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Odds & Ends
Going Bananas
By Jim Plunkett

Although it will never be able to compete with Ecuador and Central America as an exporter of this famous fruit, Peru certainly has an abundance of bananas in all sizes and varieties. One of the most common fruits sold by street vendors on many corners of Lima's outlying districts is the banana. For less than 50 U.S. cents, you can take home a “hand” of large, golden bananas and buy them even for less at the local markets.

As a kid, I always associated them with monkeys, and there isn't a chimp at the local zoo that would settle for anything less. I took them for granted, and could never think of eating monkey food when there were other things around like strawberries, plums, and golden peaches. Well, live and learn.

The banana contains three natural sugars; sucrose, fructose, and glucose that, when combined with the natural fruit fibre gives us an immediate abundance of energy. Through investigation it has been proven that the consumption of 2 bananas con provide sufficient energy to undertake 90 minutes of strenuous work. The banana is the number one fruit consumed by leading athletes worldwide. But the energy is not the only way the banana favours us. It can also help us to overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and discomforts, showing that it's inclusion in our diet daily is practically a necessity.

DEPRESSION: According to a recent poll among persons who suffer from depression, many felt better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, which is known for its relaxing effects that improve one's state of enthusiasm level of happiness.

PMS (Post menstrual syndrome): Forget the pills and eat a banana. The vitamin B6 that it contains regulates the levels of glucose in the blood and can have a positive affect on your state of being.

ANEMIA: The high content of iron in bananas stimulates the production of hemoglobin in the blood and helps to resolve cases of anemia.

ARTERIAL PRESSUE: This unique tropical fruit contains large quantities of potassium and little salt, making it an ideal fruit for fighting arterial pressure. So much so that the FDA has recently permitted the banana industry to publish its claims to reduce the arterial pressure and corresponding heart attacks.

BRAIN POWER: 200 students of Twickenham School, Middlesex, England, ate bananas during their exams this year during breakfast at mid-morning and for lunch a test to increase there cerebral capacity. The investigation showed that the potassium contained in the fruit helped them in the learning process, giving them greater capacity of concentration.

CONSTIPATION: A diet of high content of fibre that includes bananas can help in re-establishing intestinal movement, helping you to resolve stomach problems without resorting to laxatives.

HANGOVERS: One of the most efficient and fastest forms of curing a hangover is to drink a milkshake of banana that is sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach, and with the help of the honey, reconstitutes the levels of sugar in the blood, while the milk calms and re-hidrates the system.

ACIDITY: Bananas have a natural antacid effect on the body, so if you suffer from acidity, eat a banana to obtain a calming relief.

MORNING SICKNESS: A snack of bananas between meals helps to maintain the levels of sugar and avoid nausea.

MOSQUITO BITES. Before recurring to creams against bites, try rubbing the affected area with the inner side of the peal. Many people find an extraordinary reduction of the swelling and irritation.

NERVES: Bananas have a high content of vitamin B that helps calm the nervous system.

OVERWEIGHT IN WORK: Studies of the Austrian Institute of Psychology have found that the pressure of work conduces one to eat compulsively such fattening foods as chocolate and potato chips. Checking some 5,000 patients in hospitals, the investigators have found that the most obese had jobs with the most pressure. The report concluded that to avoid panic that induces the insatiable desire to eat, we need to control our sugar level in the blood taking snacks with a high content of carbohydrates every two hours in order to maintain our level stable.

ULCERS: Bananas are used as part of our diet to combat intestinal disorders due to their bland and soft texture. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without anguish in chronic cases. Also it neutralizes the excess of acid and reduces the irritation when it covers the mucus of the stomach.

SMOKERS: The banana can also help people who are trying to stop smoking. The vitamins B6 and B12 that it contains, at the same time that potassium and magnesium that are found in the banana, help the body recover from the effects of the lack of nicotine.

STRESS: Potassium is a vital mineral that helps normalize the heart beat, send oxygen to the brain, and regulate the balance of body liquids. When we are stressed, our metabolic rhythm increases and as a result, reduces our level of potassium. This level can be regulated with the help of a snack rich in potassium contained in the banana.

WARTS: Those who follow natural medical alternatives, swear that if you want to eliminate warts, take a piece of the banana skin and put it over the wart with the yellow part outwards. Carefully subject it firmly over the skin with a cotton gauze or a plaster of Paris compound.

See what I mean? The banana is a recipe against many illnesses. Compared with the apple, it has 4 times more proteins, 2 times more carbohydrates, 3 times more phosphorous, 5 times more vitamin A and iron, and double the amount of other minerals and vitamins. It is especially rich in potassium, and one of the items of greatest food value that you can find in the grocery store.

Darwin was right after all!

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