Fruit Cure: The story of extreme wellness turned sour

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.

Jacqueline Alnes was a Division One runner at university, but her 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 Alnes’ 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 months. She was admitted to an epilepsy centre 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 that claimed to 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 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.

Format: Paperback
Pages: 304
Imprint: SIMON & SCHUSTER AUST
Publication date: 01/11/2023