The new banana
republic
Yes, we have no bananas,
no more bananas today ...
Where are all the bananas? It's 7:30pm
and I head into my local grocery store
to buy some fresh fruit and vegetables.
Once again, there are no bananas to be
found anywhere. Seven different signs
on the empty banana stand advertise
Dole, Bonita and Del Monte bananas, in
addition to ... the Morning Banana Diet.
By the looks of the empty stand, Japan
has truly gone bananas.
The rush on bananas is a result of the
Morning Banana Diet, which gained fame
overnight after Kumiko Mori, a former
opera singer, claimed she lost 7kg from
her 100kg frame in six weeks on Tokyo
Broadcasting System's TV show Dream
Press-sha (September 19, 2008). The next
day, bananas starting flying off the shelves.
The brains behind the bananas
The Morning Banana Diet was introduced
on Mixi, a popular social networking web
site, in 2006 by Hitoshi Watanabe. Mr.
Watanabe lost 17 kilos by following the
"stress-free" diet created by his wife,
Sumiko Watanabe, a pharmacist in Osaka.
How the diet works
According to morningbanana.com, the
trick is to eat a banana (or two) and drink
room-temperature water for breakfast.
Anything can be eaten at lunch and
dinner, and an afternoon snack is OK. The
other rules are fairly simple: drink lots of
water; avoid dairy products, alcohol and
dessert after meals; and don't eat after
8pm. The site also recommends chewing
your bananas and other food thoroughly,
being "mindful of its taste". Furthermore,
dieters are advised to go
to bed by midnight and have the option
to add a little stress-free exercise.
Why bananas?
 Well, bananas have long been known as a
super food that are good for losing weight
because they help digestion and improve
metabolism. According to the Dole Nutri-
tion website, bananas offer a "unique
combination of nutrients all supporting
various aspects of heart health: potassium
(for blood pressure control), fiber (for
cholesterol regulation), vitamin B6 (to
reduce levels of homocysteine, an amino
acid which at high levels can damage
arteries), and vitamin C (to prevent
oxidation of LDL cholesterol) ... Fiber
fights fat on various fronts: for one thing,
it helps with appetite control because it
bulks up in your stomach so you feel full
longer. Travelling through your digestive
system, fiber carries away some fat. This,
plus satiety effects, helps reduce overall
calorie intake." In addition, bananas,
according to Dole Nutrition, "Could
provide a metabolic boost for chronic
breakfast-skippers. Research shows that
breakfast-eaters burn an extra 200 to 300
calories a day."
Dole on demand
To cope with the increasing banana
demand, Dole has increased its banana
imports by more than 25 percent since
June. However, there's still a shortage of
the fruit. Considering it takes from 10 to
15 months to harvest bananas, banana
suppliers have found it difficult to meet
the sudden increase in demand. "In a way
this is an emergency," explains Hitomi
Ohtaki, the Dole spokeswoman. "We've
been importing bananas from the Phili-
ppines for the past 40 years, but this is
the first time something like this happened
to us, and we find it very difficult to cope."
The truth
The truth is that fad diets that curb calories
can result in weight loss, but it's almost
always followed by quick weight regain.
Unfortunately, a population prone to
dieting fads often ignores such sensible
advice. Staying healthy all comes back to
the basics: eat well-balanced meals, drink
lots of water, stay away from sweets and
alcohol, exercise and get plenty of rest.
Text & photos: Laura Markslag
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