Bananas: Fruit of the Zoom
Endurance athletes have long known about the power of the banana. Unlike certain other snacks that dump high levels of sugar into the bloodstream right away, bananas give a steady supply of sugar as it is needed, and are a great source of potassium which is essential in the prevention of cramps. Competitive cyclists are therefore often seen with the ubiquitous yellow fruit poking out of their back pockets as they set off on long haul training rides.
However hard core athletes are not the only people who can benefit from the humble banana, and its health benefits are legion.
As well as containing fiber, bananas are a source of sucrose, fructose, and glucose which are natural sugars. Therefore the sugar goes into the bloodstream immediately but does not dump all of it in at once, giving a sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout.
As well has helping us power our engine as we keep fit, bananas can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions.
According to a recent survey undertaken among people suffering from depression by MIND, a British mental health charity, many felt much better after eating a banana. It is known that the fruit contains tryptophan, a type of amino acid that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.
The yellow wonder is a source of vitamin B6 which regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood and alleviate stress. Because they are rich in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia. This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. Indeed the FDA allows the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit’s ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.
In a study in a school in England, two-hundred students ate bananas for breakfast, at break time and lunchtime in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.
Because they are high in fiber, a diet that includes bananas can help restore normal bowel action and alleviate the need for laxatives.One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, while the honey builds up depleted blood sugar levels, and the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.
Bananas have a natural antacid effect, and can help to relieve the pain of heartburn. Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.
Many people bitten by mosquitos have reported that rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin, rather than using an insect bite cream, reduces swelling and irritation.
Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system. Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found that work-related stress leads to gorging on unhealthy snacks and processed “comfort food.” In a survey of 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found a correlation between obesity and high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours can help to keep blood sugar levels steady.
The banana’s soft texture and smoothness means that it lends itself to the treatment of intestinal disorders such as ulcers. The only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in cases of chronic ulcers, it neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.
In many cultures the banana is seen as a ‘cooling’ fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. Pregnant women in Thailand eat bananas to ensure that their babies are born with a cool temperature.
When compared to an apple, the banana 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.
To cap it all off, it comes in easy-to-open, biodegradable packaging in a cool yellow color which is also smart enough to indicate the state of the fruit inside. The skin indicates that it is not ripe enough yet with a green signal, the optimum time to eat it is signaled with a pattern of brown speckles on yellow, and a banana out of date turns a solid brown. What’s not to like?
How Changing to a Plant-Based Diet Benefits Your Business and Personal Lifestyle
What does success look like to you? You might answer that question with tales of business acclaim, exotic vacations, independent wealth, time freedom or being able to enjoy a stress-free life with your family. But regardless of what success looks like to you, there is one thing that is ALWAYS at the top of the list, even though no one ever mentions it. Having your health. Without your health, nothing else matters. All your other plans, ideals and dreams pale and disappear if you lose your health.
Why do so few people consider and take care of their health so they can live out their version of success? We asked exactly that question of Whole Food Muscle Club fans and the most common answers where, “I don’t have time” and “I don’t know how.”
If you don’t take time for your health now it will steal your time later. But humans are not very good at delayed gratification and no one believes their health is going to fail until it does. So that answer isn’t helpful. But how about this:
When did your health become an inconvenience?
Most people never think about their health unless they are under the weather, and even then, it’s annoying. “I don’t have time to be sick” is a common social media post. That is the reality for almost everyone until they have a health crisis. “My heart attack really opened my eyes.” Did you know that for 50% of people who have a heart attack, death is their first symptom? You don’t have to wait for life to slap you in the face and hope you live through it so you can change. You can decide to become conscious about your health now rather than just paying it lip service.
Solving, “I don’t know how”
Once you get your mind wrapped around the fact that your success is inexplicably tied to your health and ignoring it is a really bad idea, it’s time to address the second problem, “I don’t know how.” Unfortunately, there is a lot of bad health advice out there. Most of it is linked to losing weight. There are a lot of ways to lose weight that are horrible for your health, doing heroin, chemo, diet pills from the ‘80’s and fad diets. The question shouldn’t be, “How do I lose weight.” The question should be, “how do I avoid, limit or reverse my risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, cancer, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity.” Answering that question will bring your body to your ideal weight naturally.
