Diets can be just as sensitive to trends as fashion, and now a new diet that was a sensation in Japan last year has arrived in Korea. The Morning Banana Diet owes much of its massive popularity to its simplicity: a breakfast of one banana and warm water as soon as you wake up in the morning, and you can eat lunch and dinner as usual. Many people in Japan posted online accounts of successfully losing weight on the regimen, leading to nationwide banana shortages there. Now an increasing number of Koreans have also begun blogging their experiences on the Morning Banana Diet.

◆ Is the Key Easily Digested Foods?

So how exactly does the Morning Banana Diet work? The diet's inventors Hitoshi Watanabe and his wife Sumiko Watanabe claim that food that can be digested quickly helps the stomach to rest longer. When the stomach spends a great deal of energy on digesting food, it tires the whole body and changes your body type to one prone to gaining weight.

Fruits such as bananas reach the intestines in just 15 to 20 minutes and are quickly absorbed, while vegetables and other foods rich in carbohydrates or proteins need three to four hours to be broken down and digested. "The key to the Morning Banana Diet is to have a regular intake of food that is easy on the stomach, at least for breakfast," the Watanabes say. 

Models dressed as Marilyn Monroe give away bananas to promote the banana diet in Myeong-dong, Seoul.

◆ So Why Bananas?

"Bananas are composed of 70 percent water," the Watanabes say. "Eating a banana with water in the morning restores water in the body that was lost during sleep. Bananas are also rich in serotonin, which calms the nerves, reduces stress, and curbs the appetite." The abundance of potassium found in bananas also helps relieve edema, while the fruit's fiber and antioxidant polyphenol are good for the skin and prevent constipation.

But with one banana containing about 100 calories, is it okay to eat a lot of them? "It's okay to eat three to four bananas until you feel full," the Watanabes advise. "If you eat slowly, chewing as many times as you can, you will feel full after just two bananas. If you eat only low-calorie foods and exercise too much, your body will feel tired all day. This will transform your body into the type that gains weight easily. What is important is to go to bed before midnight, get a good night's sleep, and regularly eat foods that help relieve fatigue." But, the diet inventors caution, if you grow tired of eating bananas, stop immediately, as nothing is more harmful to dieting than stress.