The Incredible, Edible Banana

By Bonnie Owens on March 12th, 2009

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Who doesn’t love a banana? It is one of the most versatile fruits around. You can pair it with chocolate, peanut butter, honey and many other yummy things. It provides an instant, sustained boost of energy. And nothing works better to distract my toddler from sweets. Aside from all of these obvious benefits, here are a few other uses you may not know about.

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

Blood Pressure:
This tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it the perfect food for helping to treat blood pressure.

Brain Power:
Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Depression:
Bananas contain trypotophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin. It is known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

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.

Heart-burn:
Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body so if you suffer from heart-burn, 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. To avoid panic-induced food cravings, control your blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods such as bananas every two hours to keep levels steady.

PMS:
Forget the pills eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

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-chronic ulcer 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.

Smoking:
Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking, as the high levels of Vitamin C, A1, 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, there by reducing our potassium levels. These can be re-balanced 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.