I am interested in an alternative vegan source. 
 
Check out my supplement regime post for the source of selenium I use.
 

 

  • One thing I didn't like about yeast flakes is that they boost vitamin B1/B2/B3 levels to anywhere from 380% to 850% (and the bars are red).

 

B-vitamins are another one where you don't have to worry, especially if you're getting your B's from foods. Again, the red bars in CRON-O-Meter are sometimes misleading, suggesting danger for over consumption. But your body is good at regulating B vitamins levels, and will just pee out what it doesn't require.

 

Hope this helps!

 

--Dean

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Which fruits are the largest contributors to your fruit calories?

 

My fruit calories are quite distributed. As I've said several times recently, I'm big on variety. My fruit calories come from the following. Below the first two, which are the biggest calorie contributors, the others are probably similar in calorie contributions:

  • Berries - Mix of strawberries, blueberries, wild blackberries, cranberries, sour cherries every day
  • Bananas - I modulate these depending on my weight trajectory - I'm around 2-3 per day these days.
  • Melon - Alternating between cantaloupe, honeydew, mango, papaya, pineapple
  • Durian - I admit it, I'm addicted to durian...
  • Orange - 1/2 an small orange per day, with a bit of the peal/pith
  • Apples - One small-to-medium (crabapple-like) apple per day, picked in the fall from wild trees near my house
  • Other Tree Fruit - Persimmons (one of my favorites), plums, peaches, nectarines, pears, pomegranate. Depending on the season. About 1/2 of one of these per day.

Note - this does not include the non-standard fruits I eat, like avocado (1/2 per day), cucumber, zucchini, tomato (~100g / day), etc.

 

--Dean

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The bars beside the insufficient nutrients were yellow. I had expected to see red for those at very low levels (especially vitamin D at 0%).

That's odd ... some of those deficiencies are pretty severe.

 

The most striking deficiencies are:

  • vitamin D=0%
  • omega-6=8% (omega-3=156%)
I don't know what to do for omega-6 without adding too many calories.

 

As Dean posted in the middle of my composition ;) , substitute! That is the very essence of achieving the "ON" part of "CR." This is all a backpack problem.

 

I get enough sunshine for vitamin D much of the year, but need a source for darkest winter.

Yeah, no one gets enough D without fatty fish. Take a softgel pill, and get your 25(OH)D3 tested.

 

selenium=14%

 

If Brazil nuts are out, selenium is a problem since I don't eat grains or cereals and can't stand any more broccoli (my primary source now).

What about legumes? I was surprised to learn that Dean had an Se problem, too, as I get lots; I see a huge chunk of mine comes from a daily legume stew.

 

Don't eat 'em raw, tho' ;) .

 

BTW, how much sucrose and fructose are you getting? If this isn't already displayed, you can turn it on with the checkboxes in your target preferences.

 

Dean: you indicate in your interpolated post above that your Se supplement is documented in your supplement post; in fact, it just says "Swanson," which could be any one of 4 different products.

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Michael wrote:

 

Dean: you indicate in your interpolated post above that your Se supplement is documented in your supplement post; in fact, it just says "Swanson," which could be any one of 4 different products.

 

 

My legume (black beans, chickpeas & lentils) consumption isn't that high - about 75-100g / day.

 

Here is the Swanson selenium supplement I take every other day. 

 

--Dean

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Michael wrote:

Dean: you indicate in your interpolated post above that your Se supplement is documented in your supplement post; in fact, it just says "Swanson," which could be any one of 4 different products.

 

My legume (black beans, chickpeas & lentils) consumption isn't that high - about 75-100g / day.

 

Here is the Swanson selenium supplement I take every other day. 

 

--Dean

 

Hmm, the label says it contains gelatin ... :huh:

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