Bananas Health Article

One Giant Slip for Mankind

Believed by some religious historians to be the original Forbidden Fruit, bananas are said to have provided Adam and Eve with not only the first temptation but, once they had slipped, the green leaves that became the first human apparel.

World Gone Bananas

Americans eat an average of 30 pounds of bananas per year, making this the leading fresh fruit we consume. Bananas are an all-important staple in countries like Uganda, where annual consumption adds up to 475 pounds per person—about 3.5 medium bananas per day. Starchy plantains (cooking bananas) account for some 80 percent of the world's banana crop.

Herb of Plenty

Botanists know bananas as berries, the fruits of some 300 species of giant perennial herb plants in the genus Musa that grow up to 30 feet tall and are cultivated worldwide in moist tropical zones. Each treelike stalk produces just one mammoth flower, which yields 10 to 14 clusters (hands), each with 10 to 14 bananas (fingers).

Alexander to Elvis

While marching through India in 327 B.C., Alexander the Great is credited by some with discovering bananas for the Western world. Many horticulturists believe that bananas were the first cultivated plant, probably originating in Malaysia and spread by merchants and travelers making their way throughout Asia, then on to the Middle East, Europe, Africa and the Americas. In Memphis, Tennessee, at the other end of the timeline, Elvis Presley grew corpulent and died in 1977 on a diet that included mashed bananas in fried "Peanut Butter & Nanner Sammiches."

Cheap bananas, si. Pricy chinos, no.

Banana Republic: def. "Term for a small, often Latin American country, politically unstable, dependent on limited agriculture, and ruled by a small, wealthy and corrupt clique. Coined by O. Henry, American humorist and short-story writer, in reference to Honduras." (www.en.wikipedia.org)

Judging a Banana by Its Cover

Unlike most other fruits, bananas are able to be picked while still very green. Shipped as refrigerated cargo, they are best for eating when their skin ripens to yellow and starches convert rapidly to sugars. Even in their tropical homelands, bananas are cut green and allowed to yellow slowly in a cool, shady place. Ripe bananas can be refrigerated, although this blackens the skins. A yellowing banana emits generous amounts of ethylene gas, which can help hasten the ripening of tomatoes, avocados, green bananas and other fruits when enclosed together in a paper or plastic bag.

Hangover Shake

Banana milkshakes are widely reputed to be effective morning-after restoratives, calming the stomach and rehydrating the system. (Blend 1-2 cups cold milk or soymilk, 1 large ripe banana, 2-4 Tbsp. honey. Optional: Add 1 Tbsp. cream, dash nutmeg, dash salt.)

Chimps Prefer Organic

When given a choice of conventional or organic bananas, animals at the Copenhagen Zoo opt for organic. According to their keepers, chimpanzees and tapirs devour organic bananas, skin and all, while the dexterous primates peel conventionally grown bananas before consumption.

Splitsville, USA

Two towns lay claim to having created the banana split. David E. "Doc" Strickler, a Latrobe, Pennsylvania, pharmacist and optometrist, is believed by food historians to have composed the first banana split in 1904, selling it for a hefty 10 cents, twice the price of a standard sundae. "Years ago, when a guy took his best girl out," says Strickler's son William, "he bought her a banana split. Other girls just got ice cream cones." Today, Wilmington, Ohio, holds a local festival, making its own claim to having originated the three-scoop classic.

Resources

Healthy Eating for Kids Recipes and Menus
Banana-Cocoa Soy Smoothie
Quick and Healthy Dessert Recipes and Menus
Healthy Eating for Kids Center