Morning banana diet

The Morning Banana Diet is a diet intended to cause weight loss. It gained popularity in Japan in 2008, causing shortages of bananas in food stores. Some observers considered it to be a fad diet.^[1]

A follower of this diet plan eats as many bananas as they want with room temperature water or a glass of milk for breakfast. The dieter can choose what they want for lunch,and dinner. They can have one or more bananas as a snack between meals, but no other desserts are permitted. Nothing is eaten after 8 pm, and the dieter must go to bed by midnight.^[1]

Creation and promulgation

The diet was created by Osaka pharmacist Sumiko Watanabe, for her husband Hitoshi Watanabe, who lost 37 pounds (16.8 kg) in weight. He popularized the diet when he wrote about it on Mixi, one of Japan's largest social networking services. Over 730,000 Morning Banana Diet books have been sold since March.^[1]

Rules of Banana Diet

1. Eat a banana for breakfast (you may eat more than one, the original dieter had 4 small ones for breakfast)

2. Eat normal Lunch and Dinner

3. Sip water when ever you require

4. have a evening snack if you feel hungry

5. Take the dinner before 8 pm

6. Go early to bed

http://morningbanana.com/morning-banana-diet-rules

Scientific explanation

Possible problems with the diet include the misuse of the unregulated lunch and dinner. "Whenever you have a diet that says eat all you want, there's the possibility that people who are prone to overeating will have problems" reports the American Dietetic Association.^[2]

Bananas are an excellent source of Dietary Fiber, both soluble fiber and insoluble fiber. The six grams of fiber in a two banana breakfast can reduce caloric intake in two ways. Fiber bulks up in the stomach, lengthening feelings of fullness, and pulls some calories through the digestive system before they can be absorbed.^[3] Resistant starch, one of the fibers found in bananas^[4], ferments in the digestive tract, creating by-products that increase fat-burning by 20%-25%.^[3] Increased resistant starch consumption can increase fat burning and decrease fat accumulation.^[5]

Effects on banana market in Japan

The diet caused bananas to become scarce in Japan for a short period, with retailers unable to meet the demand.^[6]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Time Magazine "Japan Goes Bananas for a New Diet" (17 October 2008). Retrieved 30 June 2010.
2. ^ NY Daily News: "The Morning Banana Diet may be the cheapest, easiest ever. But does it work?" (22 October 2008). Retrieved 30 June 2010.
3. ^ ^{a b} "Hot New Japanese Diet Craze" Woman's World Magazine (9 February 2009)
4. ^ USDA Nutrients “63107010 Banana, raw”
5. ^ University of Colorado Health Sciences Center: "Resistant starch consumption promotes lipid oxidation" (6 October 2004). Retrieved 30 June 2010.
6. ^ Mail on Sunday: "Fad diet declares bananas 'superfood' and has shops struggling to meet demand" (29 September 2008). Retrieved 30 June 2010.