My dad’s on another ridiculous fad diet...

happysquidmuffin

My dad has tried just about every kind of diet/ lifestyle you can imagine. For about two years he was strict keto, ate super high fat, lots of meat, etc. Swore he was going to do that the rest of his life. Now he’s been vegan/vegetarian for about 3-4 years, except the past few months he’s been getting more restrictive and apparently he’s a fruitarian now. Only eats fruit. Period. He’s never been super obese, but has yo-yo’d up and down a lot over his whole adult life (in his late 50’s). He’s at a pretty healthy weight now, but I’m concerned he’s going to continue trying extremely restrictive diets like this. The only reason he’s doing this is because some person he found online (Mark Tassi?) advocates it.
He’s also been kinda going off the deep end that past year or so in that he’s super into political conspiracies, is now an anti-vaxxer, etc. Is pretty anti-mask too (there’s a difference between just being annoyed by masks, and being anti-mask). He also has bought into water-fasting, and will do it up to 4-5 days at a time.

Any hope for him? I’m not really planning to confront him about any of this. I voice my opinion to my mom about it only because she brings it up a lot.
And let me clarify that I don’t think veganism is necessarily extreme or wrong, I’m just giving some background into how he keeps making drastic changes in his life, based on what he learns from random internet celebrities... plus I don’t know why he calls himself vegan when he still eats ice cream or other dairy occasionally... like, at least monthly. But I don’t know if he plans to cheat at all and be completely fruitarian. Don’t know if this is going to be a several month thing or a several years thing. But my mom just told me he’s not even planning to eat any salt any more, period. *shaking my head*

MaltedTea

You and your mother know him best. So are there valid reasons to be concerned with his mental health?

If so, a talk with your family doctor (assuming that they see all three of you, or at least your parents) about your concerns may be a good first approach to consider in terms of possible next steps.

Otherwise, just chalk it up to all parents - since time immemorial - being straight up weirdos 🤷🏿‍♀️

lynn_glenmont

happysquidmuffin wrote: »

My dad has tried just about every kind of diet/ lifestyle you can imagine. For about two years he was strict keto, ate super high fat, lots of meat, etc. Swore he was going to do that the rest of his life. Now he’s been vegan/vegetarian for about 3-4 years, except the past few months he’s been getting more restrictive and apparently he’s a fruitarian now. Only eats fruit. Period. He’s never been super obese, but has yo-yo’d up and down a lot over his whole adult life (in his late 50’s). He’s at a pretty healthy weight now, but I’m concerned he’s going to continue trying extremely restrictive diets like this. The only reason he’s doing this is because some person he found online (Mark Tassi?) advocates it.
He’s also been kinda going off the deep end that past year or so in that he’s super into political conspiracies, is now an anti-vaxxer, etc. Is pretty anti-mask too (there’s a difference between just being annoyed by masks, and being anti-mask). He also has bought into water-fasting, and will do it up to 4-5 days at a time.

Any hope for him? I’m not really planning to confront him about any of this. I voice my opinion to my mom about it only because she brings it up a lot.
And let me clarify that I don’t think veganism is necessarily extreme or wrong, I’m just giving some background into how he keeps making drastic changes in his life, based on what he learns from random internet celebrities... plus I don’t know why he calls himself vegan when he still eats ice cream or other dairy occasionally... like, at least monthly. But I don’t know if he plans to cheat at all and be completely fruitarian. Don’t know if this is going to be a several month thing or a several years thing. But my mom just told me he’s not even planning to eat any salt any more, period. *shaking my head*

If he's a fruititarian avoiding all salt, he's likely to suffer sodium deficiency, which can cause seizures, brain swelling, and death. There are "vegetables" that are botanically fruit, like tomatoes and okra, that naturally have decent amounts of sodium, unlike the sweet things we normally think of as fruits, which essentially only have trace amounts of sodium.

From your description, I suspect your dad wouldn't be open to a recommendation to consume more of the veggie fruits, unless it came from his Internet food guru of the week.

If following different fads had been a pattern of many years, and he's not seeking advice from you, I doubt there's anything you can day that can change his behavior.

I'd focus on supporting your Mom and helping her realize she can't control what he does; she can only control her reaction to what he does.

Theoldguy1

Dave Ramsey talks about the powdered butt syndrome. If someone has powdered your butt they generally will not take advice from you unless it is requested.

If he has a doctor and gets regular checkups any issues will most likely get caught during a physical before any long teem damage is done.

Diatonic12

Just love your Paw to smithereens. Your folks are a judgment free zone.

happysquidmuffin

MaltedTea wrote: »

You and your mother know him best. So are there valid reasons to be concerned with his mental health?

If so, a talk with your family doctor (assuming that they see all three of you, or at least your parents) about your concerns may be a good first approach to consider in terms of possible next steps.

Otherwise, just chalk it up to all parents - since time immemorial - being straight up weirdos 🤷🏿‍♀️

I guess it’s more of a “parents are weirdos” thing more than a mental health issue. I’m just becoming a little more concerned about him and his moving toward the extreme end of different things.
Plus I don’t think it’s healthy to eat so restrictively. I think variety is one of the main keys to good health. I just wonder if he keeps this up long term, if certain vitamin or protein deficiencies are going to hurt him and shorten his life span. My family is all very close (relationship-wise). (I’ve got 4 younger siblings, all but one married). But I feel like my relationship with my dad has become a bit more strained lately. If I voice any disagreement over the crazy stuff he rants about on Facebook, he gets very defensive about it.
Guess I’m just ranting. Because I know he doesn’t want my opinion on his diet.

happysquidmuffin

Theoldguy1 wrote: »

Dave Ramsey talks about the powdered butt syndrome. If someone has powdered your butt they generally will not take advice from you unless it is requested.

If he has a doctor and gets regular checkups any issues will most likely get caught during a physical before any long teem damage is done.

Yes I used to listen to Dave a lot, still do on YouTube once in a while. I know all about powdered butt syndrome, lol. I’m not sure how often he goes to the doctor, but from what his attitude has been devolving into, I don’t know how much he trusts the medical industry at all anymore.
I just hope that if he starts feeling poorly, especially with a risk of severe sodium deficiency, he does the right thing and tried something else; aka goes back to a more diverse vegetarian diet.

Safari_Gal_

Reading this I thought - at least he is attempting to make a difference in his weight. Many don’t do anything and remain obese or stationary.

Everyone is weird in their own way. Maybe look at it this way - celebrate your parents differences and what makes them unique. You’re blessed to still have parents who are alive.

quiksylver296

Not to scare you, but it could be signs/symptoms of early dementia...

That's totally a Dr. Google worse-case scenario, but it is a possibility.