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 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.
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.
posted
You know what's sad? They've taken all the taste out of the fruit.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
| IP: Logged |
glm1111
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 16556
posted
Great Info on the bannanna Betty...Thanks for posting this. I used to eat a lot of bannannas and in fact at my sickest yrs ago I wouldn't leave the house without carrying one in my purse.
I am going to go back to doing just that. This is one valuable fruit. Thanks for the reminder,
Gael
-------------------- PARASITES/WORMS ARE NOW RECOGNIZED AS THE NUMBER 1 CO-INFECTION IN LYME DISEASE BY ILADS* Posts: 6418 | From philadelphia pa | Registered: Jul 2008
| IP: Logged |
steve1906
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 16206
posted
Thanks for all the banana info. I love bananas but never knew how good they really were for us.
Why don't bananas like getting sun burnt? They peel.
Thanks again Steve
-------------------- Everything I say is just my opinion! Posts: 3529 | From Massachusetts Boston Area | Registered: Jul 2008
| IP: Logged |
bettyg
Unregistered
posted
GOOD ONE STEVE! i'm strill laughing!!
IP: Logged |
disturbedme
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 12346
posted
Interesting!
Thanks for posting this!
-------------------- One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar. ~ Helen Keller
My Lyme Story Posts: 2965 | From Land of Confusion (bitten in KS, moved to PA, now living in MD) | Registered: Jun 2007
| IP: Logged |
Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
WHEW!
I am SO happy to see this! Thanks BG.
I've been craving bananas and wouldn't tell anyone. I felt like I could have eaten several a day for the past couple of months.. but refused to do so.
I figured my friends would say I am more monkey than human!
BTW- A friend of mine told me once to never eat a banana before going to bed.
Said it would give me nightmares. I didn't believe him.
About a week later I ate a banana at night. And I rarely have nightmares.
But I did that night!
Haven't had one at night since.
I don't know if that is true or not.. but it sure convinced me!
posted
I usually make my shakes out of 3 or 4 bananas,
1/2 cup blueberries and strawberries, 2 Activia
yogurts, about 1.5 cups of milk, and some kind
of protein powder.....keeps me going all
afternoon, only on weekends though....no time to
make them at work......probably should find the
time.....
Posts: 208 | From Hudson Valley, New York | Registered: Mar 2008
| IP: Logged |
sutherngrl
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 16270
posted
Years ago I went through a depression and read that bananas were good for it. Since I don't like antidepressants I started eating bananas every day and yes after a few weeks they really did help.
Posts: 4035 | From Mississippi | Registered: Jul 2008
| IP: Logged |
posted
I love bananas, but what about the sugar content?
-------------------- "You'll be surprised to know how far you can go from the point you thought it was the end" Posts: 946 | From Massachusetts | Registered: Apr 2008
| IP: Logged |
posted
Thanks so much Betty. I love this post! If it shines shoe leather I'm gonna use it on my face. It feels like shoe leather this time of year! Posts: 145 | From Paris, Tn. | Registered: Dec 2008
| IP: Logged |
posted
the sugar content is certainly an issue with fungus, but eating bananas could go a long way to keeping potassium levels high in the tissue-repair stage (after infections are resolved).
Posts: 713 | From Los Angeles | Registered: Oct 2007
| IP: Logged |
posted
Bananas are an exceptionally rich source of fructooligosaccharide, a compound called a prebiotic because it nourishes probiotic (friendly) bacteria in the colon.
These beneficial bacteria produce vitamins and digestive enzymes that improve our ability to absorb nutrients, plus compounds that protect us against unfriendly microorganisms.
When fructooligosaccharides are fermented by these friendly bacteria, not only do numbers of probiotic bacteria increase, but so does the body's ability to absorb calcium. In addition, gastrointestinal transit time is lessened, decreasing the risk of colon cancer.
Posts: 6 | From USA | Registered: Jan 2009
| IP: Logged |
bettyg
Unregistered
posted
thanks everyone for your comments; it was 1st thing i got to print after buying 2nd cord needed to make my new replacement printer ... print! hubby enjoyed it from seeing it from the site.
i received it in today's forwards!! glad i posted it here now.
jewels, glad to see that since my had colon to liver cancer and i have pre-cancerous polyps removed every 5 yrs.
do you have a background in medical field? inquiring minds/ME want to know. lol
IP: Logged |
Starfall1969
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 17353
posted
Thanks for the banana info. I have seen a lot of this before, and I have always loved bananas.
I did read something somewhere (I apologize that I did not make note of this website) that people with Lyme are not supposed to eat bananas (along with a bunch of other foods--I don;t remember which ones).
The claim made in this site was that bananas are high in sugar and low in fiber, and therefore not good for lymies.
That just clashed with everything I had heard about bananas, so I stopped eating them for a while.
Come to think of it, my husband's cousin, who has Lyme, said one of her LLMDs said the same thing about bananas, to avoid them.
Well, i don;t intend to avoid them anymore, although I have to question their power to give an energy boost.
Seems nothing does that for me anymore.
Posts: 1682 | From Dillsburg, PA | Registered: Sep 2008
| IP: Logged |
Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
-
Betty,
Thanks for copying that for us.
-----
For ten miserable years, I did not even eat one bite of fruit, trying to get rid of candida after abx (before I experienced the wonders of Olive Leaf Extract as a supreme anti-fungal).
