I’m not normally a fan of restrictive and crash diets. In a way, when you have to starve yourself for three to five days, the benefits rarely outnumber the negatives. But when it comes to the pineapple diet, you spend those five days eating one of the most nutritious, dense fruits. And let’s be honest, pineapple is very tasty!
The basis of the pineapple diet is simple: you eat pineapple along with other nutritious foods for five days. The trick is to replace some of the less nutritious foods with pineapple. But the main thing is that you can follow this diet for only five days.Anything more, and you’re doing more harm than good.
Difference between the pineapple diet and other diets
The pineapple diet is a mono diet. What does that mean? That means it’s a highly restrictive diet. Gradual diets are not as restrictive, and you can follow them for more than one week. On the other hand, anything more than five days on the pineapple diet, and you’re risking a threat to your health.
The trick with this diet is to adopt it only when you need to get rid of a few extra pounds. You can adopt the diet occasionally, but not on a regular basis. In the past few years, mono diets have been demonized, and some rightfully so. They are quite drastic and last way too long. But the pineapple diet is different because it doesn’t last long.
Nutritional value
The basis of the diet is the consumption of pineapple. You need to consume four to five pounds of pineapple per day. And this is what you get in terms of macro and micronutrients:
- 2g of fat
- 10g of protein
- 1,000 calories
- Small doses of calcium, iron, zinc, vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin B, and potassium
Pros and cons of the diet
Every diet has its pros and cons. No diet is perfect, and the trick is finding the right one for you. And the right one for the situation you’re in. Therefore, let’s take a look at the pros and cons of this diet. After that, you can decide whether or not it’s the right one for you at this moment.
Pros:
- Easy to find and prepare ingredients.
- Great for quickly losing few pounds.
- In addition to helping you lose weight, the diet works as a detox diet.
Cons:
- It can get monotonous since there are just a few ingredients.
- Pineapple has a diuretic effect, which means you will retain fewer liquids and you will be deprived of certain nutrients.
- If followed for a prolonged period of time, the diet can increase the risk of kidney problems and heart disease.
How pineapple improves your weight loss program
Just so that you better understand how the diet helps you, let’s take a look at some benefits of consuming pineapple.
- Pineapple contains bromelain, an enzyme that reduces inflammation. For those of you who don’t know, inflammation causes weight gain by causing hormonal imbalances.
- Pineapple also improves digestion, which in turn cleanses the colon. By ensuring proper digestion, pineapple reduces bloating and sheds pounds.
- Bromelain also improves absorption of important nutrients. This slows down bowel movement and suppresses your appetite. You feel fuller for longer, which prevents cravings and stress eating.
- Pineapple is rich in dietary fiber.
- Last, but not least, pineapple contains vitamin B, which helps you stay active and increases your energy production.
One-day meal plan
This is how a typical day looks during the five days of following the diet.
For breakfast, you get 2-3 slices of pineapple with 1 cup of low-fat yogurt and oatmeal. Your first snack includes 1 glass of pineapple juice and one hard-boiled egg.
Lunch is usually the versatile meal. You can choose to eat grilled tuna with 1 cup of pineapple. Another option is a simple broth prepared with vegetables of your choice.Aside from tuna, you can also grill one fillet of chicken. Your afternoon snack is again a glass of pineapple juice and low-fat yogurt.
For dinner, people opt for chicken and pineapple salad. This salad also includes tomatoes and asparagus.
Basically, for your lunch and dinner, you can combine any fish, chicken, or turkey fillet with pineapple. For even bigger benefits, some people consume a cup of green tea or a glass of apple cider vinegar and honey in the morning before breakfast. This helps you flush even more toxins.
Bonus points
Here are some bonus points and tricks how to maximize the effect of the pineapple diet.
- Make sure to prepare a large batch of vegetable broth so that it’s ready whenever you want it.
- Do some light exercise during those five days. If you completely avoid exercise, you might experience muscle loss.
- Be ready to control yourself once the diet is over. Since it’s a restrictive diet, you might feel the urge to overeat once the diet is over.
- Make sure to keep yourself hydrated during the five days. Without proper hydration, this diet will increase the acidity of your body.
- When you use tuna for lunch, opt for the oil-packed version, not the water-packed version. The former has more nutrients.
- There is a possibility of diarrhea, so be prepared if that happens. Do not panic!
- If you get rashes around the corners of your mouth, stop the diet immediately.
An alternative approach
Some people just cannot survive for five days eating only pineapple, tuna, and chicken.The good news is that you can always try an alternative approach.
The alternative approach involves cutting 500 calories from your typical diet. In addition, you can replace your daily cup of fruit with pineapple. As we know, most diets recommend 1 to 2 cups of fruit per day. Make sure that you consume only pineapple for those two cups. Replace your dessert with ½ cup of pineapple. You can add pineapple to your morning smoothie or snack. By adding pineapple to your diet, you will burn more calories and increase the micro and macro nutrients in your diet.
And of course, try to get 5 hours of moderate cardio exercise during the week.
