Local food #10 - Banana and its benefits

Local food #10 – Banana – The Recharger💪

Banana is a perennial plant. It means the life span of this tree is more than two years. This tree has unique natures. One of the uniqueness is – It gives a bunch of banana once. So, after that, the trunk is cut down to allow suckers to produce more banana bunch. Sucker is a lateral shoot of the banana plant. These suckers make banana plants perennial. India is the largest banana producing country.

Image source - Gettyimages. 

It has many beneficial properties. It can be grown with the availability of good drainage, moisture and fertility. It is very effective for diarrhoea patients (or many Indians say “loose motion”). Banana can act for both sides. It can help you to excrete your faecal matters or it can prevent frequent faecal excretion means prevent from diarrhoea. One should know “how to use banana for maximum benefits?” For the former purpose, you can just eat one or two ripe banana and for the later purpose, you can smash ripe banana on flattened rice and eat that. These two methods can really be helpful if you apply earlier for your health. Below I will write some properties and benefits of Banana.

Properties of Banana -

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Some properties of banana are - It is rich in potassium, vitamin B6, and it has low to medium glycemic index 😍.

Benefits of eating a banana –

-The first benefit is keeping your stomach full.

-Potassium will keep a check on your risen blood pressure.

-Vitamin B6 is a metabolism enhancer and brain fatigue.

-The low to the medium glycemic index helps in maintaining your blood sugar level.

-Improve gut health. It acts as medicine for a stomach problem.

-It strengthens bones.

-It provides energy when you are in a bad mood.

-It has natural sugar.

Benefits from different parts of banana -

-Banana stems can heal the kidney.

-Banana leaves have anti-oxidant property. When you eat your meal on a banana leaf, it will provide you with anti-oxidant property due to the presence of polyphenols in the leaf.

-Dry banana is a great source of amino acid tryptophan. Tryptophan can balance your mood. Banana chips are great for snacking purpose. It will fill your stomach quickly and it tastes great. (Here I am talking about south Indian banana chips 😋)

-The ripe banana is full of fibre and minerals. It is rich in vitamin B6. It keeps our gut happy. It helps to recharge our body after exercise or after a meal.

-Banana flower helps maintain hormonal balance. In India, it is eaten as a side dish. It can be cooked with other dry fruits. It will prevent you from acne and low haemoglobin problems.  

These are some properties of banana, benefits of eating a banana and some use of parts of banana. This does not indicate to eat the banana whole day. We have to eat it with the proper amount. It is recommended to eat one or two banana per day for a healthy person. It is also recommended not adding sugar during banana shake or juice because banana is rich in natural sugars.

Do not drink water (especially cold water) or any type of liquid after eating a banana!

It is always recommended to us by our parents not to drink water after eating fruits and especially after eating a banana. I have personally experienced this fact. Once, I did not listen to anyone and drank water just after eating a ripe banana. I faced vomiting and indigestion. After that, I searched for the reasons for causing vomit. The reasons I know are drinking water after eating fruits lead to indigestion. In the case of banana, it shows more severe effect due to some natural property of banana. According to Ayurveda banana has properties such as heavy, unctuous, slow, thick, stable and cold in nature. So, if we drink cold water after having ripe banana then that reduces the process of proper digestion. It is okay if you drink after twenty to thirty minutes after eating.  

Other inappropriate uses of banana!

Recently, I come to know different uses of banana. Nowadays banana is not only consumed but also used for external appearance benefits. I do not know it is beneficial or not but some people are getting benefits. If you are living in a place having banana trees around you or availability of banana then you can try these. I have found these uses from youTube from different sources. The uses are for hair treatment, face, removal of dandruff, hair growth, hair straightening, weight loss and weight gain. I have never used banana for any external use because banana is not available in my surrounding every time.

In the above paragraph, I have mentioned some external uses of banana. I want to say to everyone that food should be consumed first. Many are using fruits for external uses only but they don’t eat. The beauty comes from inside our body is long-lasting and satisfying than the external beauty.  

Keep eating local foods and keep sharing the knowledge.

 For more local food benefits - www.localfoodbenefits.blogspot.com