No Fruit or Veg Diet: Forum Debates Daily Menu

Identical Daily Menu: Coffee, Eggs, Chicken, and Tuna Under Scrutiny

Breakfast includes coffee, a two-egg omelet, bread with cheese, sobrasada (cured pork sausage), or bacon, plus a liquid yogurt with a spoonful of creatine. Lunch consists of 200 grams of free-range chicken, Iberian pork, or salmon with one or two boiled potatoes, 70-80% chocolate, and coffee. Dinner is a sandwich with canned tuna and a glass of milk with cocoa. Snacks include pastries, grapes, peanuts, and fried almonds. This real daily diet was posted by a participant in the Responsible Consumption subforum asking for nutritional deficiencies to be identified. The response was unanimous on one point: lack of fiber.

The author admits eating this way every day, not just once, and confesses never having eaten vegetables. "Vegetables are for livestock," he writes, before clarifying that he likes fruit and has had multivitamin protein shakes in the morning. His argument relies on videos about glycemic spikes and distrust of institutional campaigns promoting five servings of fruits and vegetables daily. "Since it's been a government campaign for years, I doubt its health benefits," he claims.

Deficiencies Highlighted by Readers

The first criticism concerns the deficit in fiber and micronutrients. Without vegetables, scarce fruit, and a repetitive pattern, the menu lacks water-soluble vitamins and trace elements, according to several replies. One harsh comparison states: "People in Somalia eat more balanced diets," summarizing the tone of the exchange. Another participant adds that the diet leads to "constipation and colon cancer."

The second issue is canned tuna. Dinner repeats as a tuna sandwich, and multiple messages warn about mercury accumulation in large blue fish. Recommendations suggest limiting consumption to two or three times a week, replacing it with mackerel, bonito, or sardines, which have similar profiles but fewer heavy metals. The author acknowledges: "I know about the tuna, but it's my vice. I put it in pasta, sandwiches, pizza, with potatoes."

Protein and Fat: The Other Open Front

The menu is defended as a high-protein diet aimed at maintaining muscle, with a declared goal of 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight without powder supplements. The author states he has been stable for a year, lost seven kilograms after a bulking phase with two 800-calorie shakes daily, and maintains low body fat. Breakfast creatine and a cheap multivitamin complete the picture.

Objections arise from the opposite side: some see too much protein and too much fat in one day, with eggs, meat, fish, and dairy repeating in every meal, warning of potential liver effects. The author responds that high-protein and high-fat diets are trendy and doesn't understand the reference to steroids. The discussion gets tangled here and remains unresolved.

Fruit, Fructose, and Glucose Spikes: The Most Repeated Argument

The defense of fruit has its own rebuttal. One school of thought argues that fructose is metabolized in the liver and excessive consumption can cause fatty liver, attributing gout cases partly to fruit rather than meat. Supermarket fruit, they say, is "basically sugar water." In contrast, the most repeated response is that a couple of mandarins aren't a problem, while abuse of pastries and chocolate is.

The author reacted to the exchange, admitting he bought fruit and ate peaches, nectarines, oranges, and apricots. "Maybe I'll add more so I don't get scurvy," he jokes. Irony about scurvy runs through many replies, often accompanied by the idea that a multivitamin patches the hole but doesn't close it.

Repeated Advice: Variety and a Cheat Day

Beyond criticisms, some responses lower the alarm. Eating like this, they argue, is better than what most people do, and improvements lie in introducing variety: daily fruit, legumes, vegetable creams, more types of nuts, and raw instead of fried ones, because industrial processing destroys healthy fats. A weekly break without excess is also recommended, suggesting an exception day doesn't break anything.

The end of the exchange leaves a confusing fact. The author maintains his weight is stable, feels good, and his diet suits a slim, strong man. The discussion never agrees if that's enough. Almost all messages, even benevolent ones, agree that daily tuna and lack of vegetables are two holes a multivitamin cannot fill.