BANANA
Wonderfully sweet with firm and creamy flesh, bananas come prepackaged in their own yellow jackets and are available for harvest throughout the year. The banana plant grows 10 to 26 feet and belongs to the Musaceae family of plants along with plantains. The cluster of fruits contain anywhere from 50 to 150 bananas with individual fruits grouped in bunches, known as "hands," containing 10 to 25 bananas.
HEALTH BENEFITS
Creamy, rich, and sweet, bananas are a favorite food for
everyone from infants to elders. They could not be more convenient to enjoy,
and they are a good source of both vitamins and minerals, as well as fiber.
Cardiovascular Health and Bananas
A first type of cardiovascular benefit from bananas is
related to their potassium content. Bananas are a good source of potassium, an
essential mineral for maintaining normal blood pressure and heart function.
Since one medium-sized banana contains a whopping 400-plus mg of potassium, the
inclusion of bananas in your routine meal plan may help to prevent high blood
pressure and protect against atherosclerosis.
The effectiveness of potassium-rich foods such as bananas in
lowering blood pressure has been demonstrated by a number of studies. For
example, researchers tracked over 40,000 American male health professionals
over four years to determine the effects of diet on blood pressure. Men who ate
diets higher in potassium-rich foods, as well as foods high in magnesium and
cereal fiber, had a substantially reduced risk of stroke. We've also seen
numerous prospective clinical research trials showing substantial reductions of
blood pressure in individuals eating the potassium-rich DASH Diet.
A second type of cardiovascular benefit from bananas involves
their sterol content. While bananas are a very low-fat food (less than 4% of
their calories come from fat), one type of fat that they do contain in small
amounts are sterols like sitosterol, campesterol, and stigmasterol. As these
sterols look structurally similar to cholesterol, they can block the absorption
of dietary cholesterol. By blocking absorption, they help us keep our blood
cholesterol levels in check.
A third type of cardiovascular benefit from bananas involves
their fiber content. At about 3 grams per medium banana, we rank bananas as a
good source of fiber. Approximately one-third of the fiber in bananas is
water-soluble fiber. For one medium-sized banana, this amount translates into 1
gram of soluble fiber per banana. Soluble fiber in food is a type of fiber
especially associated with decreased risk of heart disease, making regular
intake of bananas a potentially helpful approach to lowering your heart disease
risk.
Bananas' Digestive Benefits
Bananas are a fascinating fruit in terms of their
carbohydrate and sugar content. Even though bananas are a fruit that tastes
quite sweet when ripe—containing 14-15 grams of total sugar—bananas receive a
rating of low in their glycemic index (GI) value. GI measures the impact of a
food on our blood sugar. This low GI value for bananas is most likely related
to two of their carbohydrate-related qualities.
First, as mentioned previously, a medium-size banana contains
about 3 grams of total fiber. Fiber is a nutrient that helps regulate the speed
of digestion, and by keeping digestion well-regulated, conversion of
carbohydrates to simple sugars and release of simple sugars from digesting
foods also stays well-regulated.
Within their total fiber content, bananas also contain
pectins. Pectins are unique and complicated types of fiber. Some of the
components in pectins are water-soluble, and others are not. As bananas ripen,
their water-soluble pectins increase, and this increase is one of the key
reasons why bananas become softer in texture as they ripen. As their
water-soluble pectins increase, so does their relative concentration of
fructose in comparison to other sugars. This increase in water-soluble pectins
and higher proportional fructose content helps normalize the rate of carbohydrate
digestion and moderates the impact of banana consumption on our blood sugar.
The bottom line here are some surprisingly digestion-friendly consequences for
a fruit that might be casually dismissed as being too high in sugar to be
digestion-friendly.
Similar to the importance of their water-soluble pectins is
the digestive importance of fructooligosaccharides (FOS) in bananas. FOS are
unique fructose-containing carbohydrates that are typically not broken down by
enzymes in our digestive tract. Instead, they move along through the digestive
tract until they reach our lower intestine and get metabolized by bacteria.
This process helps maintain the balance of "friendly" bacteria (for
example, Bifidobacteria) in our lower intestine, and as a consequence, it also
supports our overall digestive health.
In one study involving female participants, eating two
bananas each day for two months led to significant increases in Bifidobacteria.
Along with these increased levels of Bifidobacteria, participants also
experienced fewer gastrointestinal problems and more regular bowel function
when compared to other women in the study who drank a banana-flavored beverage
that did not contain any actual banana.
Athletic Performance and Bananas
The unique mix of vitamins, minerals, and low glycemic
carbohydrates in bananas has made them a favorite fruit among endurance
athletes. Their easy portability, low expense, and great taste also help
support their popularity in this exclusive group.
