Bromelain Enzyme Diet

The diet at the center of which is enzyme bromelain is commonly called "the pineapple diet" and has been gaining popularity because of the huge number of online testimonials it receives. Bromelain is found in pineapples and has medicinal uses as well as culinary uses. You may purchase pills filled with the enzyme or simply eat pineapple to achieve the weight loss benefits.

What is the Pineapple Diet

• The pineapple diet is available in pill form, but the diet is may be followed simply by eating pineapple with every meal. It is a way to lose weight quickly but only temporarily. As with most single food diets, the pineapple diet should not be a long-term practice.

How the Diet Works

• Pineapples are rich in a bromelain, which works as digestive enzyme, especially with regard to protein. It helps people seeking to lose weight digest their food faster and easier. Digestive enzymes help dieters by breaking food down into their smallest usable parts so that the body's metabolism does not have to slow down to do it. It is when the metabolism slows that fat can accumulate. Bromelain essentially does the job of breaking down the protein so that your body's metabolism can attack and remove fat without letting it accumulate.

Uses of the Bromelain Enzyme

• Bromelain is most widely used as a meat tenderizer because of its ability to break down protein. The enzyme is most concentrated in the stem of the pineapple, but it is also present in the fruit of the pineapple. Bromelain is usually sold in a powder form. You can achieve nearly the same effect by adding pineapple juice to your meat marinades.

The Pineapple Diet

• Without purchasing any pills or powders, you can try out the pineapple diet. Remember that the pineapple is only a supplemental food. The diet involves the daily consumption of an entire medium or large pineapple. Chop the pineapple into pieces and eat it evenly throughout the day with your meals and snacks. You should eat at least five times a day. Every four days, spend one day eating just the pineapple and drinking water. Never do this for more than one day, but make sure that for every four days, you spend one day on just pineapple and water. Results usually follow rapidly, and the more low-fat, low-calorie foods you include in your diet, the faster you will see results.

Medical Uses of Bromelain

• While the Food and Drug Administration has not agreed to the marketing of bromelain or pineapples for medical use, bromelain has anti-inflammatory qualities and in experimental treatments has been shown to help with the treatment of arthritis. The drug is not yet approved because the side affects have not been properly identified.