Could you live without fruit & vegetables?

Question

The reason I ask is that some people seem to think humans can live without fruit and vegetables. Many nutrients, such as vitamin C, are found primarily in fruits & vegetables. No other sources are reliable for certain essential nutrients.

I think life would be boring & unhealthy without fruit. So, how long can you live without fruit & vegetables?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I dont think you can...they are very healthy and are part of the food pyramid. They are important. I know I  couldnt live since its like the only things I eat lol.

Answer 2

This is a really interesting question.  My answer is going to be a bit different that most peoples.

My husband and I live/work/own a permaculture farm.  We raise most of our own food, including our meat animals.

Since we raise most of our own food, that means we also process and store our own food, so we can eat all year around.  Most importantly though it means we are usually eating foods that are in season.  We are not going to the grocery store and buying the fixings for salads in December, nor eating fresh cherries in January....those food items are not in season.  

We feel it is important to eat what is actually in season.  So we make exceptions at the grocery stores, and purchase food items we cannot grow on our farm, but we only purchase them when they are actually in season.  

So in December we go to the store and purchase oranges, and enjoy them greatly, as they are in season, and being harvested then.

This past month I have been wolfing down leaf lettuce salads, with radishes, as that is what is coming up right now.  

Most of the winter the only fruits we eat (besides the oranges) are the ones I canned in the summer, and early fall.  So strawberry and blackberry jam all year around, but not the actual fresh fruit.  In the winter, spring and part of summer, after the long term storage apples have been eaten, we will be munching on the apple slices I dehydrated.

We eat tons of sweet potatoes over the winter, as well as carrots, as they both store well.  

So we keep our vitamins and trace minerals going all year around, but we are not "cheating" and eating out of season foods, other than ones we grew and put up in our pantry (and the few exceptions for items we cannot grow on our farm, like oranges).

So we go most of winter, and spring with no FRESH fruits and veggies, although we are still certainly eating plenty of them.

Most people now days don't actually have any idea what is in season, and when it will be in season.  I think it actually makes your appreciation for, and enjoyment of, the fresh fruits and vegtables MUCH great if you are anticipating their emergence from the ground, and when you will get to start eating them.  The first asparagus of spring...heaven!  

~Garnet

Permaculture homesteading/farming over 20 years

Answer 3

i dont no but your body needs a  variety of vitamins i think the rest of the time God gives you on this earth cuz at the pharmacy you can bye vitamins

Answer 4

Until you get scurvy and die.

Even a true carnivores like a cats need some fruit and veggies. This is why they eat the guts of the animal they kill. You will often see a house cat eating grass for the same reason.

Answer 5

My husband and I eat very little fruits and veggies...he is 81 years old and I am 71.

Answer 6

you can live without fruit and vegetables, but you wouldn't be very healthy.

without fruit, it's possible to get scurvy, and things of that nature.

but my dad is living proof that you can live off of every food group except fruit. (he hates the stuff, and i don't know why.)

but thankfully, he still eats his veggies :)

Answer 7

well, you can live for a long time i guess.... MY brother (14) will not eat ANY fruit and he only eats corn as far as vegetables and very rarely. lol

Answer 8

Yes, many people do this today, just look around.

They are not very healthy, but they are alive.

Answer 9

you would probably one live a few months

Answer 10

You can live - but the quality of your physical being is going to be damaged.

Example - look at those that lived thru being in concentration camps - prisoners of war (I saw many coming back from Vietnam - and they had MANY medical problems).

So - while you could 'live' - the life lived is not going to be healthy at all.

Answer 11

My body would begin to shut down in about 3 weeks. The majority of my diet is fruit and vegetables.

Answer 12

no,fruits and vegetables contain vital minerals and vitamins.And if youd only eat meat youd get too many fat and proteins and deficiancy of vitamins and minerals.Which can cause many different deficieny diseases...dont try it,\..

Answer 13

As a Vegan fruits, nuts, seeds and vegetables form most of my diet, so no I would'nt survive long without them. We grow as much food as we can, store and freeze a lot, but we still have to rely on bought-in food in the late winter and early spring. A problem we still have not got round but we are working on it.

Answer 14

Probably, but I wouldn't want to.