A 2012 study of distance cyclists found that eating the
equivalent of about one half a banana every 15 minutes of a three-hour race was
just as good at keeping energy levels steady as drinking an equivalent amount
of carbohydrate and minerals from a processed sports beverage. Bananas have
long been valued by athletes for prevention of muscle cramps. Since bananas are
a good source of potassium, and since low potassium levels are known to
contribute to risk of muscle cramps, it is logical to think about the potassium
content of bananas as being the reason for fewer muscle cramps after
consumption of bananas. There is actually some recent research in support of
this reasoning. In a recent study, consumption of one or two bananas prior to
an hour of exercise was shown to keep blood potassium levels higher after the
training. But there are still some big unanswered questions here, since
researchers are not convinced that low potassium levels are the most frequent
cause of muscle cramps with training.
DESCRIPTION
Bananas are elliptically shaped fruits
"prepackaged" by Nature, featuring a firm, creamy flesh gift-wrapped
inside a thick inedible peel. The banana plant grows 10 to 26 feet in height
and belongs to the family Musaceae. Banana fruits grow in clusters of 50 to 150,
with individual fruits grouped in bunches, known as "hands," of 10 to
25 bananas.
Bananas abound in hundreds of edible varieties that fall
under two distinct species: the sweet banana (Musa sapienta, Musa nana)
and the plantain banana (Musa paradisiacal). Sweet bananas vary in size and
color.
While we are accustomed to thinking of sweet bananas as
having yellow skins, they can also feature red, pink, purple and black tones
when ripe. Their flavor and texture range with some varieties being sweet while
others have starchier characteristics. In the United States, the most familiar
varieties are Big Michael, Martinique and Cavendish. Plantain bananas are
usually cooked and considered more like a vegetable due to their starchier
qualities; they have a higher beta-carotene concentration than most sweet
bananas.
HISTORY
Bananas are thought to have originated in Malaysia around
4,000 years ago. From there, they spread throughout the Philippines and India,
where in 327 B.C. Alexander the Great's army recorded them being grown.
Bananas were introduced to Africa by Arabian traders and
discovered there in 1482 A.D. by Portuguese explorers who took them to the
Americas, the place where the majority of bananas are now produced.
Bananas were not brought to the United States for sale in
markets until the latter part of the 19th century and were initially only
enjoyed by people in the seacoast towns where the banana schooners docked;
because of the fruit's fragility, they were unable to be transported far.
Since the development of refrigeration and rapid transport in
the 20th century, bananas have become widely available. Today, bananas grow in
most tropical and subtropical regions with the main commercial producers
including Costa Rica, Mexico, Ecuador and Brazil.
HOW TO SELECT AND STORE
Since bananas are picked off the tree while they're still
green, it's not unusual to see them this color in the store. Base your choice
of bananas depending upon when you want to consume them. Bananas with more
green coloration will take longer to ripen than those more yellow in hue and/or
with brown spots.
Bananas should be firm, but not too hard, bright in
appearance, and free from bruises or other injuries. Their stems and tips
should be intact. The size of the banana does not affect its quality, so simply
choose the size that best meets your needs.
At WHFoods, we encourage the purchase of certified
organically grown foods, and bananas is no exception. Repeated research studies
on organic foods as a group show that your likelihood of exposure to
contaminants such as pesticides and heavy metals can be greatly reduced through
the purchased of certified organic foods, including bananas. If you are
shopping in a large supermarket, your most reliable source of organically grown
bananas is very likely to be bananas that display the USDA organic logo.
While bananas look resilient, they're actually very fragile
and care should be taken in their storage. They should be left to ripen at room
temperature and should not be subjected to overly hot or cold temperatures.
Unripe bananas should not be placed in the refrigerator as this will interrupt
the ripening process to such an extent that it will not be able to resume even
if the bananas are returned to room temperature.
If you need to hasten the ripening process, you can place
bananas in a paper bag or wrap them in newspaper, adding an apple to accelerate
the process. Ripe bananas that will not be consumed for a few days can be
placed in the refrigerator. While their peel may darken, the flesh will not be
affected. For maximum flavor when consuming refrigerated bananas, remove them
from the refrigerator and allow them to come back to room temperature. For the
most antioxidants, eat fully ripened fruit.
Bananas can also be frozen and will keep for about 2 months.
Either puree them before freezing or simply remove the peel and wrap the
bananas in plastic wrap. To prevent discoloration, add some lemon juice before
freezing.
HOW TO ENJOY
In addition to being eaten raw, bananas are a wonderful addition
to a variety of recipes from salads to baked goods. A few quick serving ideas:
- A peanut butter and banana sandwich drizzled with honey is an all-time favorite comfort food for children and adults alike.
- Add chopped bananas, walnuts and maple syrup to oatmeal or porridge.
INDIVIDUAL CONCERN
Bananas and Latex-Fruit Syndrome
Latex-fruit syndrom is a health problem related to the
possible reaction of our immune system to certain proteins found in natural
rubber (from the tree Hevea brasiliensis) and highly similar proteins
found in certain foods, such as bananas.
NUTRITIONAL PROFILE
Bananas are a very good source of vitamin B6 and a good
source of manganese, vitamin C, potassium, dietary fiber, potassium, biotin,
and copper.
RECIPES
HOW TO GROW
SOURCES :
https://www.thespruce.com/southern-banana-pudding-3051143
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=7
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