Could you live off a diet of only FRUIT? Despite experts warning they’re ruining their health, these women say they’ve never looked more youthful

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After a cursory glance at the restaurant menu, Inna Wakeham snapped it shut. All her old favourites were there — chicken with sour cream, grilled salmon, a melt-in-the-middle chocolate pudding — but she had no intention of ordering them. Nor did she waver as her partner Neil requested steak and chips.

Instead, she asked for a sliced avocado, followed by a plate of banana, washed down with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.

As a strict fruitarian, Inna hasn’t eaten or drunk anything except fruit and fruit juice for a year. Not even a sip of water has passed her lips, as she believes it contains toxins.

Inna Wakeham (pictured above), 50, a healthcare worker from Croydon, Surrey is a strict fruitarian 

And far from feeling deprived by what many consider a dangerous diet, she insists she has never looked or felt better.

‘Becoming a fruitarian has changed my life for ever,’ says Inna, 50, a healthcare worker from Croydon, Surrey. ‘I look younger and have a beautiful complexion. I’ve lost weight and my mood has improved. I won’t eat anything except fruit again.’

Diets that exclude whole food groups have gained traction in recent years, helped by celebrities jumping on the no-carbs or zero-sugar bandwagon. And now it seems fruitarianism is in fashion.

Last month, Belinda White, 46, a grandmother with the taut skin of a twentysomething, told how she had ‘turned the clock backwards’ by eating up to 20 pieces of fruit a day.

Inna hasn’t eaten or drunk anything except fruit and fruit juice for a year. Not even a sip of water has passed her lips, as she believes it contains toxins. And far from feeling deprived by what many consider a dangerous diet, she insists she has never looked or felt better

U.S. First Lady-in-waiting Melania Trump, 46, though not a fruitarian, credits her slender figure to eating seven pieces of fruit a day.

Perhaps the keenest advocate of all was the late tech entrepreneur Steve Jobs, who attributed his creativity to a fruitarian diet — so much so that he called his company Apple.

But experts argue that the diet’s high sugar content and absence of dairy and protein can cause serious health problems.

‘I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone,’ says dietitian Anna Daniels. ‘It can lead to malnutrition through deficiencies and the high fibre content can lead to stomach pains and IBS symptoms. Replacing water with fruit juice is dangerous, as it can lead to very high blood sugar levels and could contribute to diabetes.

‘A fruitarian diet will be deficient in nutrients and vitamins essential for skin health. These include protein, calcium and fatty acids, which are required to build and repair skin and keep bones healthy.’

Diets that exclude whole food groups have gained traction in recent years, helped by celebrities jumping on the no-carbs or zero-sugar bandwagon. And now it seems fruitarianism is in fashion

There is also the impact on our teeth. Fruit is packed with sugar — natural sugar, admittedly, but still sugar. Fruitarians invariably eat far more than the 25g recommended daily amount.

Yet Inna, a size eight, is undeterred. She spends £120 on 15 boxes of fruit a fortnight from her local greengrocer.

‘I am aware that some doctors say it’s harmful, but others believe it is good for us — as do I,’ she says.

Inna decided to overhaul her diet as her 50th birthday approached last December. At 5ft 6in and 10st, she was hardly fat, but she says: ‘I felt lethargic and looked tired.’

Researching various diets online, she found fruitarianism — a form of veganism in which at least 75 per cent of daily food intake is fruit.

Fruitarians say that ‘as our ancestors lived on fruit’, theirs is the healthiest food plan of all.

Inna decided to overhaul her diet as her 50th birthday approached last December. At 5ft 6in and 10st, she was hardly fat, but she says: ‘I felt lethargic and looked tired.’

The most extreme believe plants should not be harmed and, therefore, will only eat fruit that has fallen from a tree.

Bonkers? Possibly, but Inna was hooked. ‘I realised fruit is digested easily so it doesn’t put as much strain on our system as meat,’ she says. ‘It’s tastier than vegetables and you don’t need a lot to feel full.’

After reading that pollutants in water can make us ill and affect our state of mind, she says she simply refused to drink water, tea or coffee.

Inna admits that Neil, 45, her partner of seven years, was cautious at first. ‘But I assured him I’d still cook his favourite meals.’

Initially, the diet made her euphoric: ‘With each day the emptiness in my stomach became easier to deal with. By day five I felt incredible.’

After a month, her weight had fallen to 8st 5lb, and she dropped from a size 12 to an eight.

After reading that pollutants in water can make us ill and affect our state of mind, she says she simply refused to drink water, tea or coffee. Inna admits that Neil, 45, her partner of seven years, was cautious at first. ‘But I assured him I’d still cook his favourite meals.’

She then went through what she calls a ‘difficult’ month, during which she felt tired and headachey most of the time. But she interpreted this as her body ‘detoxing’ and kept going. Inna, who grazes on fruit every two or three hours, typically has a glass of grapefruit juice on waking, followed by a whole chopped pineapple or two.

She might have three bananas for lunch, half a punnet of grapes for an snack and 20 dates for dinner.

Inna has an avocado a day ‘for protein’ and eats peaches or sharon fruit in the evening. ‘I eat only one fruit at a time, as it’s easier for the body to digest,’ she says.

She describes her fruitarian awakening as something of a spiritual journey. ‘I found a better awareness of the surrounding world,’ she says.

‘I felt more alert and at the same time my wrinkles became less obvious, my hair grew thicker and Neil said I looked amazing.’

While Neil is still a carnivore, he, too, seems to have been seduced by fruit. ‘When Inna waves a lump of melon or papaya, or a custard apple, under my nose, it smells delicious. You can almost taste the sugar,’ he says.

