by Jennifer Brister

Created on: November 12, 2008

The ladies of Japan have, quite literally, gone bananas! The newest diet craze to hit Japan is the Morning Banana Diet. In fact, it has been so popular that girls rushing to the market to purchase bananas in hopes of losing weight have caused a major banana shortage for the country! What is so special about this diet? It's easy to follow and it seems to be working for a great many people.

Promoted by Hitoshi and Sumiko Watanabe on the social networking site mixi, the diet's creators have been inundated with requests for information about the diet. Hitoshi formerly studied preventative medicine and is wife is a pharmacist. The youth of Japan have been swept up with this diet since it was introduced to the nation.

Following the Morning Banana Diet is easy, and so far it's followers have been getting fantastic results. Lose weight on this diet in a few easy steps.

1. Breakfast - Drink one glass of lukewarm water and eat as many bananas as you want until you feel full. Though most diets promote drinking cold water to burn more calories, Watanabe says that lukewarm water is one of the staples of the diet.

2. Lunch - For lunch you should eat anything you like, but keep it reasonable. Eating three donuts for lunch would not be acceptable, but eating a nice healthy, balanced lunch would be.

3. Snack - If you are hungry, you many eat one snack around 3:00pm. Some who are on the diet choose to eat another banana for their afternoon snack, but the Watanabe says that your snack can be anything you like.

4. Dinner - Dinner can be anything you like, as long as you eat it before 8:00 pm. You should not eat ice cream or any other desserts after dinner.

5. 0ther - If you are on the morning banana diet, you should be in bed and asleep by midnight each and every night. Several recent diet studies have shown that not having enough sleep every night leads to weight gain.

There is much speculation about why this diet works as well as it does. Studies have shown, though, that bananas improve metabolism and help the digestive system to work properly. Though the diet is making it's way to the United States, we are nowhere near having the banana shortage that Japan has right now. The diet is quickly gaining popularity with young girls, as well as everyone else who is trying to lose weight.

Watanabe has written a book called "Asa Banana Diet" that has received much attention worldwide. The book can be purchased on various websites, including Amazon. The book has sold over 230,000 copies so far with many more being sold daily.

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