How can you lose weight on a banana diet? And how useful is this type of diet? We explain how the delicious fruit should help you lose weight quickly and what you should consider.
Banana Diet: How it works
For the banana diet, it is important that you use green, unripe bananas. They contain a resistant starch that keeps blood sugar levels low so fat burning is accelerated. These are the basic assumptions of the banana diet:
The idea behind the banana diet is that you eat bananas instead of snacks and a regular breakfast.
You can eat as many bananas as you want for breakfast until you are completely full. It is best to drink water to boost digestion.
A light meal is recommended for lunch. There are no specific rules for this. However, you should avoid fatty foods because they would counteract the desired effect of the diet.
If you get hungry in the afternoon, use bananas again. At this point, consciously avoid sweets.
The choice of your dinner is also up to you. However, make sure to eat very early in the evening so that there is at least four hours between eating and going to bed.
Tip: As with any diet, the banana diet also means that you should exercise as regularly as possible and move around a lot.
Why do bananas help you lose weight?
There is a lot of sugar in bananas. But they contain no fat and no cholesterol. Instead, they shine with lots of vitamin B, magnesium and potassium.
Fructose: Due to the high fructose content, bananas are considered to be a fast supplier of energy, as studies show.
Magnesium and potassium: Both nutrients are important for your muscles. They strengthen your bones and teeth.
Vitamin B6: stimulates the metabolism and supports the immune system.
The following nutritional values apply to 100 grams of bananas:
Calorific value: 96.0 kcal
Fat: 0.2g
Carbohydrates: 22 g
of which sugar: 17.2 g
Protein: 1.1g
Fiber: 2.0 g
How useful is the banana diet?
Although bananas contain no fat, they do have a relatively high proportion of fructose. Nevertheless, bananas are very filling, making it easier for you to do without sweets.
As with many other diets, the banana diet can also cause possible deficiency symptoms. Therefore, you should not follow this one-sided diet for longer than three weeks. You can lose weight quickly with the banana diet, but it is not healthy in the long term and does not replace a balanced diet.
You should also keep in mind the ecological characteristics of the fruit: bananas travel long distances. They come from the tropics and are delivered to Europe, for example, from Colombia and Costa Rica. In addition, conventional bananas in particular are usually treated with chemical-synthetic pesticides, which also causes a number of negative effects on the health of workers on the plantations. So look out for the Fairtrade seal when you buy bananas.
It makes sense to do regular exercise and eat a balanced diet instead of such diets. Such a lifestyle can lead to your desired weight in the long term.