Banana Diet

banana-dietThe banana diet involves a number of eating plans that use bananas as the primary food basis of the diet.

When the Morning Banana Diet was promoted on the Japanese social networking site ‘Mixi’ in March 2008 it became so popular that it resulted in a nationwide banana shortage.

The diet was created by Hitoshi Watanabe who has studied preventative medicine and his wife Sumiko who is a pharmacist.

The Morning Banana Diet Basics

The creators of the Morning Banana Diet claim that eating only bananas and drinking room temperature water for breakfast leads to weight loss regardless of what is consumed for the rest of the day.

morning-banana-dietThe diet is extremely simple and easy to follow however many Japanese have reported rapid weight loss when experimenting with this diet.

One of the reasons why the diet may work is that bananas are said to improve digestion and boost metabolism. Another possibility is that bananas are high in resistant starch, which is a type of fiber that can promote the feeling of fullness and may block the absorption of some carbohydrates.

The reason why the water has to be room temperature is not certain but many theories have been speculated on the Internet such as that it improves digestion or reduces hunger.

Dieters are also advised to eat their evening meal before 8pm and to avoid desserts after dinner. If feeling very hungry it is acceptable to have a piece of fruit.

Aside from eating bananas for breakfast and avoiding late night eating another rule of the diet is that you must go to sleep before midnight every night. The rationale behind this advice is sound as scientific studies show a relationship between sleep deprivation and obesity

At all times dieters should follow the Japanese principle of eating until only 80% full.

Dairy products and alcohol are also not allowed on this diet. In addition the only beverage that may be consumed with meals is room temperature water.

Recommended Foods

Bananas – must be raw, not cooked and not frozen.

Sample Diet Plan

Breakfast

One or more bananas (as many as desired until full)
One glass lukewarm water

Lunch

Meal of choice

Afternoon Snack

A small sweet snack is allowed around 3pm if hungry

Dinner

Meal of choice but must be eaten before 8pm
No dessert

Low Calorie meal options can be found here.

Exercise Recommendations

Dieters are told they should exercise only if they want to.

You may want to try these exercises with the Morning Banana Diet.

Costs and Expenses

See The Morning Banana Diet Official Website

Available from Amazon →

Pros

  • Eating breakfast every day may increase metabolism and reduce the likelihood of overeating later in the day.
  • Avoiding caffeine at breakfast may lead to more stable blood glucose levels and reduced appetite.
  • Not eating after 8pm will reduce tendency for late night snacking on high calorie foods.
  • Avoiding dairy products and dessert will reduce calories by limiting fat and sugar intake.
  • Bananas are a nutritious food and high in fiber, vitamins B6 and C and potassium.
  • Discourages overeating.

Cons

  • Some dieters may not respond well to a pure carbohydrate breakfast particularly those with hypoglycemia.
  • Easy for dieters to consume excess calories if they eat whatever they like for lunch and dinner.
  • Does not encourage exercise.
  • Does not address psychological factors involved in dieting.

Less Calories Still Key

If dieters are experiencing success on this diet it is not likely to be due to any special fat burning qualities of bananas. It is much more likely that it is related to following the other rules of the diet such as eating only at specific times of the day and avoiding desserts.

This will result in a reduction of calories that will promote weight loss so long as dieters do not consume excessive calories in their other meals.

 By Mizpah Matus B.Hlth.Sc(Hons)
    References:
  • Nieman, D. C., Gillitt, N. D., Henson, D. A., Sha, W., Shanely, R. A., Knab, A. M., … & Jin, F. (2012). Bananas as an energy source during exercise: a metabolomics approach. PloS one, 7(5), e37479. link
  • Ganeshamurthy, A. N., Satisha, G. C., & Patil, P. (2011). Potassium nutrition on yield and quality of fruit crops with special emphasis on banana and grapes. Karnataka Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 24(1). link
  • Kumar, K. S., Bhowmik, D., Duraivel, S., & Umadevi, M. (2012). Traditional and Medicinal Uses of Banana. link
  • Beccuti, G., & Pannain, S. (2011). Sleep and obesity. Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care, 14(4), 402. link

59 Comments or Reviews

Comments now closed
  1. srid

    can i have my regular tea in the morning , and then have banana with water.is tea with milk ok to drink on this diet? please help

  2. Faz

    omg u people crack me up. Of course it’s not gonna work for everyone! Everyone’s body is unique, different diets will work for different people. So if it didnt work for u then stop whinging about it and go try another. To those who it worked for, great! Some good feedback….im gonna give it a crack starting tomorrow moring =) heaps excited…

  3. ROXY

    DO YOU ONLY EAT A BANANNA IN THE MORNING AND EAT REGULARLY FOR THE REST OF THE DAY, OR DO YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW THE DIET THAT THEY GIVE YOU?

