A professor at City College of New York for a physiological psych class told his class about bananas. He said the expression “going bananas” is from the profound effects of bananas on the brain.
Bananas contain three natural sugars—sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fibre. 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.
Premenstrual Syndrome (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 haemoglobin 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 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 laxative.
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 you 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.
Insect 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.
Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.
Overworked & Overweight: 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 trypt.
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!”
Filed under: india | Tagged: banana, bananas, energy, going bananas, health, super food |
BHARATA BHARATI 
Earlier there was an opinion that bananas are dangerous to diabetes and increases blood glucose level. What is your opinion.
now a new message is being in circulation that to the extent of one inch of the top portion of the banana contains high quantity of glucose. if one eats leaving this portion one can control sugar level. any more information on this?
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Eat an overripe banana! It has special powers – India Today – New Delhi – 17 April 2019
If you are among the ones who simply dump overripe bananas once they turn brown into the trash bin, then this is exactly the article you must read. If this doesn’t apply to you, you still are reading the right thing because this will help you know the hidden secrets of your overripe bananas. You should also read this because hey! Today is Banana Day! Yes, it is cool enough to have a day for it.
Broadly speaking, bananas come in four colours—green, yellow, yellow with some brown dots, and the overripe ones which turn brown.
The unripe bananas are green in colour. They turn yellow when they ripen. If these are left unconsumed for some days, their skin develops brown dots on it. And finally, when the banana has had enough waiting ideally on your dining table, the skin turns brown.
So what colour banana do you like to eat? Mind you, each of them has special qualities and none is a waste. No, not even the dark brown ones.
Most people do eat the first three colour bananas, so let’s start with the fourth one-the overripe brown banana.
On the occasion of the Banana Day, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a body under the aegis of the United Nations, has revealed some interesting secrets of bananas.
According to IFAD, the brown bananas should not be thrown away. It says these bananas contain tryptophan “which helps reduce stress and anxiety”. Besides this, brown bananas are also rich in nutrients. “Make banana bread or a milkshake!” says IFAD.
Now, let’s come to the other bananas.
If you like the green colour bananas—the ones that are yet to ripen—they will help you maintain blood sugar level.
“Green bananas are extremely low on the glycemic index, which means they are slowly digested, absorbed and metabolised and cause a lower and slower rise in blood glucose,” IFAD said in a tweet.
If you are a fan of yellow bananas, you will have a healthy supply of antioxidants which protect your body from disease. Besides this, yellow bananas are great to be consumed as a snack because they are easy to digest.
This brings us to the last type of bananas-the slightly older yellow banana that has brown dots on its skin.
IFAD says that an older spotted-yellow banana also contains lots of antioxidants. However, while bananas in this stage may be the tastiest, but the healthiest stage of the banana has passed.
So, the next time you visit your local market, be sure what exactly you want from the bananas you are about to buy.
With this, we take your leave.
Happy Banana Day!
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