By Dr. Mercola
The humble banana is one of the most popular fruits in the world. Tasty, inexpensive and with its own clean and protective carrying case, it’s the perfect nutritious snack, even for busy people, and kids love it.
Although they’re picked while still green, bananas continue to ripen, but to speed up the process at home, putting them in a brown paper bag for a few days does the trick. Bananas should be stored at room temperature, not refrigerated or left in an area where the temperature drops to refrigerator-like temperature, as bananas will turn an unappetizing black shade and become mushy.
Bananas are an excellent source of vitamin B6, with plenty of dietary fiber and potassium, manganese, vitamin C, biotin and copper. They’re pretty high in carbs and sugars, though, so anyone watching their weight and sugar intake, or with signs of insulin resistance, should limit their banana intake. One little-known fact is that bananas are on the short list of foods that help fight stress.
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Bananas, especially when they’re green, can be as much as 80 percent starch. However, unripe bananas have been used to successfully treat diarrhea as they’re a digestive-resistant starch. Authority Nutrition notes:
“Before it ripens, a banana is almost entirely starch, which composes up to 70 to 80 percent of its dry weight. A large part of this starch is digestive-resistant starch. As the banana ripens, the amount of starch and resistant starch decreases and is converted into sugars.”1
A Little Background on the Banana and the United Fruit Co.
The United Fruit Company (UFCO) was founded in 1899, with its tropical growing operations based in San Jose, Costa Rica, and business offices in Boston. Bananas had been a…