  4. Upeksha

    Yoghurt or tea with milk not allowed?

  5. Jacqueline Fredrick

    Can this help me to loose my kilos?

    • Michelle

      Just ate 0ne Banana W/Cup Of Warm Water
      Feeling Full …….Let’s Just See??

  6. lucy

    only diet that has ever worked for me

  7. AmandaJefferies

    Best diet ever!!!
    Works like you wouldn’t believe!!!

    Have lost 15kg so far (2 months)
    The weight is dropping like crazy!!!!!!!!

  8. terri

    im starting this next week with a grapefruit also hopes it works cuz i have 2 kids and iam soooo over weight

  9. faiza

    i just read abt this diet well i m also doin another kind of banana diet so i will do this after that it seems gud but prb is that u shud hv to wake up early in the morning n its imposible for me !! 🙁

  10. gazebo

    I tried this awhile ago. I quit soon after because eating so many bananas in the morning made me go to the bathroom frequently. It was annoying so I stopped. Good luck to everyone on this diet, if you don’t mind going to the bathroom…..ALOT!!!!

  11. MAUI

    ive already tried dis before.i agreed that banana diet is true.every morning i eat banana and i noticed my belly become smaller.i was so happy.

  12. ShihChun

    It takes me about a year. but if you like it faster then go on adiet will do good and faster. Rember how fast you lose weights how soon you gain back! If you still have some question. E-Mail me to andre8281987@gmail.com

  13. hira

    i hope it will work

  14. Liliana

    It’s not only about eat bananas for breakfast u guys have to do exacly what they say for it to work.I’m doing it with out cheathing and i have lost 6kg since 9 of February.

  15. Cuchimama

    That shit aint werk unless you eat crackers and non fat cheese for the rest of the day.thats why i am now proudly 6 ft and 118 pounds!40 pounds lost over 2 months!

  16. Sharon

    I hope it will work for me.

  17. marie

    That is completely a BIG BIG lie. A Banana for breakfast is my husband’s food every single morning, it has been for years. He doesn’t eat anything else,and bananas is about the only thing he says he can digest in morning before he leaves to work. Drinks alot of water all day. I’ll tell you he could afford to lose some weight but not with bananas. You should not eat alot bananas when your trying to lose.

  18. ali

    Sounds too good to be true haha.

  19. marlyn

    i’ll try this diet…
    im 80pds overweight.

  20. THE BIG BOSS

    OMG I HOPE THIS WORKZ I’M LOOKIN FWD TO IT!:)

  21. Liliana

    It works,im doing it and i lost 2kg in one week 😀

  22. M,

    It sounds great 😀 Tomorrow mornig I’m starting it. It’s ok with me bananas for breakfast, but I like sweet alot 🙁 but I work alot in a gym so I hope bananas will balance my sweet poisons 😀 Good luck everyone on this stuff 🙂

  23. Bri

    I am excited to try this diet, I only want to loose a few pounds & this will be VERY easy to do considering I LOVE bananas! (:

  24. lilly

    Ted,i tried the banana D’ for 2 days! i felt so weak that i had to pull out…to cut the long story; i have decided to go the healthy way(+smaller portions) and identify an activity.swimming/jogging are my preferred options not gyming’ am sure in less than 6months i will have achieved my goal of (minus)7 or just 5.my BMI is 28 so i guess 5-7 would be ideal.wish me luck! this a long term approach but i don’t mind since its realistic…cheers!!

  25. lilly

    Yes ted, i agree with you.no shortcut here! its all about small portions & healthy choices.i just have to fine-tune my mind’…thanks for your support.

  26. lauranmichelle

    Wow u guys are funny! Im very excited to try this diet out! I went thru. N read pretty much every diet on line, n this is the only one that sounded like something I cud stick to! I am 190 lbs. I just had a baby (c section at that) so I need to do this! Thanks for the comments!

  27. lilly

    Many thanks Ted,one last question…how long will it take to see the results.i will start tomorrow.wish me luck! am overweight with good’ 7kgs!!!i love bananas i hope this is for real…….

    • ted

      Lilly- I think your goal should be to eat smaller, healthier meals and get more exercise using bananas as part of that healthy option. Focus on health and the kgs will come off.. Best of luck!

