Got this in my inbox from a newslist I'm subsribed to:

Bananas Containing 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 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 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 the perfect way 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 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:*
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%!

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 carbohydrates, 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!"

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Very interesting, too bad I can't handle them. Seems too good to be true, thoughts anyone?

You could probably write the same thing about a bag of cheetos.

I love bananas. They are one of my very favorite fruits--in fact one of my favorite foods. I used to grow my own when I lived in Hawaii. I think they are one of the best bargains around. Both my husband's doctor and my dad's doctor advised them to eat bananas to keep their postassium levels up. I think they have a lot of carbs though.

i admit i love bananas and at times crave them dreadfully even though i didn't eat them very often before this woe. for my birthday last week, i ate a banana. never in my life did i think that i, who seldom would choose fruit, would choose a banana as a treat. thank you for sharing the benefits. i don't choose to eat much fruit right now as it seems to be counter productive to weight loss, but i do think a banana was probably a better choice for me than indulging in regular birthday cake. i was disappointed by information in a different thread i was perusing yesterday because i found watermelon which i do like occasionally, was higher carb/glycemic than i initially thought. being as i never was a big fruit eater, (major veggie eater) i never imagined it would be fruit that i'd crave.

The nutrients in bananas come in a high carb package that may negate the benefits of those nutrients and diminish the ability to absorb them. This article is typical of nutritional compartmentalism in which nutritionists focus solely on the nutrients in foods and ignore what happens when you swallow those foods. If you enjoy bananas and can budget then within your daily allowance for carbs, that's fine. But people who eat the usual high carb SAD will not get much benefit from bananas.

Hmmm. I'll take spinach and meat over bananas any day. All they ever did for me was create a huge insulin spike, so 30 minutes later I was hungrier than before I ate the darned thing.

Good lighting in the winter and eating LC does way more for my SAD disorder than bananas ever did. And according to FitDay my intake of vitamin B-6 yesterday was 91%, B-12 239%, niacin 86%, thiamin 90% of the RDA--and that was without any bananas (in fact, I'm currently on Induction).

High in fiber? Ha! One banana has 3 grams of fiber for its 28 grams of pure, unadulterated, high-glycemic sugars!

And as for that fructose, well, I was reading an article in our local newspaper the other day that said there's research to indicate fructose makes people fatter faster than even plain white sugar does.

Isn't that what cocoa is for?


A problem which you'll never encounter if you're not depending on sugar to maintain your bloodsugar's levels.


And if you cook in cast-iron, you'll get an extra dose of iron in every stove-cooked meal!


...Along with vegetables like spinach and those in the Brassica family.


See previous statement about spinach and Brassicas.


So do spinach and Brassicas.


When you don't depend on sugar to maintain your bloodsugar...


A phenomena which, ironically, low-carbing seems to aid.


Ah, but we'll avoid scurvy AND keep bloodsugar levels up if we all eat an orange!


This is the best use for bananas ever!


Ah, but mushrooms taste so much better when fried.


A problem which we do not encounter when we don't depend on sugars to maintain our bloodsugar.


Dangit, no smarty-pants remark here.


Now, I'm curious - is there actually a reason you'd want to ensure your child is born with a cool temperature?


So does cocoa.


Darn. Too bad you can't remove the sugar.


Spinach! Brocolli! Kale! Cauliflower! Have you met these rockin' awesome vegetables yet?


I don't suppose they were kind enough to tell us why it cut the risk of strokes.


If the "twice the carbohydrates" part doesn't send chills down spines...


Yep. All of these AMAZING health benefits can be found in a myriad of other foods that people like us can handle.

Don'tcha just love it when they try to promote the junkfood-from-trees as healthful?

Maybe we could just use banana extract instead...

i don't get any negative effects from a single banana, but, when i was eating a typical diet, i was having middle of the afternoon crash sessions where i'd be so tired, i felt drugged and would have to sleep it off. if my carb level gets too high, i start feeling the effects slowly, as in needing an afternoon nap badly but being unable to sleep. eventually a pattern emerges and i am crashing every day sometimes several times. even caffiene cannot combat the overload. oh, and bananas GIVE me heartburn, so no remedy there but, i get heartburn/indigestion from several things that are supposed to help, plain water, bananas, and peppermint be it real or artificial flavor. i never could figure out why antacids were peppermint flavored when they just make me sicker than a dog.

Oh, I missed something else! Bananas high in iron? ROFLOL! 3% of the RDA of iron in a medium-sized banana. That's hardly 'high in iron'.

Before I started Atkins I was low in iron. No more! I have absolutely no iron deficiency and that's without taking a supplement with iron.


Ah, another thing I overlooked. They did the same thing to me. In fact, as long as I'm following LC I don't have dietery upsets unless it's related to either Maltitol or a flu bug.

Another thing that I noticed about bananas once was when DH was recovering from a heart attack. I mixed him up a banana shake--half banana with a little bit of milk. He nearly had another heart attack after he drank it! A friend of ours had a similar experience while recovering from a heart-related illness.

I am not big fan of bananas, I grew up on stone fruit, apples and berries. Apples are my all time favorites. Banana is the only fruit that gives me heartburn, probably because it is high in sugar and starch, and it spikes my blood sugar more than any other non starchy fruit.
There are other much better sources of potassium: apricot (fresh and dried), prunes, figs but all of them high in carbs too. Avocado has lots of fiber and 3 times more potassium than a banana, and is low on carb. I won't relay on banana or any other fruit as a significant source of vitamins and minerals, most fruits are pale peer of vegetables when it comes to vitamins. But they do contain lots of antioxidants, which come mostly from purple and red colored variety: blueberries and other berries, cherries and pomegranates, and they all lower in carbs than banana.
EDA: sorry, could nto find any sites linked to it, may be it's my imagination, LOL.
But one thing is for sure bad for injured heart - high inslin level following high carb meal!

I just like em cause they TASTE good IMO. But then so does candy.

It's been my experience that bananas develop a rather icky taste as soon as they fully ripen. The only way they ever tasted any good was when they were partially green.

Banana is my fave! Always have one before maths!

High sugar diet after a heart attack is the worst thing ever, I've read that injured and oxygen deprived heart muscle has hard time using glucose but has no problem using ketones, so ppl recovering from a heart attack or by-pass surgery should be placed in a low carb diet. I can't find the source now, but will try to google it and post it later.