The Banana Diet has become a hit in Japan in recent years.
Eating bananas not only helps with weight loss, but also reduces the waistline, relieves constipation and improves skin.
Despite such ideal results, the effect of the Banana Diet depends on when and how you eat this fruit. A famous gastroenterologist in Japan, Dr Matsushita, points out that eating bananas at night has the best effect on weight loss and beauty.
So how does the Banana Diet work and what should you do to reap the most benefits from it?
How a Banana Diet Plan Works
Nowadays, people don’t have proper dinners.
Since they are very busy working during the day, they usually have takeaway food as a quick lunch. When they become hungry after work, they tend to overeat and overdrink. These two extremes may cause an imbalance in nutrition intake.
Dr Matsushita recommends eating low-calorie, nutritious bananas before dinner as a solution.
Banana Diet Plan: Reduce Caloric Intake
One 100-gram banana has about 86 calories, and two bananas have 172 calories. This is significantly less than the 252 calories contained in a small bowl of rice.
Dr Matsushita says that one major cause for the failure to lose weight is uncontrolled appetite. Many people give up on losing weight because of hunger. Some people succumb to excessive eating after fasting. In contrast to this, the biggest advantage of eating is that you don’t have to fight with an empty stomach, since bananas at night can make you feel full easily.
Banana Diet Plan: Good for Health
“Also, the sugar in bananas can suppress anxiety and reduce fatigue. The rich content of dietary fibre, water, magnesium and other ingredients in bananas can promote bowel movements, improve constipation, reduce ulcers, and regulate skin conditions such as dry skin,” says Dr Matsushita.
Banana Diet Plan: Good for Skin
Having bananas before you go to sleep is also good for beauty. The growth hormone is usually secreted during sleep at night, and arginine in the banana can activate growth hormones in the body, helping to slow down ageing and burn body fat.
How to Start a Banana Diet Plan
The Banana Diet plan is very simple, but you must adhere to a certain method to get the most out of it.
Dr Matsushita’s Effective Banana Diet Plan
Dr Matsushita recommends the following:
1.Eat two bananas 30 minutes before dinner (N.B.: you are recommended to eat up to two bananas per day).
2.Drink about 200 ml of warm water or green tea after eating the bananas.
You can eat your bananas directly, heat them up or mix them with sugar-free yogurt.
In the Banana Diet plan for weight loss, you can eat your bananas directly, heat them up or mix them with sugar-free yogurt. (Shutterstock)
Highlights of Dr Matsushita’s Banana Diet Plan:
● You should eat bananas before meals and drink water after eating them. Sugar-free and warm water is highly recommended.
● You can have dinner as usual, but you don’t have to eat if you feel full.
● Based on the Chinese Five Elements Theory, bananas are cooling food, and people whose bodies have a cool constitution should eat them in moderation.
According to the Japanese health magazine ‘Yohobika’,
● About 80% of people taking this Banana Diet plan have reported good results
● About 50% of people lost weight and saw a reduction in their waist circumference
● More than 50% of people experienced better digestion and no longer have constipation.
Want More Variety? Try Dietitian Numazu’s Banana Diet Plan
If you think Dr Matsushita’s weight loss method is too monotonous and wish to vary the recipe to satisfy your taste buds, Japanese dietitian Numazu recommends another Banana Diet plan:
Mix bananas with a suitable amount of yogurt and walnuts to serve as a staple food
Alternatively, for a snack, sprinkle sugar-free cocoa on sliced bananas
Numazu says that her husband, who eats bananas every day, managed to lose 25 kilograms in half a year after following the above sugar-free Banana Diet.
Since bananas are rich in dietary fibre and balanced in nutrition, Numazu also believes that they are not only effective in weight loss, but are also very beneficial for health.
Conclusion
Proper Banana Diet plans can help reduce weight, enhance health and beautify skin. Also, it is easy to start following them to reap the benefits. Just follow the right timing and ‘sugar-free’ rule, and you are on the right track to your ideal weight!
