Woman whos only eaten fruit for the last 27 years feeds her kids the same

Mum-of-two Anne Osborne has been eating nothing but fruit for the last 27 years.

She is 52, keeps fit, and is now raising her children on the same raw diet.

Even for Christmas, Anne, from Queensland, Australia, eats just eight dates and half a melon and says she never goes hungry.

When going out to eat, she takes her own food with her, eating a portion of melon as a starter, main and dessert.

And the fruit festival director insists her diet is not boring.

Anne typically starts her day with a mango or half a melon for breakfast (150-200 calories approximately), before snacking on four bananas mid-morning (400 cals), lunching on an avocado (400 cals appx) and eating two mangos for dinner (300 cals appx).

What could be better than gorgeous fruit? said Anne.

I feel healthy and energetic on this diet. I love being a fruitarian. I believe we are all frugivores – animals that thrive mostly on raw fruit, succulent fruit-like vegetables, roots, shoots, nuts and seeds – and it makes total sense to me to only eat fruit.

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When you first transfer over to a fruit diet you dont feel full in the same way as you do when eating regular food, but it has to be sustainable and now I dont feel the hunger.

Anne, who became a vegan in 1991, spends $200 (around £110) a week on her fruit supply.

She insists that the fruits have to be good quality and that nibbling on them in social occasions is not an issue for her.

To wash down the fruit, Anne, who does not consume alcohol, only drinks juiced oranges or still water, saving sparkling water for special occasions, like a birthday or Christmas toast.

If you want to follow a fruit only diet, it has to be good stuff, be that organic, or foraged and grown in good quality soil.

I have never found social situations to be an issue.

If Im going to a restaurant, I will either order ahead and make sure I have a fruit platter, or Ill take my own fruit and ask them to bring it out on a plate when everyone else is eating.

My boys never had any interest in sweets growing up but, at the age of 14, they both decided to move on and eat more than fruit.

Getting the NHS-recommended 2,000 calories a day on a fruit diet isnt that hard, she said.

An avocado is 400 calories, so eating two of those means you are already on 800 calories and bananas have 100 calories each. Ive never followed this diet to lose weight. It makes me feel good, and thats the most important thing.

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More: Food

If you are thinking of a fruit-based diet, consult with a dietician as it can have its risks.

Dietitian Sarah Elder said: Fruit can contain high levels of water and for fruitarians to meet their energy needs it is likely they will have to eat a large volume of fruit to ensure their weight is within a healthy Body Mass Index.

Even with weight in this range, it is likely that people who eat only fruit will be deficient in protein, fats, iron, calcium, vitamin D, vitamin Bs and iodine.

The high levels of sugar and fibre can also cause digestion difficulties including wind bloating and loose stools.

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