Fortunately, there is a singular answer, although it might surprise you. How you eat, the nutrition you give or deny your body, is the single, most important factor in creating health; even more important than your genes. And it is 100% controlled by you. That is amazing power.
It is possible to be overweight and under-nourished
When you eat fast, easy, cheap food you are getting lots of calories. But most of the nutrition has been removed. Nutrition spoils. Mold grows on it. Bugs eat it. It can go rancid. When food companies want something to be shelf stable, they remove most of the nutritional value, add synthetic flavor and preservatives, fortify it with a few vitamins and minerals, slap some fancy marketing on it and sell it to you as if it’s food. “Fortify” is just a fancy word to let you know they put the government required nutrition back in it, so people don’t get obscure diseases from eating nutrition-less food. If they didn’t take the nutrition out of it to start with, it wouldn’t need fortifying.
Plus, the food industry spends billions of dollars a year making sure their products hit the Bliss Point, the exact balance of salt, sugar and fat to turn off your ability to say “no more” and to make you crave (i.e. be addicted) it. Great for their bottom line. Horrible for your waistline.
Educate yourself
Knowledge is power. The food industry has created an industry worth billions of dollars a year lulling us into believing that food should be quick, convenient, easy to eat and require little thought. That is a fast track to illness, disease and even death.
The more you know about nutrition and the lies the food and diet industries tell us, the easier it will be for you to make conscious choices.
Pay attention when you eat
Do you really want to eat what you’re eating? As in, do you want the results that it will give you or are you just craving it? Did you choose it from an emotional place? Are you burying feelings with food? Are you eating out of habit or are you actually hungry? Do you really know what it feels like to be hungry?
Don’t overindulge with alcohol, sugar or processed foods
Easier said than done because most people have an emotional relationship with salt, sugar, fat and alcohol. The food and alcohol industries love that you do. But your successful life plans demand that you take back that control.
Eat the rainbow
Take a look at your plate. Is it mostly white, grey and brown foods? Or are the colors created by added food coloring? That is a problem. Your diet needs colors (which equal antioxidants) from real food. The more the better.
Don’t be sedentary
Going to the gym for an hour a day won’t make up for sitting or lying down the other twenty-three hours. Get up. Move. Pace when you’re on the phone. Drink enough water that you’re forced to get out of your chair to go to the bathroom. Whatever it takes to get your body in motion at least once an hour.
Get some support
You don’t have to make this change alone. In fact, you likely shouldn’t try because the people around you are going to come after you, much like people who drink respond to someone who doesn’t. Don’t put yourself on an island with only people who eat the Standard American Diet (SAD).
The Whole Food Muscle Club is designed to address all of these points so you can focus on creating success while having the best health possible. It’s not just how long you live. It’s how long you live healthy.
Skip the Drive Thru Food in Orange County and Try DonerG
Next time you don’t want to cook and you have an urge to jump through a drive thru for a processed chemically filled meal consider trying healthier a fast-casual dining establishment instead.
Recently I was invited by the management of DonerG Turkish and Meditation Grill a fast-causal restaurant to try their menu, a free tasting for another website I manage. Right away I was pretty impressed of the healthier choices on the menu and how affordable they were and since then have become a regular craving their salads and kebabs.
For the price of a fatty burger at competing restaurants you can be ordering a healthier lower calorie favorable dish at DonerG made with local fresh produce and meat. I personally loved the DonerG Adana Kebab and have gone back a few time to order it. I am not surprised but so many others love it as well that if you show up near closing they get sold out of Adana Kebabs which isn’t that big of a problem because there are so many other healthy entrees to choose from.
Service at DonerG is fast, quicker than waiting in a busy line in a drive thru. You can eat in or take out. The food meets Halal restrictions. With two locations in Orange County one in Anaheim off Ball Road and another in Irvine off Barranca Parkway it is worth the drive to try DonerG’s food and have a healthier meal for the price you would be paying in a drive thru. I drive from Rancho Santa Margarita bypassing 100s of other places with calorie rich food so I could eat at DonerG favorable dishes and stay true to my diet and goal to eat health.