Dear Sarah - Is there really a banana diet?

The simple answer is 'Yes'. There really is a banana diet. It started in Japan and was originally created by a woman to help her husband loose weight. He lost 17 kilos and put the diet on one of Japan's largest social networks. It became a best selling book with over 730,000 copies being sold. It also increased the sales of bananas by 70%.

There are rules to this diet and they are beautifully simple. You must eat a banana for breakfast which must be uncooked and on its own, with a glass of water. It can't be added to yoghurt, muesli or anything else. If one is not enough you can eat more bananas until you feel satisfied but like any healthy eating plan you do not keep eating until you are full as that is over-eating.

You can eat what you like for lunch and dinner but no deserts at either, and you can have any savoury food you like at both. You can snack before 3pm and these snacks must be either any other kind of fruit or a small piece of chocolate. No snacks after 3pm and nothing at all to eat after 8pm, including the evening meal.

Filtered water is the only recommended drink with drinks containing caffeine or sugar being avoided if possible.

How does this help someone loose weight? That was my first question. There are a couple of theories:

• Bananas are packed with enzymes that boost digestion that reduce the time the intestines need to work to digest food. The result is a metabolism that aids weight loss.
• Bananas are a rich source of resistant starch, which is thought to leave you feeling satisfied and therefore less inclined to overeat at meal times as well as increasing the body's fat-burning capacity. 

And that really is all there is to it. I have never tried it and I would love to hear from someone who has. If you have or know anyone who has please write about it in the comment box below. I would love to know if it works.

love
Sarah