Woman sheds six stone with raw fruit diet in US
A woman managed to shed an incredible six stone by taking up a raw fruit diet - where she would eat over 30 bananas a week, Daily Mirror reports.
Katie Brenneman, 32, was bullied in her youth as she struggled with overeating and at her heaviest weighed over 16 stone.
Determined to make a change, she became a vegan in 2014 but didn't see the transformation she was after, and soon she learned of a fruitarian diet.
The diet saw Katie eating mainly raw fruits plus a few vegetables, nuts, and seeds, and soon she began rapidly losing the pounds and she now weighs in at just ten stone.
Katie, from Indiana, USA, said: "All my life, I've been around heavy, home-cooked meals containing animal products and processed foods and I struggled with my weight from a young age.
"I did get made fun of in school for being heavy and I struggled with my self-esteem and later with overeating and binge eating.
"I've been on my weight loss journey for about seven years trying to find something that works for me. I first went raw vegan cold turkey and did it for seven months.
"I wasn't eating enough though and I could no longer sustain the lifestyle, so I went vegetarian. About five years ago, I decided to finally give up all animal products and go vegan again.
"Last year is when I decided a fruitarian lifestyle is what I really wanted to try to see if I could really overhaul my lifestyle.
"I was inspired to take charge of my health during the pandemic and I saw a lot of the vegan community on Instagram talking about high fruit diets and how our physiology is closest to that of a frugivore which was compelling to me, and I decided to just go for it.
"Being a fruitarian does limit what I can eat when I'm dining out. However, since the pandemic, I've gone out much less anyways, so the transition wasn't hard for me.
"I make sure to eat before I go out and pack extra fruits along just in case I get hungry. Many restaurants will have things like garden salads which I can eat, but it's rare that it will sustain me alone.
"Getting all your nutrients on a raw vegan diet or any diet for that matter is a concern. I always take a B12 supplement along with DHEA/DHA algae derivative and vitamin D in the winter when I don't get as much sun."