2 years ago
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.
KXTV / Time.com / Google Images
