Bananas: Vitamins, Minerals and More, in a Convenient Natural Package

When we lived in Hawaii, Island of Kauai, We grew various varieties of bananas. Banana trees aren’t really trees. Bananas are part of the lily and orchid family and the “tree” could be more closely grouped as a giant grass. There are dwarf varieties that produce fruit when only four feet tall and others the reach heights of twenty-five feet or more.

A banana plant can contain as many as 150 fruits, grouped in hands of ten to twenty-five bananas. Bananas are a great snack, replacing empty calorie snacks with vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber. Most sugary snacks give you a sugar rush and then you crash. The fiber in bananas releases the natural sugars slowly into the bloodstream. Bananas contain no fat, sodium or cholesterol and may reduce the risk of heart disease and certain cancers.

Long a favorite of distance athletes, bananas help replace the vitamins and mineral lost during exercise. A single banana contains 35% of the RDA of vitamin B6, 18% of the RDA of Vitamin C, 14% of potassium RDA, 12% of dietary fiber , 10% of manganese, 6% of magnesium and only 108 calories. Potassium is required for muscle contraction and reduces cramping during exercise. Potassium has been indicated as beneficial in controlling hypertension and helps regulate blood pressure. A lack of Vitamin B6 can cause weakness, insomnia and irritability. Bananas also contain tryptophan, an essential amino acid. Tryptophan is a precursor to serotonin, which is beneficial in fighting depression.

One source I read said bananas contained serotonin and norepinephrine. Serotonin is a compound widely distributed in the tissues, intestinal walls, blood platelets and central nervous system of the body. Norepinephrine is a hormone secreted by the medula of the adrenals and sympathetic nerve endings.

Green bananas can be ripened more quickly if you place them in a paper bag overnight with an apple or a tomato. Sometimes, overripe bananas can be purchased from supermarkets at a discount price. As a banana ripens, the starches turn to sugar. We freeze our overripe bananas and make homemade ice cream. Freezing bananas breaks the starches down, converts the starches to sugar and makes the bananas sweeter. It’s nice to have a sweet dessert, but refined sugars don’t work for me. When my day is done, I want something that’s easy to digest so I don’t stay awake at night or get up the next day feeling groggy. Topped with a few shelled nuts, frozen pineapple or mango, frozen bananas are the answer.

For homemade ice cream, put a cup of shelled nuts in a blender, add two cups of water and blend until nut meats are liquified. Then, add frozen bananas, and a drop or two of vanilla, to the nut milk and blend. Add frozen bananas to get the consistency you want. Serve the same as you would commercial ice cream.