We enjoy watching monkeys eat bananas, but when we consider the health and curative powers of the simple banana, we should follow the monkeys lead and eat more ourselves. Believe it or not, when a doctor says eat an apple a day to keep disease away, the same should be said of bananas. Bananas outweigh health benefits than many other fruits. This wonderful yellow fruit has more carbohydrates than an apple, five times more vitamin A and iron than most fruits, it has three times as much phosphorus and is highly rich in potassium and natural sugars. Bananas are actively grown in Asian, Latin American, India, and African countries. They are transported to countries like the Europe, Canada, Russia, Japan, and the United States. Bananas are grown in the U.S., but only in Hawaii due to the environmental elements needed to cultivate them. There are different varieties of bananas grown around the world, some of which are eatable and others that are only used for cooking. However, they all contain natural vitamins and minerals that are part of the health benefit fruits, for our bodies, inwardly and outwardly.
Five of the most important banana health benefit categories, include:
1. Healthy Ingredients
being highly rich in potassium, bananas help the body’s circulatory system in delivering oxygen to the brain, therefore, bananas make you smarter. The potassium in bananas also help in stimulating our muscles and nervous system. Even though they are high in potassium, they are very low in sodium which reduces our blood pressure levels. This fruit is also high in iron, which helps to promote hemoglobin production so that the blood can clot faster and give you more energy. Vitamin B6, B12 and magnesium, which are natural ingredients in bananas and by eating bananas each day, people who are addicted to smoking, can reduce their desire for nicotine and escape the withdrawal symptoms.
2. Home Remedy
don’t throw away your banana peels because they can be used to help in home remedies. For healing insect bites, simply rub the inside of a peel on an insect bite, it reduces the itching and swelling from the bite. A peel can also be used to neutralize the itching from poison ivy plants, oak and sumac plants. What else can you do with a banana peel – yes, you can polish your shoes! The oil from a banana peel can moisturize your skin and the material on your shoes, especially leather and other man-made plastic style materials. After you finish polishing your shoes with the peel, polish your shoes with a dry, soft cloth and see the shine. If you have a skin wart, use the inside of banana peel to place on the wart. A little technique is needed for drying out a wart. Tape the yellow side of the banana skin onto the skin for about an hour, remove the peel and let your skin dry out naturally. Because a banana skin contains salicylic acid and is absorbed into the skin, it actually will help to dry the wart out. What if you have a little splinter embedded into your skin – yes a banana peel will remove it. Take a piece of the banana peel and cover the splinter with the inside skin, the enzymes from the peel will eventually work the splinter out and help to seal the wound.
3. Medical Cure
Eating a daily regiment of bananas help to prevent kidney cancer, builds strong bones by increasing the body’s calcium intake, protects the eyes against macular degeneration, protects us from chronic diseases through free radicals and antioxidants. Research is ongoing whether bananas help cure cancer cells. A fully ripe banana produces an ingredient call TNF, which has been proven to fight abnormal cells. The dark spots that can appear on this fruit is high in TNF, an anti-cancer fighting component. Eating a banana lowers the body temperature and helps to keep you cool if you have a fever or a hot summer day. This amazing yellow fruit also reduces pregnancy nausea. Additional benefits from a diet of bananas each day, includes the reduction of heartburn, its a stress reliever, prevents high blood pressure, eases diarrhea, and its high fiber content helps to relieve constipation.
If you are watching your weight or you want something natural to help you lose weight, try adding bananas to your diet. They are very convenient to carry and are better than processed snacks. A 7 to 8 inch banana is around 105 calories and contains minerals that work to convert food into energy. The natural sugar in bananas is not the culprit that adds more to your fat cells. Bananas are great for losing weight because they contain lots of fiber, is very digestible and does not contain any fats. The fiber in this fruit also doesn’t make you feel hungry. Being rich in electrolytes and nutrients, they have a high water content that helps to flush away excess fat and can help reduce water weight.
5. Skin Benefits
Bananas contain large amounts of vitamin C which creates collagen that helps build skin tissue, improves elasticity, and prevents wrinkles. The minerals, antioxidants, and vitamins in bananas helps to make the skin appear younger and smoother, by lessening discoloration and sun damaged wrinkles. With the 75% water content of bananas, by eating them everyday, it helps to hydrate the skin, including the vitamin A ingredients, which restores the skin’s moisture and repairs dry and damaged skin cells. The bananas moisturizing ingredients also help to heal cracked heels, like people who are diabetic. By simply applying pulp to the sole of the heels and leave it on for half an hour, this will penetrate deep into the skin and assist in the healing process.