Bananas

Bananas are super healthy

Find out about these awesome tips on bananas; How to store, peel, cook, use as a pain reliever and the other many uses with this super healthy fruit.

Bananas are super healthy for you, this fat-free, cholesterol free and sodium free fruit is a great high-energy snack. They are high in natural fruit sugars, vitamins B6 and C, and potassium. Bananas are available all year-round. Native to South-East Asia, the banana is one of the oldest known fruits and is available all year-round. The banana “tree” is actually not a tree but a plant or perhaps better defined as a giant herb, where the bananas are the fruit of this herb. A bunch of bananas is called a “hand” and the individual bananas are called “fingers”. Bananas are best to eat when they are have just ripened and are fleck’d with brown and have a golden hue.  It is said that Pectin which is a soluble fibre in banana helps to lower Cholesterol levels.  According to researchers, fibres that are water soluble such as pectin, psyllium, beta-glucan etc., lower the LDL Cholesterol without disturbing the HDL cholesterol.

Bananas are also very rich in fructooligosaccharide which acts as a probiotic (friendly bacteria). It stimulates the growth and activity of probiotics in the colon and produces enzymes that enable absorption of nutrients thus enhancing the digestive ability and preventing unfriendly bacteria from harming the body.

Storing Bananas

Bananas at best stored at room temperature and out of direct sunlight. They should never be stored in the refrigerator and try to keep bananas away from other fruits where possible as many fruits release ethylene gas, which accelerates ripening.

How to peel a banana?

I confess, I have been peeling a bananas wrong for years and I guess most of you out there are probably also peeling it wrong too.

Step 1: Locating the top! Make sure to find the end of the banana opposite from the stem.
Step 2: Pinching the top off. This is where you will be starting to open up the banana without bruising or mashing it. …
Step 3: Peel it back. …
Step 4: Peel back the other parts. …
Step 5: Enjoy!

Check out the right way to peel a banana as done by the monkeys!

Cooking with Bananas

Bananas are usually eaten raw, but they can also be fried and served with ice-cream, or mashed and added to cakes or added to a salad. Great with cream, maple syrup, honey, cinnamon, chocolate and yoghurt.

You have no ripe bananas?

To ripen bananas, add yellow bananas in a 300°F for 40 minutes. oven to make them softer and sweeter. The bananas will be blackened and soft ready to use in the Banana Walnut loaf recipe.

Caramelized bananas

Freckled bananas or not, peel them, place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, sprinkle with brown sugar or drizzle with honey, and 20 minutes later you’ve got super flavorful, roasted, caramel-like bananas that will take your bread to the next level. (This also helps less-ripe bananas ripen quickly.)

Stop Food Waste

I make my father-in-law peanut butter and banana toasted sandwiches every morning for breakfast and there is always more left over banana. I always store left over banana in the freezer. Slice them into 1-2 inch chunks, place them in a single layer on baking or wax paper and transfer to freezer-safe bags. You can then pull these frozen bananas out at a later date to add to a smoothie or to make you own ice cream.

Other great uses for your bananas

I was just amazed at the number of things you can do with a banana. Check out these other amazing tips from Katybeth.

Beauty treatments using banana

1. Help Your Garden Grow: Bananas are naturally high in potassium which encourages plant growth. Use banana peel or puree an entire banana and bury it in the soil.

2. Shoe Polish: Use the peel to make your kicks nice and shiny.

3. Stop the Itch: Rubbing the inside of a banana peel on a bug bite helps relieve itching.

4. Pain Reliever: The oil in a banana peel will help relieve the pain from burns and scratches.

5. Wart Removal: Tape a piece of banana peel on a wart, continue until it’s gone.

6. Make Houseplants Gleam: Just like peels can shine shoes, they can also be used to make the leaves of plants shine.

7. Removing Splinters: Similar to wart removal, tape a piece of the peel over the splinter. The enzymes will help dislodge the splinter and heal the wound.

8. Polishing Silver: Have you been thinking about pulling out that old silver? Well there is no time like the present! Bananas peel can also be used to polish silver. Yes, polish silver. Take the old peels and place them in a blender. You want the peels to become smooth and creamy. Once they have, grab a cloth and small amounts of the creamed banana peel and begin polishing your silver. The shine will be breathtaking.

9. Tenderize a Roast: Banana leaves are commonly used in many Asian countries to wrap meat as it’s cooking to make it more tender. Some folks in these areas say the banana itself also has this ability. So the next time you fear the roast you’re cooking will turn tough on you, try softening it up by adding a ripe, peeled banana to the pan.

10. Take a piece of the inside of the banana peel and gently rub around on your teeth for about 2 minutes. The amazing minerals in the peel like potassium, magnesium and manganese absorb into your teeth and whiten them. Repeat the same procedure at night or before bedtime, to whiten teeth.

11. Mash a banana and add squeeze lemon juice mix.  Use this mix as a facial mask for 15-20 minutes.  The vitamins in bananas are known to improve complexion and even smooth wrinkles when applied directly to the skin. Eating bananas is also a great way to beautify as the vitamins C and B6, manganese and water improve your complexion from the inside out.  The lemon juice helps scars, acne and clear the skin.   If you have dry skin, replace lemon with 2 tablespoons of avocado a rich moisturizer.  Banana mask also helps in getting rid of skin pigmentation.

12. Raw bananas are astringent in nature and are effective in treatment for diarrhoea.  They also regulate fluid balance.

13. Bananas are good for Anaemic patients as they contain high levels of iron which help regulate the haemoglobin levels in the body.

14. Helps insomnia, bananas are rich in amino acids known as Tryptophan.  This substance triggers production of melatonin (sleep hormone) which induces sleep.  Eating banana a few hours before bedtime ensures a peaceful night’s sleep.

15.  Reduce inflammation from insect bites.  Itching and swelling caused by mosquito bites can be reduced by rubbing the inside of a banana on it.

16. To make a body scrub, mash 2 bananas with 4-5 strawberries using a blender. Mix 3 tablespoons of sugar and use it as a body scrub when you take a bath.

17.  Reduce puffy eyes, mash half a banana and apply generously around the puffy eyes. Let it sit for 15-20 minutes and then rinsing with cool water. The puffiness will vanish instantly. The potassium rich banana draws out excess fluid from under my skin and reduces the swelling immediately.

18. Add shine to your hair, peel a banana and add 1/4 cup of olive oil and one egg white and put in a blender. Puree for a couple of minutes. Let it stay on your hair for 15 minutes followed by hair wash with your favourite shampoo and conditioner.

19. If you suffer from itchy and swollen skin, just rub the banana peel on the effective area and you will feel the itching and swelling subside.

20. Helps get rid of wrinkles, apply fresh banana peel on the wrinkles for 15 minutes every day and there will be noticeable change in a few weeks.