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bannanas

omshantiomshanti Raw Newbie

I was listening to a cool story on NPR the other day about a man who studied the history of nannas and published a book, which now i have to read;). An interesting fact is how the ones we eat today, the cavendish variety, are far inferior to the ones that first made them popular in this counrty due to a fungas that almost destroyed the original bannana…then i got this from a friend on my email this morning, so interesting…. now i have bannanas on the brain! ENJOY!!!

A professor at CCNY for a physiological psych class told his class about bananas. He said the expression ‘going bananas’ is from the effects of bananas on the brain. Read on:

Never, put your banana in the refrigerator!!!

This is interesting.

After reading this, you’ll never look at a banana in the same way again.

Bananas contain three natural sugars – sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy.

Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world’s leading athletes.

But energy isn’t! the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS:! Forget the pills – eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

Anemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit’s ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school ( England ) were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives..

Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if yo u suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.

Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and chips. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.

Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a ‘cooling’ fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan.

Smoking &Tobacco Use: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body’s water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels.. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.

Strokes: According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine, eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!

Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!

So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, ‘A banana a day keeps the doctor away!’

PASS IT ON TO YOUR FRIENDS

PS: Bananas must be the reason monkeys are so happy all the time! I will add one here; want a quick shine on our shoes?? Take the INSIDE of the banana skin, and rub directly on the shoe….polish with dry cloth. Amazing fruit !!!

Comments

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    omshanti~ Interesting info. I see another case of conflicting info though… I have read that bananas are a high glycemic food therefore, not good for sustained energy or blood sugar stability. Why are different sources reporting conflicting info? Ugh! BTW, I love bananas though I don’t tend to eat them very often.

  • I love bananas as well, and I just bought quite a bit. I love them as ice-cream, in raw cakes or just in itself!

  • Is it really bad that I stick them in the freezer to throw in a smoothie or “ice cream”? I do that with a lot of my fresh fruit to make a dessert cream. =\

  • I know putting them in the fridge makes them turn black…but is that really bad? And frozen bananas processed into ice cream is super yummy. What was the reasoning?

    Also: the DV of iron for bananas is 3%. Maybe high for a fruit, but not high overall. Please don’t depend on bananas if you are anemic!

  • I’ve had this emailed to me before. It’s really interesting. I wonder what a wild, original banana tastes like.
    As for the comment about chimps always being so happy, bananas arent a natural part of their diet. They were actual introduced my Jane Goodal (sp?) and her team. I thought that was interesting because we always associate bananas with monkeys.

  • bananas shouldn’t be put in the fridge, always outside!
    or else, you’d find them refrigerated at the store!
    also, it lets you keep them longer :)

  • jenny2052jenny2052 Raw Newbie

    This is so interesting! I’ve actually had heartburn many times after eating only bananas, but I never had any idea why. Apparently many cases of heartburn are caused not by too much stomach acid, but too little. When there is too little stomach acid, the valve at the top of the stomach registers the stomach as “empty” and relaxes, allowing the stomach acid that is there to reflux into the esophagus. I have low stomach acid to begin with, so the fact that bananas lower it further makes a lot of sense. Fortunately, now that I’m eating raw, I don’t have this problem any more. But it has been a puzzle to me for years!

  • i love bananas,my hubby keeps saying i will end up looking like one,they keep me going. very good info, now i know better, thanks.

  • Jenny, I am so glad to hear that you are not having the stomach problems anymore! Before going raw, if I woke up feeling sick I would eat a bannana to make myself feel better and it would work! Now I just eat them because I love them so much. Like meths969 says above, I may turn into one. I am trying to transition to a more nutritionally dense fruit, like kiwis, as my ‘quick grab’ food.

    Thanks for the info omshanti…Never heard any of that before!

  • So the other day while I was reading this thread I was eating a banana. I rubbed the inside of the peel on a small skin tag-like growth that I have had for years. Doctors have told me it is nothing and to just watch it. I applied the banana peel again the next day and then I forgot about it. Today when moisturizing with coconut oil after my shower the head of it just came off. Underneath the skin looks new and like it is healing. I can’t believe it. Bananas are Amazing! Omshanti, I’m so glad you posted this fantastic info here. Thanks!

  • omshantiomshanti Raw Newbie

    thats cool yammy, i am going to try that too! i found the whole thing facinateing and quite ironic since i had just heard that piece on npr the previous day!

    Jenny i guess when bannanas upset my tum was most likely low stomach acid too…for years on the sad diet i couldnt eat them they would give me horrible indigestion! now though…well i love them….

    When i went ot mexico recently i ate only small red nannas from a guy selling them on the beach, they where completely different than ours here and more dense some how…my hubby called thenm crunchy but it was more like firm….they had a pineapple-y sweetness too

  • bananaboybananaboy Raw Superstar

    Regarding the glycemic index of bananas, they are 52 out of 100. (Pure glucose = 100) So they are classified as having a low glycemic index. Low=1-55, Med=56-69, High=70+
    Some high glycemic foods are;
    Watermelon-72
    Baked potatoes-85
    Whole wheat bread-71

    The above is from Doug Graham’s book, “The 80/10/10 Diet”

    So enjoy your bananas. I sometimes have a dozen a day!

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