Bananas
Description
Its wide variety of forms make bananas an extremely versatile food. In the West, the most frequent and simplest is as dessert fruit, served whole and using the peel to hold it without the hands touching the pulp directly. In pieces it is incorporated into fruit salads, gelatins and others, as well as smoothies and other beverages. Due to its high energy content and its high content of potassium, unusual among fruits, it is frequently consumed by athletes and bodybuilders.
Cooked, they are used as accompaniment for some meats in tropical recipes, as well as in Cuban rice and in supreme Maryland. With brown sugar, lemon juice or vinegar and spices are prepared sauces or jams, sometimes very spicy; In Jamaica, the banana and chilli sauce is the usual seasoning for chickens. They are also used in cakes (cake) and biscuits (banana bread). Foster bananas, flamed with rum and cinnamon and with vanilla ice cream, is a New Orleans dessert that has become very popular in the United States.
Nutritional value
Banana (raw) Nutritional value per 100 g Energy 90 kcal 370 kJ
- Carbohydrates 23 g
- Fat 0.2 g
- Proteins 1.2 g
- Water 78 g
- Thiamine (Vit B1) 0.54 mg (42%)
- Riboflavin (Vit B2) 0.067 mg (4%)
- Niacin (Vit B3) 1 mg (7%)
- Calcium 13.8 mg (1%)
- Iron 1.5 mg (12%) Phosphorus 50.4 mg (7%)
- Potassium 350 mg (7%)
- % daily CDR for adults.
Medicinal properties
Eating plantain brings great health benefits, so it is essential to include it in daily food.
- Relieves pre-menstrual symptoms: By containing vitamin B6, the banana stabilizes blood glucose levels, which can affect these symptoms. When consuming one or two bananas during that period of time it will not be necessary to resort to the use of pills.
- Helps to fight anemia: The banana stimulates the production of hemoglobin in the blood due to its high iron content.
- Avoid constipation: To help restore normal intestinal function, the consumption of bananas should be included in our daily diet, in addition to other fruits that contain fiber.
- Regulates the nervous system: Because of its high content of vitamin B the banana acts positively on the nerves.
- Against the bite of mosquitoes: To relieve the inflammation and swelling produced by this bite, it is advisable to rub the affected area with the internal part of the banana peel. The result is extraordinary.
- To reduce warts: The specialists in alternative medicine advise for these cases to apply, on the area to be treated, the inner part of the banana peel and hold it carefully with a bandage or tape.
- For those people who suffer from depression: The banana contains tryptophan, a protein that the body converts into serotonin, a chemical known for its relaxing effects and positively influences the mood.