The Morning Banana Diet: Health Impact

The main feature of the Morning Banana Diet is the recommendation of eating two bananas, with room temperature water, for breakfast. While the dramatic popularity of the Morning Banana Diet has been fueled by anecdotal evidence of many Japanese who've lost weight by following the regimen, decades of nutrition research validate the idea that increasing consumption of fruit and vegetables in general, and bananas in particular, can help support healthy, sustainable weight loss.



BANANAS & RESISTANT STARCH

Bananas contain resistant starch, which ferments in your large intestine, creating by-products (butyrates) that block conversion of some carbohydrates into fuel. A University of Colorado study found that an increase in the amount of resistant starch contained in a meal "significantly increased post-prandial lipid oxidation and therefore could decrease fat accumulation in the long run." Replacing 5.4% of ordinary carbs with resistant starch could boost fat burning by up to 30% Practically speaking that means eating two bananas in the morning could enhance fat burning for hours.

Resistant starch also increases absorption of calcium, another important nutrient for weight loss. A low calcium diet increases blood levels of calcitrol -- the active form of vitamin D -- which stimulates calcium influx into your fat cells, which in turn stimulates lipogenic -- i.e. fat creating -- gene expression, leading to the generation of excess adipose tissue, or fat. Bananas can help improve bioavailability of your dietary calcium: resistant starch feeds the protective bacteria that line the intestinal walls. A beneficial by-product of this process is an increase in the acidic environment of the colon, making calcium more soluble and thus easier to absorb.


BANANAS & VITAMIN CONTRIBUTIONS

Banana's overall nutrient density may support satiety as well. Cutting edge researchers, such as Bruce Ames, Ph.D., have been advancing the thesis that obesity is fueled as much by nutrient deficiencies as by calorie excesses. People who eat a junk-food diet may be getting two or even three times the calories they need, while falling short on a host of vital nutrients. Stuffed with food, yet starved for nutrition, their bodies signal them to go on eating. Two bananas, on the other hand, provide a decent contribution to daily requirements: half your daily vitamin B6, 40% of your daily vitamin C, 26% of your daily potassium, 24% daily fiber, and two grams of protein.

That 40% of daily vitamin C provided by the two bananas eaten for breakfast in the Morning Banana Diet may also play a role in weight loss. Arizona State University researchers showed that upping vitamin C intake could boost the body's ability to burn fat. Scientists point to vitamin C's role in the manufacture of the amino acid carnitine, which helps flush fatty acids from the body.


THE MORNING BANANA DIET - A CLOSER LOOK

The Morning Banana Diet's fiber contribution also supports weight loss. Finnish researchers analyzed the diets of 500 middle-age obese men and women, and found that those who consumed more fiber and less fat lost three times the weight over a 3-year period than those consuming a high-fat, lower fiber diet. This same group was also 62% less likely to develop diabetes. 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. Traveling through your digestive system, fiber carries away some fat. This, plus satiety effects, helps reduce overall calorie intake.

The Morning Banana Diet recommends that bananas be eaten for breakfast, which could provide a metabolic boost for chronic breakfast-skippers. Research shows that breakfast-eaters burn an extra 200 to 300 calories a day. A healthy morning start may also cut down on total daily calorie intake: A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that women who ate breakfast consumed about 100 fewer calories a day.

A healthy weight loss regimen is one that doesn't skimp on needed nutrients and which also addresses concerns specific to dieters, such as protecting bone and muscle, while losing fat. That 26% of daily potassium provided by the two bananas helps preserve muscle mass. Seniors with higher potassium intakes had more lean muscle mass than their potassium-poor peers. Researchers believe the metabolic by-products of potassium help to maintain the body's alkaline balance, counteracting the breakdown of muscle driven by excess acidity.



WATER & WEIGHT LOSS

What could be the significance of drinking the room temperature water with the two bananas in the morning? Researchers in Germany have reported preliminary findings that drinking water may elevate your metabolic rate. Moreover, dehydration is sometimes mistaken for thirst, so when watching calories, it's important to keep adequately hydrated -- especially during exercise. The Morning Banana Diet recommends daily exercise, and dehydration can hamper fitness results by reducing endurance. In general, water not only transports needed nutrients to vital organs, it flushes toxins from your system. By regulating the viscosity of your blood, adequate water intake may halve your fatal coronary risk.


OTHER HEALTH BENEFITS

The Morning Banana Diet supports dieters' health in other ways as well. For example, bananas are a well-known Superfood for Your Heart because of their 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). In fact, eating two bananas a day -- the amount in the diet -- was found to reduce blood pressure by 10%.

Regular banana consumption could also have a role in stroke prevention: according to a study published in Neurology, those who consume diets rich in potassium are 50% less likely to have a stroke.

Banana consumption has been linked to a lower risk of developing leukemia, colorectal and kidney cancer. A study published in Nutrition and Cancer found that those who consumed bananas three or more times a week had a 72% lower risk of colorectal cancer compared to those who consumed them less than once a week. Some researchers speculate that such anti-cancer benefits may be due to bananas' high level of vitamin B6, which has been shown to inhibit DNA strand breaks.


LOSING FORMULA: DIET + EXERCISE

Research shows that dieting alone may not yield lasting weight loss -- but adding exercise to your strategy will help ensure your chances of maintaining results. In one study from Baylor College of Medicine, volunteers who combined diet with exercise lost 20 pounds at the end of year one, compared to 15 pounds lost by those who dieted only, and over 6 pounds lost by those who exercised only.