Get ready go bananas. But that is not all you will eat on this plan.
The Morning Banana Diet is the latest craze in the weight loss domain and has taken the fitness enthusiast, in Japan and the rest of the world by a craze.
Introduced by a Japanese couple, this fad diet is designed to increase your metabolism and cut back on the extra pounds of weight.
Like many fad diets which rely on pseudoscience rather than science to make claims of longer life and better health, the Morning Banana diet promises weight loss results.
Again, like many fad diets which rely on celebrity endorsement for revenue and sales, the Morning Banana Diet gained her popularity after famous opera singer Kumiko Mori claimed to have lost up to 15 pounds using this meal plan.
This massive success story led to the Banana craze and even resulted in a shortage of bananas in most of the Japanese stores in 2008.
The million-dollar question, however, with many of the objective-minded individuals is whether The Morning Banana Diet is as effective as it claims.
Our team was curious about the structure of this diet plan and how it enhanced weight loss.
Here are our findings.
What is The Morning Banana Diet?
The Morning Banana Diet, also referred to as Asa-Banana Diet was propounded by Sumiko Watanabe, a Japanese pharmacist and preventive medicine expert, for her husband, Hitoshi.
Hitoshi then claims to have lost 37 pounds by using the diet plan, and from there, the Banana diet became a mainstream diet.
Promises of The Morning Banana Diet
According to their official website, the Morning Banana diet revolves around the consumption of bananas for breakfast alongside other recommendations such as mindfulness eating and going to bed early.
Their website shares the virtues of this diet plan, and indicate that the Banana diet is essential for those who do not want to bother themselves with a diet, or even read a book, though there are books on the diet but in Japanese.
Additionally, it`s a perfect diet for the individuals who are basically in control of everything but need a little guidance on how to live healthily and cut on their weight.
Explaining how much dieters of this program can expect to lose on this diet, the website further continues to assert that the diet is perfect for the Japanese level of “overweight.”
Dietary Rules
Like any other diet, the Banana diet also has its set of rules, which you need to follow.
The dietary rules on this meal plan have been put in place to make wanton consumption harder, by restricting what you can eat, and when you can eat.
Let us have a snippet of the rules that you ought to follow when on the Morning Banana Diet.
Morning/Breakfast
You should begin your day with a glass of water as soon as you hit the blankets. Gulp a glass of water and have a banana for breakfast.
You can have more than one banana, provided you don’t stuff yourself to the point of fullness or discomfort. Hitoshi ate 4 small Philippines bananas.
Your choice of bananas should be those that are raw, uncooked and unfrozen bananas.
In cases you do not have the banana, you can substitute it with another fruit. However, when the banana is substituted, the variants of the fruits will be restricted to one type of fruit per meal.
If you still feel hungry, the diet program recommends that you have other foods less than 200 calories after this, approximately a quarter to half an hour later.
Lunch and Dinner
For these meals, there are no specific foods that you can have or not. You will, however, not eat a dessert with any other meals.
Dinner should be taken by 8 p.m. latest, but preferably by 6 p.m.
When eating, you should consume food until you are satisfied but not full or stuffed. The notion of satiation rather than fullness stems from a Japanese adage Hara hachibu ni isha irazu, “A stomach eight-tenths full needs no doctor.”
Drink a Lot of Water
Water is the only beverage allowed during meals. While there is no quota of water, you should not bloat yourself with water. The plan recommends sipping water slowly rather than gulping it to wash food.
Also, the water must not be chilled or hot, but rather at room temperatures.
Outside the meal-times, non-caloric beverages such as tea, and diet soda are generally allowed but frowned. The plan encourages frequent water intake.
Occasionally a beer or wine is acceptable.
Eating Mindfully
When eating, it`s recommended that you keep your distractions away and chew slowly and mindfully as you savor every bite.
Snacking
You can satiate the cravings of your sweet tooth by having an afternoon snack, which is allowed at 3 p.m.
Here, there is a lot of flexibility as it allows a plethora of snacks including chocolate, cookies, and fresh fruit.
However, ice cream, donuts, and potato chips are not recommended.
Sleep
Trying aiming for at least a 4-hour period between your dinner and bedtime. Additionally, go to bed by midnight, but the earlier, the better.
Exercises
Like snacking, there is a lot of flexibility with exercises. You should not feel obligated to exercise, and you should only do the workouts if you feel like.
Does The Morning Banana Diet Work?
Before jumping into the fad diet bandwagon, you keep in mind that most of this diets do not advocate for healthy eating or lifestyle changes.
Though several individuals have been successful with this diet, it would be early and inconclusive to say that it will result in permanent weight loss.
This is because it`s not scientifically backed.
Nonetheless, it may work because it relies on the rule of making you eat less, notwithstanding any magical rules the diet purports. There is nothing magical about eating early or filing 80% of yourself, however.
But stopping eating when you`re 80% will surely cut on the number of calories you consume. Equally, having enough restful sleep is essential in cutting down the weight.
Our main concern, however, is the slackness of the program, with regards to workouts. We are all aware a combination of proper nutrition plus workout is the magical key to unlocking your fit and healthy body.
Is The Morning Banana Diet Right for Me?
If you are up for the huge dieting changes, then this program should appeal to you. What we love about this diet is that it offers a gradual transition into your healthy dieting and weight loss. Throw in little “scientific theory,” and you are good to go.
However, you should realize that not all diets work for everyone.