  28. maryrosecordova

    anyone thats tried this please let me know if this works

  29. lilly

    raw green bananas or the ripe ones? please reply.i need to start ASAP.

    • ted

      Ripe ones

  30. kirsten

    i will try it hope it works

  31. morgynn

    wow…. i definatly try this diet, it’s so easy to follow!

  32. masoom

    i try this & tell u soon.this is so easy & simple.

  33. analiza

    yes!

    i try this banana diet also.

  34. sharifah

    i wanna try this..very easy and simple..

  35. Jade

    I’ll be trying this diet! Hopefully it works with my hour of working out per day

  36. priscilla

    THIS DIET IS VERY SIMPLE TO FOLLOW AND AM WILLING TO GIVE IT A TRY TOO.

  37. Patricia

    Well i have tried everything. Guess i will give it a try too. I had a gastric bypass 3 years ago. Was doing really fine until i lost my son and then food became my security blanket again. I have regained almost 20 pounds back and need to start loosing again. I really love bananas. I usually ask the fruit manager for the ones that they bag up. Hey you can get them for .99* a bag that way. So i guess i will be giving this a try in the morning. Will let yal know if it starts to work.

  38. Vivian

    I hope it will work alot. I go 4 this and i wil let 2 know after a week if there a good result.i do alot exercise but i am not on diet i hate of this, i love 2 eat yummy fatty foods.

  39. me

    just combine this diet with the apple diet and there u go!
    easy peasy.
    banana 4 breakfast and apple before lunch and dinner.
    🙂

  40. parvez

    Eating bananas before each meal surely makes you eat less calories.fruits always have a positive aspect on our lives.

  41. Rebecca

    Sounds easy enough. We’ll try it this week.

  42. XxxICEYxxX

    do you do this every day ?

  43. gin

    will try this diet asap. I weigh 128 lbs now.Hope this Banana diet works.

  44. Laura

    I guarantee it works. Almost 30 years ago my best friend lost more than 80 pounds on a banana diet and has stayed slim ever since. I have been recommending it to many people through the years and it always seems to work.

  45. lili

    hey all i wanted to try this and i will tom.
    dose anyone know if i can loose 80 pouns on this ??
    and how much pounds will i lose a week?

  46. Aimees

    I did this for 2 weeks, lost 20 pounds. But I eat the Saba (local variety), boiled, about 2-3 bananas for breakfast.

    Mostly my food for those two weeks were boiled sweet potatoes, boiled egg (white only), lots of greens, nuts, fruits especially (turnips, watermelon, oranges), coffee, grilled porkchops without the fatty portion, chicken, fish, vinegar.

    For exercise, I bike whenever there’s opportunity, dance to sweat, just a little weight lifting for the arms.

  47. layla

    i’m on this diet right now, and honestly if you do a little bit of excercise, it’ll be easier for you to notice some kind of weight loss 😉

  48. ericaaalouiseee,

    Caan someonee please email me saying if this works ?
    <3

  49. joy

    hi .. everyone :] i want to try this .. hey anna ?? is this true ? because i read your comments so i thought it works well good luck .. i hope this is really good banana in the morning .. thanks for the one who upload it. :] more powers :]

  50. paulin

    i am currently into this diet…. but i prefer to eat cooked bananas…. i guess i’ll just have to eat them raw then… i noticed that i do lose weight so i guess it does work… i just have a problem with sleeping before 12md cause i work at night….
    and the thing is, when i go home i just sleep. so i dont take my lunch. and i take dinner only when im in the office which is past 12md already…
    how long does it really take before one loses weight? i guess that depends on a lot if things…

  51. ME

    Well I drink coffee every day. that I will not stop. I am an addict to coffee!
    But I will try eating a banana every morning, with lukewarm water, plus the diet I am on(low cal diet) SO this diet doesn’t really ruin the diet I am on. But it’s nice to know there is something that can boost my metabolism-a food that I happen to LOVE (bananas) I will post my results if I get any.

  52. steph

    i can’t eat bananas by themselves only in a smoothie or like bread

  53. Anna

    Funny, My husband did this diet completely unintentionally without knowing it was a “diet”. He just really likes banana’s. Although he drank coffee, and didn’t go to bed before 12. But he lost 20lbs..So I guess it works. He tried to get me to do this. But I hate banana’s so much that I won’t go near my kids after eating them until my husband wipes the banana smell off their hands and face…

  54. mimi wall

    hi everybody. does anybody know if this works? and is it only working if your obese? please answer! thanks!

  55. Dr HEMAL

    Does it really work..

  56. joseph espinosa

    this was put together perfectly . very easy to read.