Marvellous Mono-Diets


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 A mono-diet is when one foodstuff is eaten and all others are excluded. A mono-diet may last one day or forty or more. I have some experience of mono-fruit-diets, during the past 10 years. The first mono-diet was carried out near the beginning of my time on raw fruit and I ate organic apples for two weeks. I lost some weight, went through some elimination, but generally felt pretty good mentally and physically and had good energy levels. I was breast-feeding my 18 month old son at this time and my milk production did not seem to suffer, well I got no complaints about the apple-flavoured milk, from Camlo. I feel that apples offer a physical as well as bio-chemical cleansing. They are full of fibre and pectin, which act like a broom to physically 'sweep' the intestines. Then like other fruits they act to chemically cleanse the body and help wash out the cells and dissolve the toxins. Since this time I have eaten pears alone for 9 days, oranges for 10 days, twice. Also twice I have eaten grapes for 20 days. In 1995 I went on a 52 day orange juice mono-diet. I then went on melons alone for three months, five months and in 2001 6 months.In 2007 I went on another orange juice mono-diet, for 26 days this time. The Orange Juice Diaries. For Lent 2008, I had the most fantastic time; I went 40 days on Organic and Biodynamic Orange Juice. Orange Juice Fests.
                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                        Why A Mono Diet.
 
I have always felt at my mental, spiritual and physical best during mono-diets. It is a time of healing, cleansing and contemplation and appreciation. The body's digestion system is given a bit of a rest as the imput into it is simplified. Healing can occur but at the same time energy levels can be really high; so the mono-diet can be very useful for those of us who want to cleanse but need to remain active throughout the regime. I initally chose to go on the orange-juice diet because I wanted to do some sort of cleansing but at the same time I was the sole carer of my active three year old and I needed to be able to keep up my stamina for lots of fun and games. 
 Before I started on the orange juice I weighed about 112 pounds, afterwards my weight dropped to about 84 pounds. However even though I was a bit of a skinny minny my strength and endurance was improved. Camlo and I were holidaying in Sark, one of the beautiful Channel Islands. I carried Camlo on my back up the 364 steep steps with ease and without a break. It felt so much easier than the previous year, even though I was several pounds lighter and Camlo was several pounds heavier! My eye-sight also improved and my colour vision was much better. Reds really stood out and were almost luminous, especially Geraniums. Greens also shone and moss on the ground seemed to glow. 

 The first Melon mono-diet came about in response to Lent, I am not an orthodox Christian, but I do believe that Jesus said some very sensible words. I wanted to give something up, not out of Martrydom or denial but more to appreciate the abundance of Nature. Even when one is eating only one type of fruit there is so much diversity within that fruit. I am always astounded at the variation in tastes, flavour and scents between fruits from the same crop. I also wanted to simplify my life. When you do not have to think 'What Am I going to eat today?' It frees up so much more energy for other activities. 
 Simplicity also can bring about a sharpening of the senses. If you live off one fruit alone you can really tune in to that fruit and your taste buds can become refined so there is so much joy from one fruit alone. The 40 day period of Lent in 1998 stretched to three months on melons. At the end of the Lenten period I was still happy and hale so I carried on. I have also eaten melons for five months, again starting at Lent 2000, and also for six months in 2001. 

 I have always felt very well on a mono diet. It may not be the ideal diet for everybody or the healthiest. I had been on a fruitarian diet for seven years before going for my initial three months on melon so my body was used to assimilating its needs from a juicy fruit regime. I am also an experienced fruit 'picker'. When one relies on fruit alone for nourishment the fruit needs to be of excellent quality. I can pick the best melon off the pile or the ripest peach off the tree and indeed I need to because if I do not get good quality fruit my family's health will be compromised. 

 I believe that we are all special and unique beings; what works for one of us may not for another. One fruit may suit some of us while another fruit may benefit others. Similarly whilst the mono-diet has worked well for me it may not be the optimum diet for us all. We are all true individuals and I do not propose that a mono-diet is the 'right' diet or the most optimum. However if you want to try a cleansing regime whilst maintaining your energy the mono-diet may help you achieve this.
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