What is the Morning Banana Diet?

The soaring popularity of the banana has resulted in sales rising by as much as 70 per cent in the past week in some supermarkets, prompting prices to increase and importers to purchase more of the fruit, according to Time.

Morning Banana Diet books published since March have sold more 730,000 copies. A singer appeared on TV saying she'd lost 15 pounds in six weeks on the diet, and the next day, there was a banana shortage across stores in Japan, according to Time.

Here's how the morning banana diet works:

1. Eat a banana and glass of water for breakfast

2. Eat anything you like for lunch or dinner, as long as it's before 8 p.m.

3. A three o'clock snack is recommended

4. No desserts after meals

5. Go to bed before midnight

The banana diet was designed by a Japanese pharmacist named Sumiko Watanabe. She claims the secret to her diet is increased metabolism. Her husband was overweight so Watanabe came up with a diet plan for him. Watanabe subsequently lost 37 pounds.