Korean Job Discussion Forums

[DorkothyParker]

My lovely sister who enjoys wacky dieting as much as I do told me about some freaky vegan raw-foodists who only eat fruit and maybe a teeny, tiny, itty bitty bit of nuts. My assumption was any weight loss would be due to unintentional calorie restriction, but there appears to be a great deal of emphasis on eating A LOT of fruit. In fact, the minimum is 10 grams of carbs per kilo per day and is over 2x my calorie reduction daily limit.

I don't think I would want to do this as a lifestyle because I don't want to be a vegan. I feel very strongly in favor of killing and eating ugly animals (and even some cute ones like ducks!). But I thought about trying it out for 30 days. (I just have to see if caffeine is allowed because it is important to me.)

Here is the website: http://www.30bananasaday.com/
Thoughts? Opinions?

[daunting]

I'm having a hard time finding the actual diet outlined on the website. Is there a specific URL that details what you're supposed to eat?

At any rate -- when I'm trying to lose weight (or just maintain my own weight), I follow a specific calorie plan and then allow myself to eat unlimited so-called "zero calorie" raw fruits and vegetables over the allotted calories. You can eat ridiculous amounts of them and lose weight. (Seriously, each week I eat about 16 kg of oranges alone, and I'm not a large woman.) You won't really be hungry if you do it right; you will, however, be very bloated most of the time and possibly a bit gassy I can't vouch for losing weight eating fruits like bananas, dates, etc. which are not considered "zero calorie".

You can probably have the caffeine you want on top of the diet without too much consequence, assuming your focus is on weight loss and not something else. Just make sure you drink your coffee black and tea sweetener-free.

[Kuros]

Bananas are a healthy source of Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, dietary fiber, manganese and, of course, potassium. As for antioxidants, they would probably get enough if 30 bananas were eaten each day. But obviously, any diet relying on one food source is going to have imbalances. Anybody "going bananas" would suffer from Vitamin A, Vitamin E, and Vitamin K deficiencies. The good news is that it would be easy to pick up all these Vitamins in two cups of spinach, raw or cooked. If it must be a fruit, add a few papayas into the mix.

The most obvious imbalance will be that the banana is very high in carbohydrates, over 90%: less than 10% of the banana supplies fats or protein. What ratio of carbs to fats to proteins is a source of controversy in the food world, but I know of few experts who think 90/5/5 is a good balance. Nevertheless, it would be very easy to add protein into the mix. For vegans, I would recommend black/pinto/kidney beans.

Bananas are also high in sugar, and are thus fairly inflammatory. In the case of bananas, they burden the glycemic load more than it alleviates oxidation. Modern fruit in general are high in sugar, although many Americans consume so much sugar in processed foods that a switch to even all bananas would be a net benefit.

I've heard of all fruit diets before. And they've come recommended even from admitted skeptics. But I would really mix up the fruits. Bananas can be a staple, but papayas, strawberries, and blueberries (at the very least) should see play in an all-fruit diet.

[MitchMartin]

[oldtactics]

The 30BAD name comes from a mono fruit fast that the owners of the website have done and recommend to people transitioning to a raw food lifestyle.

I was loosely involved in the raw food community back home and I can assure you that raw foodists are generally healthy & look amazing - the lifestyle works if you adjust depending on how your body reacts. Some raw foodists are high-fruit, some are low carb, some eat cooked vegetables when they crave them.

A month of raw eating will be great for your body, you'll feel fantastic & your skin will look amazing at the end of the 30 days. Take a multivitamin if you're worried about being deficient, but if you're eating a variety of fruit & veg you'll be fine. Try it and let us know how it goes - you'll never know how you feel on raw food until you try it

[DorkothyParker]

Yeah, it's definitely not just bananas. You can only have a little veg, though. You can eat unlimited quantities of any fruit. In fact, they recommend dates and such when you are just startin out. I think it's a minimum of 3000 calories for men and 2000 for women which is actually an immense amount of food physically.

Hmm, not a lot of opposition. Maybe I can get my husband to join me with this in June. I wonder if it would cost more than eating normal food. ^^
I'm still unsure of how I can burn fat by eating more calories, but it probably won't throw me back too bad.

[daunting]

It does cost more, especially in Korea. Can you eat dried fruit in this diet? If you can't eat all dried fruit, can you eat fruit that's dried at relatively low temperatures?

[johnnyrook]

I'd be willing to eat 30 watermelons a day. Don't know about bananas.

[sadguy]

i don't think i could afford this diet in korea.

[gtrain83]

is eating that much sugar (fruit or not) a good thing? Seems like your insulin will be going crazy.

[West Coast Tatterdemalion]

That's crazy and stupid at the same time.

[drydell]

[DorkothyParker]

Drydell:

I could never do this long term (unless it gave me a totally hot body like that Freelee chick). I love meat and I do feel strongly that it is my right to eat meat. The thought of some cow living because I gave up on steaks tears me up inside. Also, I think a lot of the people on that forum seems like jerks.

It does seem like a fun challenge to try. I may attempt it with my sister when I return to America in the fall. But I don't know if I could/would do it more than 30 days. Also, I think I will freak out from the water retention and bloating.

I am craving fruit after seeing that website. Lots of fruity foody porn. ^^

[eamo]

[young_clinton]

I would question if that diet is healthy. Fruits of course are high in Fructose. Eating a lot of fructose may not be so hot for your health. Table sugar, and anything else that is sweet will also have fructose in it.

Also another thing is you should avoid consuming alcohol and milk sugar (contains galactose) at the same time. It's very hard on the liver. That I know for a fact.

And if things couldn't get any better, some experts on Prions (missfolded proteins that get into your body and cause other proteins to missfold and deposit in your brain, if you're genetics is just right) say you should avoid hot dog weiners.