• Question: Could you live off protein, fruit and vegetables?

    Asked by Amber to Charlotte, hannahmoir, Majid, Richard, Sam on 9 Mar 2016.
    • Photo: Hannah Moir

      Hannah Moir answered on 9 Mar 2016:

      Interesting point and some individuals probably do live off such diets, we have different levels of vegetarian diets to the extreme where some people who class themselves as Flexitarian – people who limit meat intake as much as possible and they have an almost entirely plant-based diet and you have vegans who do not eat meats meat products or animal products like dairy, eggs and even honey. So it is possible, but who knows what digestive effects it may cause!

    • Photo: Charlotte Green

      Charlotte Green answered on 9 Mar 2016:

      In theory yes but in practice it can be tough. The important thing is to make sure you get enough vitamins and minerals from the food you eat. I used to be a pescatarian (I ate fish but not meat) and although I thought I had everything I needed in my diet I started to become very tired and this went away when I started eating meat again. Even if you only ate fruit and veg your body could still make some fat from the natural sugars in the fruit 🙂

    • Photo: Majid Ahmed

      Majid Ahmed answered on 9 Mar 2016:

      In theory yes. But this would be very difficult and could lead to someone becoming ill.

      What is more important, in my opinion, is to eat a healthy balanced diet with a right balance of carbohydrates and fats on top of the proteins, fruits and vegetables you mentioned. And don’t forget to drink lots of water and exercise regularly.

      See the following links for more tips and advice on healthy eating:

      http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/eight-tips-healthy-eating.aspx

      http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/eatwell-plate.aspx

    • Photo: Sam Smith

      Sam Smith answered on 10 Mar 2016:

      Hi Amber, thanks for the question. As the others have said, this may well be theoretically possible, but it won’t be good for their health if they do! It’s more important to get a good balance between the different food groups (including some, but not a lot of fats!). Majid has sent a few healthy eating tips through that are useful to guide you.

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