Posted on 10/25/2008 6:33:36 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A 21-year old Japanese woman is shopping desperately for bananas in her local supermarket but, sadly, bananas are hard to find these days in Japan.
This is because Japan is the origination spot for the new Morning Banana Diet, which is sweeping Japanese women by storm. The young woman in the supermarket, who is urgently seeking out any bananas that may remain on the shelves, weighs only 100 pounds. So why does she need to diet at all? Shouldn't she be stocking up on greasy chicken fingers and fried calamari?
The reason for her sudden urge to down some bananas is due to the popular trend among Japanese women who are obsessed with dieting. These women are eager to subject their bodies to any sort of dieting trend so that they may be on the cutting edge of weight loss.
The woman is fervently shopping for her believed secret weight loss weapon because she recently read about a popular actress who claimed to have lost 26 pounds while on the Morning Banana Diet.
Apparently, the diet fad is catching on, judging by the amount of bananas left on the shelves. "Large stores don't have any bananas from noon, and even Ito Yokado (a major supermarket chain) runs out of them after 3 p.m.," says Tomoyuki Horiuchi, sales representative of Tokyo Seika Boeki Co., Ltd., fruit and vegetables wholesale company.
Japan is known for its trendsetting records, so there is a high likelihood that this trend is picked up amongst the US population. Unfortunately, some people will try anything to lose a few pounds, but if you have a need for weight loss and happen to like the tropical fruit, here's how the banana diet works:
1. A banana and glass of water for breakfast
2. Eat anything you like for lunch or dinner, as long as it's before 8 p.m.
3. A three o'clock snack is recommended
4. No desserts after meals
5. Go to bed before midnight
This piece of cake (or banana) diet was designed by a Japanese pharmacist named Sumiko Watanabe. She claims the secret to her diet is increased metabolism. Her husband was overweight so Watanabe came up with a diet plan for him. Mr. Watanabe subsequently lost 37 pounds.
Professor Masahiko Okada of Niigata University School of Medicine warns against the questionable hype around the banana diet. "The human body has three essential nutrients ? carbohydrates, fat and protein ?", he says, and "the golden rule is to balance these three nutrients and a daily calorie intake. Once you understand that, you don't have to be swayed by the fad diet any more, whether it is a konnyaku (alimentary yam paste) or a banana diet." Try telling this to a weight obsessed society.
After all, Japan has set numerous not-so-conventional diet trends. The 70's brought black tea fungus, the 80's a little baby formula, and the 90's some delicious cocoa and chili pepper. Hmmm.......tasty.
Based on Japanese diet precedent, you can't help but wonder just how long the banana diet will last. But one thing is for sure - bananas definitely sound a lot more appetizing than black tea fungus.
I’d a go bananas on this diet.
Morning banana diet can be disaster
The Times of India
25 Oct 2008, 2149 hrs IST, ANI
WASHINGTON: An American nutritionist says that the morning banana diet can be a recipe for disaster for most people.
Kerri Glassman, a contributor to the programme ‘The Early Show’, says that Japanese people are particularly crazy about the morning diet of bananas.
According to her, people there are suggested that they eat as many as bananas with worm water as they want for breakfast. After that, they can have a basic lunch that can include pizza and fries, and a mid-afternoon meal of snacks, which can even be a sweet.
And the dinner, which has to be before 8 p.m., can include anything an individual wants.
People are asked not to have anything after dinner, and to go to bed before midnight.
“(You can have) as many bananas as you want (for breakfast)? Maybe the idea is you get so full, you don’t want to eat a big lunch, or a big dinner?” said a sceptical Maggie Rodriguez, co-anchor on the show.
Glassman, however, said: “That’s part of it. Bananas do have fibre, and they’re gonna help fill you up to some extent. But still, many people we know, no matter how many bananas you have for breakfast, (if) they’re told you can have whatever you want for lunch and dinner — you could be having a turkey sandwich, trying to lose weight, and then all of a sudden, you switch to pizza and fries — you’re gonna gain weight.”
The nutritionist added: “It’s a recipe for disaster for most people. However, for some people, if you’re eating, let’s say, lots of sweets throughout the day, and now you’re told you can’t have any sweets except for one small sweet at three (p.m.), you might lose some weight. Also, for some people, if you’re an emotional eater and you over-consume thousands of calories at night, you’re gonna cut calories (with this diet). So, for some people, you may lose a little bit of weight, but for most people, it’s a recipe for disaster.”
She agreed that it appeared to be a good idea to have warm water with breakfast.
“Some people believe it helps with digestion. And it’s common for some people to have the warm water in the morning. You’re increasing your fluid intake in the morning, but this diet gives no explanation why (the warm water helps),” she added.
She, however, insisted that the morning banana diet could not be regarded as the stuff of a roadmap for lifetime eating.
“For the most people, bananas are not a magical food. They’re just not. They have fibre. They have protein. They have potassium. They’re an excellent food that should be incorporated into your diet but, just like the grapefruit diet or cabbage soup diet, there’s no magical food,” she said.
Glassman further said that bananas “have some resistant starch. That is a type of fibre that passes through your system into your colon without being digested. There is some new research that shows it might actually help burn fat. Now, even if that’s true and, let’s say, it does help do that, there are other resistant starches out there, in potatoes, in beans. You still can’t over-consume as many bananas as you want, and you still can’t eat whatever you want, including steak and fries every day for lunch.
“Incorporate bananas into a healthy diet. That’s the way to go. But we still need whole grains and vegetables,” among many other types of food, she added.
If you add oat meal to the morning it works even better.... cut the carbs and don’t eat after 8....it works but you have to stick with it for two weeks... then you can add another food.... the biggest thing is white bread. But I would also be realistic and allow one pig out day per week..
No clue what worm water is, though.
Actually cocoa and a dash of chili is very tasty. Gives it a nice zing.
I think they meant “warm” water.
Ping
Is that a banana in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?
any diet that allows french fries is full of doo doo..
Asian women are the most slender in the world. I’d like to know why they feel that they need to lose weight.
We American women, on the other hand . . .
E at
L ess and
E xercise
M ore
There's the problem right there! Worm water.......
That’s so crazy it just might work.
Actually, hot chocolate with chiles is very tasty. That's how the Aztecs took their chocolate. The combination of sweet and hot is very nice, which reminds me, I need to see if any stores near me have habañero peanut brittle.
Do they mean warm water or is this another Japanese delicacy?
I'll pass on the worm water, thank you.
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