I have been much better off these past ten years now eating fruits, mainly dark berries and tart apples, but a banana makes me feel wonderful. Sometimes, an orange is fabulous.
This is just my impression.
Bananas are a such a good balance of nutrition. Our brains, our hearts, all our cells, do need some natural sugars in order to live. Eating a banana that has just become ripe - but not overly so - should be fine if candida is under control.
For someone with a raging candida infection, I'd hold off - or eat just after a good meal so that it's not a solo trip.
The amino acids and other nutrients in it help the glycemic effect to not go, well, bananas.
Also - a few nuts with, or as the next snack, will give some healthy oils to further balance out the gycemic effects.
-
They say not to put bananas in the fridge, but they are so nice as a frozen treat. Peel before freezing. Cutting into bite sized chunks helps, too.
Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
-
Not quite what you think - and this can be more about veggie-power but it's still very interesting reading. While some supplements (Spirulina, chorella) are excellent, a few slick manufacturers have taken it a bit too far with some supplements as good food, itself, can be very healing.
The in vitro immunomodulatory effects of glyconutrients on peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.
See DM, Cimoch P, Chou S, Chang J, Tilles J.
University of California, Irvine, Department of Medicine, Orange 92668, USA.
In humans, eight monosaccharides are required for the synthesis of glycoproteins. Dietary supplements that supply these crucial sugars are known as glyconutrients.
A glyconutrient compound was added to Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMC) isolated from normal controls and patients with the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), a disease associated with immune dysregulation.
[poster's interjection here: we all know that CFS can be undiagnosed chronic stealth infections such as lyme, etc. . . . however . . . this research is still interesting.]
The in vitro immunomodulatory effects were investigated.
. . .
Thus, glyconutrients improved abnormal immune parameters in vitro in patients with CFS.
-
[ 02-09-2009, 03:06 PM: Message edited by: Keebler ]
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
| IP: Logged |
treepatrol
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 4117
posted
Something odd over weekend I ate a banana and felt really good next day?
-------------------- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Remember Iam not a Doctor Just someone struggling like you with Tick Borne Diseases.
posted
So to eat or not to eat...that is the question. lol. Well I have an issue with Candida and a bannana is said to be an absolute no no!
But I also have an issue with almost all the things that the bannana is said to help with.
So what to do, what to do? Any suggestions or opinions would be helpful.
Also LYMETOO, what do you mean by they've taken all the flavor out of the fruit? What curious.
Posts: 42 | From new york | Registered: Nov 2007
| IP: Logged |
Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
-
When you say you have "an issue" that can be anywhere on the scale from needing to keep it at bay to dealing with a heavy load.
It may be that if you are on olive leaf extract (or other anti-fungals), eating a banana may be fine.
But it's hard to say. Only your body will know as there are many shades of grey in this area. I know, with bananas, that I can go, well . . . bananas. If you test it out, you might want to split that first banana - and enjoying it after a meal is best.
Dark berries are the safest. Frozen berries are not cheap but they are a gold mine of anti-oxidants.
posted
That stinks lymetoo... Why do they have to ruin everything... I love fresh veggies and fruits and eat a mostly raw food diet, and I also juice on the daily. Even buying organic you never know what you are getting.
-------------------- "You'll be surprised to know how far you can go from the point you thought it was the end" Posts: 946 | From Massachusetts | Registered: Apr 2008
| IP: Logged |
blinkie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 14470
posted
I read bananas were a no-no due to cortisol levels. They somehow interfere with the production of cortisol.
Posts: 1104 | From N.California | Registered: Jan 2008
| IP: Logged |
richedie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 14689
posted
Yes, I eat a banana almost everyday along with lots of other fruit. Many phytonutrients us Lyme people need. I am on three antibiotics and eat plenty of fruit/bananas. No yeast issues at all. People don't realize having an alkaline system has a lot to do with keeping the fungus monsters away. They like an acidic environment. Eat your fruit.
-------------------- Mepron/Zith/Ceftin Doxy/Biaxin/Flagyl pulse. Artemisinin with Doxy/Biaxin. Period of Levaquin and Ceftin. Then Levaquin, Bactrim and Biaxin. Bactrim/Augmentin/Rifampin. Mepron/Biaxin/Artemisinin/Cat's Claw Rifampin/Bactrim/Alinia Plaquenil/Biaxin Posts: 1949 | From Pennsylvania | Registered: Feb 2008
| IP: Logged |
do you know which way they interfere with cortisol? upregulate/downregulate?
fungus is an underestimated and underdiscussed "co-infection". It may seem extreme to have to go without fruits, but I would really advise people that fully address their total fungal infectious load before eating any fruits beyond dark berries.
My ND said if there's anything that's most consistently tied to leaky gut, it's parasites & fungus. I'm guessing the majority of chronic lyme patients do not give fungal infections with the same concerted effort they do to lyme, and that may end up being our biggest obstacle to cure when we're in the "post-lyme" stage
Posts: 713 | From Los Angeles | Registered: Oct 2007
| IP: Logged |
bettyg
Unregistered
posted
wow, look at all the new replies here!! uffda wonderful...
IP: Logged |
The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations. If you would like to support the Network and the LymeNet system of Web services, please send your donations to:
The
Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey 907 Pebble Creek Court,
Pennington,
NJ08534USA http://www.lymenet.org/
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[lol]](graemlins/lol.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic