Healthy Bytes

A banana a day?

read time: 436 words,about 2 minutes

Have you ever noticed how endurance athletes such as marathoners eat a lot of bananas?
Research has shown what athletes know - two bananas provide enough energy for a 90 minute workout.

Bananas are a great energy food with three natural sugars (sucrose, fructose, glucose) combined with fiber. They even come in their own package.
Compared to the venerable apple, bananas have:
- 4 times the protein
- 2 times the carbohydrates
- 3 times the phosphorus
- 5 times the Vitamin A
- 5 times the iron
- 3 times the potassium

Bananas are good for…

Blood Pressure: high in potassium, low in salt. The US Food and Drug Administration allows the banana industry to make official claims about the ability of bananas to reduce the risk of stroke and blood pressure.

Strokes: research published in The New England Journal of Medicine found that eating bananas regularly can reduce the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%.

Anemia: high in iron which stimulates blood hemoglobin.

Brain Power: high in potassium which can make you more alert.

Constipation: high in fiber… better than taking laxatives.

Depression: good source of tryptophan - a protein that’s converted to serotonin which is know to help you relax, improve your mood and increase feelings of happiness.

Hangovers: banana shake with honey and protein powder. the sugars in the banana and honey replace depleted blood sugar, the banana calms the stomach, protein powder, vitamins and minerals nourish the cells, fluid re-hydrates.

Heartburn: bananas have a natural antacid effect.

Morning Sickness: keeps blood sugar levels up, decreases morning sickness.

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

PMS: Vitamin B6 contains regulates blood glucose levels which can affect your mood.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): tryptophan - natural mood enhancer.

Quit Smoking: Vitamins B6 & B12, potassium and magnesium help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress: potassium helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body’s water balance.

Temperature Control: bananas are “cooling” fruit that can lower both your physical and emotional temperature.

Ulcers: neutralize over-acidity and reduce irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Weight Control: Instead of grabbing a high calorie sugary snack, go for a banana - you’ll avoid the blood sugar (and energy) highs and lows from high carb snacks.

Mosquito Bites: Reduce swelling and irritation by rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana peel.

Warts: Tape on a piece of banana peel (inside down) over the wart.

Shoe shine: Rub the inside of the banana peel on your leather shoes and polish with a dry cloth.

Source for this wonderful banana compilation

This entry was posted on Sat, 13.Jan.2007 at 8:49 am and is filed under Nutrition, Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.