What Happened to The Women Who Ate Only FruitStory by Julie Hambleton A 27-year-old woman, Karolina Krzzak, tragically died in a Bali hotel room after adhering to an extreme "fruitarian" diet. This highly restrictive, fruit-only eating pattern led to severe malnutrition and starvation, resulting in her death. At the time of her passing she weighed a mere 22 kilograms (approximately 48.5 lbs). Her story serves as a severe warning from medical professionals about the critical dangers associated with such extreme diets that promise rapid results or detoxification but lead to catastrophic health decline. Understanding the Fruitarian Diet - A fruitarian diet is an extreme version of the raw vegan diet where one primarily only eats fruit. Image credit: Shutterstock The fruitarian diet is an extremely restrictive subset of veganism where the consumer's primary, or sometimes exclusive, source of nutrition is raw fruit. While variations exist, some strict followers aim for 75% or more of their diet to consist of fruits, with the remainder potentially coming from nuts, seeds, and sometimes vegetables. The philosophy behind this diet often includes claims of detoxification, spiritual purity, and a belief that consuming only foods that can be harvested without killing the plant (like fruits that have fallen off) is the most natural and ethical way to eat. However, due to its severe limitations, the fruitarian diet is highly controversial among nutritionists, as it severely lacks essential nutrients like protein, calcium, iron, zinc, Omega-3 fatty acids, and Vitamin B12. This diet has a high risk of malnutrition, muscle loss, and severe health complications. The Consequences of Severe Malnutrition - Her fruitarian diet pushed her body into a starvation state. The extreme fruitarian diet deprived Karolina of essential macronutrients and micronutrients, causing her body to enter a starvation state. Medical reports indicated she was suffering from both osteoporosis, a condition marked by weakened bones, and an albumin deficiency. These are clear consequences of prolonged, poor nutrition and starvation. The doctors said that her fruit-only diet lacked vital components like proteins, fats, calcium, iron, vitamin B12, and adequate complex carbohydrates. This severe deficiency weakens the intestinal lining, disrupts electrolyte levels, and slows metabolism, ultimately causing multiple organs to fail. Doctor’s Warning: The Dangers of Restrictive Plans - Karolina's fruit-only diet caused her to essentially starve to death. Credit: @carolina.mariie Medical experts from strongly cautioned against following fruit-only or similar highly restrictive diets. They explained that while fruits offer vitamins and antioxidants, relying solely on them causes severe protein-energy malnutrition, leading to muscle loss, anemia, and life-threatening electrolyte imbalances. Furthermore, the high fructose content in excessive fruit consumption can elevate sugar, trigger insulin resistance, and increase the risk of related disease. The doctors stressed that long-term adherence to such trends can result in cognitive decline, fatigue, multi-organ dysfunction, and in severe cases like Karolina's, death. They emphasized that a healthy diet must be a balanced combination of fruits, vegetables, sufficient proteins, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats. Not The First ‘Fruitarian' To Suffer A Similar Fate - Zhanna Samsonova also died in 2023 from eating a fruit-only diet. Sadly, Karolina is not the first to suffer this fate as a result from the fruitarian diet. Zhanna Samsonova, a Russian vegan raw food influencer known online as Zhanna D'Art, tragically died in July 2023 at the age of 39 in Malaysia. Reportedly, she died from "starvation and exhaustion" exacerbated by her extremely restrictive diet. For at least the last four years of her life, she had followed an exclusively raw vegan diet, subsisting mainly on fruits, sunflower seed sprouts, fruit smoothies, and juices. At its most extreme, friends reported her diet was almost entirely fruit-based, with some claims suggesting she had not consumed water for six years. Instead, she had opted for fruit and vegetable juices. Samsonova passionately promoted this raw food lifestyle on social media, believing it transformed her body and made her look younger than her peers. Read More: Health Organization Offers Strict ‘Soup and Shake' Diet to Reverse Type 2 Diabetes. Does it Actually Work? The Warning Signs and Family’s Battle - Zhanna's health declined fast due to her fruitarian diet. Despite her online assertions of wellness, Samsonova's health had been visibly deteriorating. Friends noted her "increasingly emaciated" appearance and expressed profound worry. One friend described how they feared "finding her lifeless body in the morning." Her mother, Vera Samsonova, had desperately fought to save her daughter, disapproving of the extreme eating habits and trying to convince her to adopt a more balanced diet. Just months before her death, friends saw her in Sri Lanka looking exhausted with swollen legs and oozing lymph nodes. She was reportedly sent home to seek treatment, only to run away and resume her travels. Her official cause of death was attributed by her mother to a "cholera-like infection," which was believed to have been worsened by the extreme exhaustion and malnutrition caused by her strict vegan diet. Are Raw, Vegan Diets To Blame? - Raw, vegan diets are not necessarily bad, but they must be balanced. Image credit: Shutterstock The core issue that led to the deaths of both women was not a standard or balanced raw, vegan diet. Rather, it was the extreme and restrictive nature of the specific "fruitarian" and raw food regimens they followed that induced severe malnutrition and starvation. In the case of Karolina Krzyzak, doctors explicitly linked her death to starvation and the severe medical conditions directly caused by her fruit-only diet. Her death was a result of the catastrophic breakdown of her body due to the total lack of essential proteins, fats, and other critical nutrients. Therefore, the diet itself, by causing starvation, was the direct fatal mechanism. Extreme Diets Are Not The AnswerThe human body is complex and requires a wide range of macro- and micronutrients in order to function and thrive. The issue with extreme or restrictive diets such as these are that they don't provide even the minimum amount of calories that a person needs for the basic functioning of their body. Yes, fruits and vegetables are good for you – both in raw and cooked forms. Yes, the general population could eat more of these products. However, eating only fruits and vegetables does not provide you with enough protein, carbohydrates, fat, and calories to live. Eventually your body's systems will start failing. True health comes from a diet that contains a proper balance of a variety of different foods. Whole grains, root vegetables and tubers, lentils, beans, unsaturated oils, nuts and seeds, and animal sources of proteins if you so choose. It is also okay to occasionally include foods with less nutritional value, like cakes, cookies, french fries – so long as they are not regular occurance. Fruits and vegetables should be staple parts of our diet, but they cannot be the only thing we eat. If you are unsure if you are getting the right nutrition that you need, speak with a registered dietitian. They can help you build the diet that is right for you. Disclaimer: This information is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment and is for information only. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions about your medical condition and/or current medication. Do not disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking advice or treatment because of something you have read here. ARTICLE SOURCE: https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/what-happened-to-the-women-who-ate-only-fruit/ar-AA1QrBt2?
