WESTLAKE VILLAGE, California, January 4, 2010 Dole Fresh Fruit Company, a subsidiary of Dole Food Company, Inc., has announced the launch of a new promotion to draw awareness towards the health and weight loss benefits of the new DOLE Banana Diet.
Decades of nutrition research validate the idea that increasing consumption of fruit and vegetables in general, and bananas in particular, can help support healthy, sustainable weight loss. Bananas are filling, tasty and a healthy food for many diets – besides being naturally fat free, cholesterol free, and a good source of fiber and potassium, they are also an excellent source of Vitamins B6 and C.
The original Morning Banana Diet craze was introduced in Japan in 2008 by an Osaka pharmacist to help her husband lose weight. By following the simple plan, he dropped 38 pounds. Word spread like wildfire on TV programs, blogs and news media worldwide and led to a full-blown banana boom. Consumption skyrocketed at that time, and stores across Japan couldnt keep bananas on the shelves.
Now with New Years resolutions at hand, Americans too, have an opportunity to lose weight and enjoy the benefits associated with increased fruit consumption.
Throughout January 2010, Dole Fresh Fruit will partner with retailers at more than 6,000 stores to communicate with consumers focused on New Years resolutions about healthy eating and weight management. Dole will connect with consumers through more than 100 million DOLE Banana labels, 4 million email blasts and SMS text messages, in-store brochures and point-of-sale materials, and newspaper color pages and two national magazine advertisements reaching over 12 million and 6.5 million households respectively.
As a leader in nutrition education, Doles goal was to create a healthier banana diet that substitutes well-balanced meals and nutritious recipes for the Japanese versions all you can eat approach. The DOLE Banana Diet recommends that two bananas be eaten for breakfast, which could provide a metabolic boost for chronic breakfast-skippers. Research shows that breakfast-eaters burn an extra 200 to 300 calories a day.
That the banana has assumed prominence as part of the latest diet and nutrition buzz is not surprising. Dole has studied banana nutrition extensively and bananas have significant nutritional benefits that could help support weight loss, confirms Nick Gillitt, Ph.D., of the Dole Nutrition Institute. Bananas contain resistant starch, which research shows block conversion of some carbohydrates into fuel, boosting fat burning by forcing your body to rely on fat stores instead.
The website www.dolebananadiet.com contains a complete 2-week meal plan that maximize the health and weight-loss effectiveness of the diet as well as additional nutritional information, banana facts and healthy, low-calorie recipes.
Dole, with 2008 net revenues of $7.6 billion, is the worlds largest producer and marketer of high-quality fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. Dole markets a growing line of packaged and frozen fruit and is a produce industry leader in nutrition education and research.
Source: Dole Food Company Inc.