Health Tips

The true origin of the bananas, the world's most popular fruit, is found in the region of Malaysia. By way of curious visitors, bananas traveled from there to India, where they are mentioned in the Buddhist Pali writings dating from the 6th century BC. In his campaign in India in 327 BCE, Alexander the Great enjoyed his first taste of banana, an usual fruit he saw growing on tall trees. He is even credited with adapting the banana from India to the western world. The Chinese historian Yang Fu, China was tending plantations of bananas in 200 CE. These bananas grew only in the southern region of China and were considered exotic, rare fruits that never became popular with the Chinese masses until the 20th century.
Finally this tropical fruit reached Madagascar, an island off the southeast coast of Africa. From 650 CE Islamic warriors traveled to Africa and were actively involved in the slave trade. Along with the booming business in slave trade, the Arabs were successful in trading ivory along with abundant crops of bananas. Because of their many trips to the West via the slave trade, bananas eventually reached Guinea, a small area along the west coast of Africa. In 1402 Portuguese sailors discovered the luscious tropical fruit in their travels to the African continent and populated the Canary ĺsland with their first banana plantations. Continue traveling to the west of the bananas, the rootstocks were packed on a ship under the care of Tomas de Berlanga, a Portuguese Franciscan monk who brought them to the Caribbean island of Santo Domingo from the Canary Islands in the year 1516. It was not long before the banana became popular throughout the Caribbean and Central America. Arab slave traders are credited with giving the banana its popular name. The banana that grows in Africa and Southeast Asia were not the eight-to-twelve-inch giants that has become known in the U.S. supermarkets today. They were small, about as long as the finger of a man. Ergo the name banan, Arabic for finger. The Spaniards, who saw a resemblance to the plane tree that grows in Spain, gave the plantain its Spanish name, platano.
It was nearly three hundred and fifty years later that the Americans tasted the first bananas to arrive in their country. Wrapped in aluminum foil, bananas were sold for 10 cents each at a celebration held in Pennsylvania in 1876 to mark the hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Instructions on how to eat a banana appeared in the Domestic Encyclopedia of practical information and reads as follows: "Bananas are eaten raw, or just sliced with sugar and cream or wine and orange juice. They are also roasted, fried or cooked and made into fritters, jams and marmalade. "
Note: The banana plant is not a tree. It is actually the world's largest herb!

Because of their impressive potassium content, bananas are highly recommended by doctors for patients whose potassium is low. A large banana, about 9 inches in length, packs 602 mg of potassium and only carries 140 calories. Same large banana even has 2 grams of protein and 4 grams of dietary fiber.

No wonder the banana was considered an important food source enhancing the health of malnourished children! The reduction of sodium in their diet can not go wrong with a banana with his only 2 MGS sodium. For the carbohydrate counters there are 36 grams of carbs in a large banana.
Vitamins and minerals are abundant in the banana, with 123 IU of vitamin A for the large format. A full range of B-vitamins are present with, 07 mg Thiamine, .15 mg riboflavin, niacin, 82 mg, 88 mg vitamin B6, and 29 mcg folate. There are even 13.8 mg of vitamin C. On the mineral scale Calcium counts in at 9.2 mg, Magnesium 44.1 mg, with traces of iron and zinc.
Putting all nutritional figures together clearly shows the banana is one of the healthiest of fruits. The plantain, when cooked, rates slightly higher on the nutritional scale in vitamins and minerals but similar to the banana in protein and fiber content.

There are a lot of Medicinal uses of Banana.

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

This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it the perfect food for helping to beat blood pressure. So much so, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration only allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the ability of the fruit to the risk of blood pressure and stroke reduction.

200 students at an English school were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break and lunch in an effort to strengthen their brains power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by pupils more alert.

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

According to a recent survey conducted by the spirit among 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 relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

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 depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heart-burn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood glucose and morning sickness prevention.

Before 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.

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

Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and chips. Looking at the 5000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that in order to avoid panic induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods (like bananas) every two hours to a level of stability.

Forget the pills - eat a banana. Vitamin B6 contains regulates blood sugar, which can affect your mood.

Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they are the natural mood enhancer, trypotophan contain.

Bananas can also help people trying to quit smoking, such as high levels of Vitamin C, A1, B6, B12 they contain, and the potassium and magnesium in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine -withdrawal.

Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brains and regulates the water balance in your body. As we stressed, our metabolism increases, making our potassium levels. This can again be weighed using a high-potassium banana snack.

According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine 'eating bananas as part of a regular diet may increase the risk of death by strokes by reducing up to 40%!.

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 their baby is born with a cool temperature.

The banana is used as dietetic against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronic ulcer cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the inside of the stomach.

People who love 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!