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comment_13328I have made note of carnivore, fasting and trying to hit protein targets. I have altered the fat content and found pretty much where I need to be.
I have also noted I am amazed by the amounts of food other people can eat in one setting. Once I get past a 3/4"-1" rib eye, I'm full and sometimes can manage to eat the other half of my wife's steak, but that can be a stretch. I have tried to hit protein targets as I am getting more and more into lifting at the gym.
The past few weeks I have been on a stretch of overtime. I am averaging just a tad over 66 hours per week. I have been using some of the time on nights to pursue my Google degree in Carnivore and my YouTube College of Medicine Certificate with a lot of the metabolic things that come along with the carnivore diet, fasting and lifting weights (with an autoimmune disease tossed in as well). I'm not close to graduating from either Google nor Youtube, but I am working on those degrees.
I read a ton on the sugar diet (not that I am interested but more so to read about the effects of sugar). I have read a ton on glucose, glycogen, the liver and the pancreas as well as insulin resistance and insulin sensitivity. Instead of watching other people give their (mostly biased) opinions on studies and medical papers I decided to read theirs and then conduct my own experiments on myself. (Maybe inspired by Nick Norwitz, ??)
My first conclusion is that after going without sugar for 13-14 months the least little bit of sugar triggers hunger signals like I have not had in forever. As noted, I am trying to hit protein targets, and I simply can't eat that amount of meat to get to 200 grams of protein. For weight loss and using fat for energy this is a good thing. For weight/muscle gain I don't think I am fueling up as well as I need. I had some ideas and tried to kill two birds with one stone. I bought some of the pre-mixed protein drinks. I tried one, and then waited a week to try another, and then another after the third week. This container has 2.5 servings per bottle and I drank half of it and then 12 hours later the other half.
Rockin' Protein - Shamrock Farms
It has 20grams of carbohydrates and 11 grams of sugar so I'm getting them at 10 and 6 per serving.
Within an hour of each serving I am as hungry as all get out. It does not feel like an old sugar craving as I didn't really have any of those going to carnivore. But I can remember always feeling a little bit hungry. 5-6-7 20oz Mountain Dews and multiple snack cakes thru the day was providing me with the sugar to make my brain say, "I'm hungry again". I am guessing (hypothesizing if this were truly scientific) that by being off sugar/carbs for so long it only takes a very small amount to take me back to "hungry" all over again. (I have found a similar issues with seed oils. I ate them by the buckets before Carnivore and now the least little bit sends me running to the bathroom).
The sugar and the carbs have been a tradeoff for appetite and getting in extra protein. My weight fluctuates/swings normally and that has continued. Maybe up a pound or two more but swings back down to where I am averaging around 215. (still 90lbs off my start point on carnivore).
I could stand to lose some more weight, maybe 15-20lbs or so, but I am not as concerned with weight loss as of late. Super happy with the 90-95lbs in 14 months. Carnivore is still my way of eating, and as far as food is concerned it is still strict carnivore. Once a week or so I am indulging in a few carbs and a few sugars which triggers some hunger. I get the benefit of the extra protein from the drink but at the same time I can get in one more rib eye due to the hunger it provides. Probably not the best method to trigger hunger, but since I never had cravings, I don't see it being my 'gate-way' drug back to Mountain Dews and Little Debbie Snack cakes. LOL
The return? In the past month I can see a difference in my biceps and triceps. And although the aesthetics is not the goal, it is pretty cool to gain a little muscle at 55. The end goal is to gain muscle to offset the natural muscle loss from aging as well as the effects of the auto-immune disease I am trying to reverse with carnivore. The most impressive part so far is the plates I am adding in the gym. I am a lot stronger at 55 than 35. I am not 25 and just out of the service healthy but I am a lot closer to that than I was 14 months ago. And there has been some strides in the last month with "sugar dosing".
If I were struggling with weight still, I might not see this as a grand idea but since I am good with my weight right now, I don't see the harm of the occasional sugar spike. (This is similar to a four-year carnivore friend at the gym who eats sweet potatoes on Thursday nights before a big lift on Friday. Really similar concepts).
Again, not one of those double-blind studies with a thousand humans as control subjects, just me, and my approach to my own health. Maybe not the best plan, but it is my plan, and for now it is working rather well.
babbling on again.
Scott