B.a.n.a.n.a

Please welcome my fave fruit....Banana! No it's not a children's show "Bananas in Pyjamas" that has the main characters named B1 and B2. It's the fruit with yellow jackets. I love this high energy fruit. I don't know why but this fruit can really satisfy my hunger. Maybe that's why I love it. It's kinda unique way for me to stay away from those cravings on snacks and sugar. And I was right, studies showed that because of their great taste, banana can also serves as a substitute for sweets and satisfy sugar cravings. Do you know that banana fruit is botanically defined as a berry? I just knew it. They are the only fruit that actually develop better color, texture, aroma, and sweetness when ripened after harvest. It is widely known that bananas are the most potassium-rich food, an essential mineral for maintaining normal blood pressure and heart function. This fruit is available worldwide and year-round, so you can have wherever you are and whenever you want it.

With all the useful nutrients in banana, the health benefits of bananas have been investigated worldwide. And here is the list of these benefits:

1. Reduced risk of high blood pressure
2. Reduced risk of stroke
3. Restore normal bowel activity
4. Protection from ulcers & Heartburn remedy
5. Protection against neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s disease)
6. Perfect Baby food
7. Cholesterol-lowering effect
8. Kidney health
9. Energy booster
10. Immunity booster

Here are some important points of banana:

• Researcher shows that serotonin and norepinephrine in bananas may naturally help sufferers overcome depression. They are the good mood food.
• Convenience and nutritional value of bananas make them a good post-exercise snack.
• Bananas are easy to digest because they have no fat
• Green tipped bananas should be selected for cooking or ripening, yellow ones should be selected for eating and brown-specked ones should be selected for baking breads, muffins and cookies.
• Bananas are rich in vitamin B6 and they are a good source of fiber, vitamin C, magnesium and potassium.
• Bananas are a perfect part of your diet

Planning to buy and eat banana now after reading the points above? Here's how to select and store bananas.

• 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.
• 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.

  

(article sources: whfoods, essortment & healthassist - image sources: vi.sualize.us, foodgawker)