The Fruit Cure : The story of extreme wellness turned sour

A powerful critique of the failures in our healthcare system and an inquiry into the sinister strains of wellness culture that prey on people’s vulnerabilities through schemes, scams, and diets. Jacqueline Alnes was a Division One runner during her freshman year of college, but her season was cut short by a series of inexplicable neurological symptoms. What started with a cough, escalated to Alnes collapsing on the track and experiencing months of unremembered episodes that stole her ability to walk and speak. Two years after quitting the team to heal, Alnes’s symptoms returned with a severity that left her using a wheelchair for a period of months. She was admitted to an epilepsy center but doctors could not figure out the root cause of her symptoms. Desperate for answers, she turned to an online community centered around a strict, all-fruit diet which its adherents claimed could cure conditions like depression, eating disorders, addiction, anxiety, and vision problems. Alnes wasn’t alone. From all over the world, people in pain, doubted or dismissed by medical authorities, or seeking a miracle diet that would relieve them of white, Western expectations placed on their figures, turned to fruit in hopes of releasing themselves from the perceived failings of their bodies. In The Fruit Cure, Jacqueline Alnes takes readers on a spellbinding and unforgettable journey through the world of fruitarianism, interweaving her own powerful narrative with the popularity and problematic history of fruit-based, raw food lifestyles. For readers plagued by mysterious symptoms, inundated by messages from media about how to attain “the perfect body,” or caught in the grips of a fast-paced culture of capitalism, The Fruit Cure offers a powerful critique of the failures of our healthcare system and an inquiry into the sinister strains of wellness culture that prey on people’s vulnerabilities through schemes, scams, and diets masquerading as hope. How one woman's search to regain her health led her to the troubling outer fringes of the Queensland wellness industry. A university athlete, Jacqueline Alnes's season was cut short by a series of inexplicable neurological symptoms. What started with a cough escalated to a collapse on the track and months of episodes that stole her ability to walk and even speak. Two years after quitting the team to heal, Alnes's symptoms returned with a severity that led to months in a wheelchair but left doctors mystified. Desperate for answers, she turned to an online community centred around two wellness gurus – Queensland's ‘Durianrider'and his then-girlfriend ‘Freelee the Banana Girl'– who claimed that a strict, all-fruit diet could cure conditions like depression, addiction, anxiety and vision problems. Alnes wasn't alone. From all over the world, people in pain, doubted or dismissed by medical authorities, or seeking a miracle diet, turned to fruit in hope of a cure. In The Fruit Cure, Jacqueline Alnes takes readers on a spellbinding and unforgettable journey through the fringe world of fruitarianism. A powerful personal narrative, it is also a damning inquiry into the sinister strains of wellness culture that prey on people's vulnerabilities through schemes, scams and diets masquerading as hope. How one woman's search to regain her health led her to the troubling outer fringes of the Queensland wellness industry. A university athlete, Jacqueline Alnes's season was cut short by a series of inexplicable neurological symptoms. What started with a cough escalated to a collapse on the track and months of episodes that stole her ability to walk and even speak. Two years after quitting the team to heal, Alnes's symptoms returned with a severity that led to months in a wheelchair but left doctors mystified. Desperate for answers, she turned to an online community centred around two wellness gurus – Queensland's 'Durianrider' and his then-girlfriend 'Freelee the Banana Girl' – who claimed that a strict, all-fruit diet could cure conditions like depression, addiction, anxiety and vision problems. Alnes wasn't alone. From all over the world, people in pain, doubted or dismissed by medical authorities, or seeking a miracle diet, turned to fruit in hope of a... Prologue: Genesis Chapter 1: The First Fall Chapter 2: Edenburg Chapter 3: “Well Developed Female in No Acute Distress” Chapter 4: Fleshless, Bloodless, and Poison-Free Chapter 5: I Shall Be Healed Chapter 6: Guinea Pigs, Gurus, and People in Pain Chapter 7: Sick Chapter 8: Testify Chapter 9: Finding the Fruit Chapter 10: Banana Island Chapter 11: The Fruititionist Chapter 12: Salvation, Starvation Chapter 13: Rebuke the Unclean Spirit Chapter 14: Pints of Milk and Boiled Potatoes (Fruit Yourself! Root Yourself!) Chapter 15: The Serpent Tricked Me Chapter 16: A Different Kind of Garden Chapter 17: How to Heal Acknowledgements About the Author Notes