As well you might, because fruit is packed with the stuff. A banana contains 14g, a watermelon 280g.

Along with the impact on our tooth enamel, excess sugar has also been linked to an increased risk of cancer and has been shown to interfere with the production of collagen, the protein in the skin that keeps it looking youthful.

Maja Chudzik (pictured above), 42, an online vitality strategist from Benington, Herts, became a fruitarian 13 months ago after she developed gout and arthritis. ‘I’d wake up in pain and my fingers and toes were stiff,’ she says

‘Fruits are effectively sugar bombs and sugar is ultimately ageing,’ says nutritionist Dr Zoe Harcombe. ‘Fruitarians benefit from what they’re not eating more than what they are eating .

‘They are not consuming white flour, alcohol or processed food. The one bad thing they are doing is living on fruit, which gives them insufficient essential fats and no complete protein.’

Maja Chudzik, 42, became a fruitarian 13 months ago after she developed gout and arthritis. ‘I’d wake up in pain and my fingers and toes were stiff,’ she says.

A male friend suggested she became a fruitarian like him.

Maja, an online vitality strategist from Benington, Herts, also wanted to improve the health of her children Gabi, 14, Max, eight, and Olek, six, who she says suffer from hayfever and allergies to dairy, nuts and gluten.

She admits her husband Les, 43, a maintenance manager, was sceptical at first: ‘We agreed he would eat what I made at home and have whatever he wanted for lunch.’

Some friends were scathing. ‘One laughed her head off,’ says Maja.

‘Nonetheless, I threw out all my pasta, bread and rice.’

Maja’s old breakfast of scrambled eggs was swapped for two sliced bananas and a chopped mango sprinkled with seeds. Her chicken salad lunch was exchanged for avocado and tomato salad and instead of fish and potatoes for dinner, she eats courgette noodles mixed with avocado and tomatoes.

Within days of embarking on her new diet, Maja says, her gout symptoms were gone and her arthritis had all but disappeared.

‘I lost a stone within a month and dropped from a size 12 to a size ten,’ she says.

Maja also wanted to improve the health of her children Gabi, 14, Max, eight, and Olek, six, (pictured above) who she says suffer from hayfever and allergies to dairy, nuts and gluten

‘My skin is firmer. The lines around my mouth have disappeared, as has the cellulite from my thighs.’

Most days, Maja, who spends £150 a week on fruit for her family, has a smoothie made from two bananas and a punnet of grapes. She snacks on another six to eight bananas a day, along with three mangoes, three apples and a punnet of grapes.

She sends her children to school with a packed lunch of half a melon, an apple, a banana and tomatoes — and insists that they have liked the diet change.

‘After a couple of months, they were craving fruit for breakfast, too, so they have porridge made out of bananas, mangoes and seeds,’ she says.

‘They eat only fruit until dinner time, when they eat raw salad or vegetable soup with me. Their allergies have almost disappeared and they’re thriving.’

But Anna Daniels warns: ‘The risk of malnutrition in growing children on a fruitarian diet is especially high. They face stunted growth due to a lack of protein, anaemia through a lack of vitamin B and iron, and rickets due to a lack of dietary vitamin D and calcium.

‘There is also the risk of creating fussy eating habits.’

Maja insists there is no great personal sacrifice involved.

Most days, Maja, who spends £150 a week on fruit for her family, has a smoothie made from two bananas and a punnet of grapes. She snacks on another six to eight bananas a day, along with three mangoes, three apples and a punnet of grapes

‘In restaurants, I ask for more vegetables instead of chicken and I have banana with chia seeds for pudding. Crisps are the only food I crave, so I make sure I don’t have them around me. Now my friends realise how much healthier I am they have stopped laughing.’

Yet a fruitarian can be hard for a loved one to live with. Two months ago, Holly Millard broke up with her boyfriend of ten years, a 28-year-old chef, after he grew tired of her fruitarian diet.

‘He hated it and felt he couldn’t cook anything for me,’ says Holly, 31. ‘He’d want a takeaway and would say that my fruit smoothies were disgusting.

‘I was upset, but ultimately I felt that my health was more important than my relationship.’

Holly, a musician from Reading, Berks, adopted a fruit-based diet four years ago after she was inspired by the controversial food guru Gillian McKeith.

‘Ready meals and processed foods were playing havoc with my health,’ says Holly. ‘I had acne, my hair was falling out and my confidence nosedived. Gillian advocates eating lots of fruit and vegetables. I like fruit better than vegetables, so it made sense to focus on them.’

Maja sends her children to school with a packed lunch of half a melon, an apple, a banana and tomatoes — and insists that they have liked the diet change

For the past four years, she has enjoyed a breakfast smoothie of two apples, two pears, celery, carrot and cucumber.

Lunch is half a punnet of cherry tomatoes and avocado with gluten-free toast, while dinner is a salad of spinach, rocket and kale, and a source of protein, such as tofu.

Daily snacks include bananas, dried mangoes, apricots, prunes and dates.

‘At bedtime I have a smoothie made from a whole punnet of blueberries and a punnet of strawberries or raspberries,’ says Holly, who says there has been a dramatic change in her appearance since she became a fruitarian.

‘My hair grew back after three months. The spots and cellulite disappeared. I lost a stone in weight. I look younger than I did four years ago and have more energy than anyone I know.

‘I honestly don’t ever feel hungry and I’m not underweight.’ But she admits her social life has suffered.

‘Lots of friends like to drink a lot and I have turned down invitations, but I would rather have my health than go out and party.’

She insists there are no cravings for biscuits or puddings. ‘My palate has changed. All I crave is fruit.’