‘Mono’ is a Latin root word that means ‘one’, and in the case of the mono diet, it represents a diet in which you eat only one type of food. When following a mono diet, you commit yourself for a certain number of weeks to only eat one certain type of food at each meal. There are many different varieties of the mono diet. One of the most popular varieties involves a rotation between apples, fish, potatoes, and tomatoes.
Mono dieting has been a subject of discussion for quite some time and many specialists actually regard mono dieting as a type of fasting, which can help individuals lose weight and encourage our general well-being. Some of the advantages of mono dieting are discussed below.
Benefits of the Mono Diet
Ease of Digestion
In recent times, some of the most basic foods are combined in such a way that digestion becomes hard. For instance, pastries around the world are made by combining a number of foods such as eggs, milk, butter, salt, sugar, yeast, and so on. Combination of all of these foods creates a glue-like substance that tends to clog our stomachs, making digestion difficult.
On the contrary, mono dieting eases digestion and over time, one will start enjoying the feeling of food being smoother and lighter in one’s stomach even after eating more. Take for instance fruits: they are made of simple sugars and vitamins that can be digested easily and quickly absorbed into the circulatory system to provide the energy required for daily activities. Other foods ‘sit’ in the stomach a long time due to the difficulty in digestion.
Monitoring Your Body’s Reaction To Different Foods
Different people react differently to different types of foods. Some of the most common foods that people have allergies to include milk or milk products, fish or sea animals, gluten, eggs, yeast, peanuts, and a few others.
In the case where you combine a variety of foods at each meal, it can be difficult to identify what might cause your body to react against a specific food. Some of these reactions may be even fatal in the absence of medical attention.
During mono dieting, it becomes easier to identify how your body reacts to the different foods eaten using the elimination method. In the absence of modern technology which, through laboratory tests, can identify allergens specific to different people, this might be the only way to determine individual food allergies.
Better Quality Foods
It is evident that it is much easy to settle for poor quality vegetables or fruits when they are combined with other ingredients or food, but it would be much easier for one to taste something not so much to their liking during mono diets. This will in turn make one to seek better quality produce when on a mono meal diet.
Weight Loss
According to research conducted at the University of Buffalo and University of Vermont, when individuals are offered the same type of meal every day for one week, they tend to consume fewer calories on the fifth day of dieting than on day one.
On the contrary, study subjects who switched their meals consumed about 45 more calories at the end of the week compared to 125 less calories for those on mono diets. This shows that mono diets can actually help in the quest to lose weight, since those overwhelmed by food options tend to fall back on familiar and unhealthy choices.
Prevents Overeating
When eating one type of food, one takes time and focuses on the taste of the food while chewing slowly. Once you have had enough, your taste buds will literary shift, alerting you that you have had enough since your eating will no longer be enjoyable. This is because you cannot have too much of one thing. This will also keep your weight in check as well.
Downside Of Mono Dieting
The mono diet does not come without some disadvantages. These include:
As per the Journal of American College of Nutrition, high intake of animal protein leads to the risk of having heart disorders, cancer, renal disease, and osteoporosis. It is therefore important to keep a healthy balanced diet, which in some instances may lack in mono dieting.
Doctor Caroline Apovian, director of the Nutrition and Weight Management Centre at the Boston Medical Centre, says that even though one may lose weight on mono dieting, they will most certainly suffer from malnourishment and muscle loss, which will lead to a slower metabolic rate and will make it difficult to lose weight in the future. In addition, whatever weight one loses on a mono diet, it will be regained once one resumes eating normally.
By eating a single food item, the body is deprived of other important nutrients. Too much potassium, for instance, that comes from bananas can lead to cardiovascular problems, while excess sugar can increase one’s risk of acquiring type 2 diabetes.
Mono Diet Final Words
Mono dieting has its advantages, as discussed above. However, it is a daunting task for most people since almost everyone is used to having meals comprised of a variety of foods. It is also important to keep a balanced diet while on a mono diet for a healthier outcome.
