Bananas Are Not The Only Fruit.

Bananas have become a staple of the UK diet, breakfast, snacks and desserts, they seem to be ingrained in our psyche. I cannot tell you how many times I used to eat bananas and custard as a kid and teen growing up, bananas and custard, banaba sandwich (with sugar) and watching my gran slice one onto her Bran Flakes every morning. They were marketed as a the tropical wonder-food. ‘Full of potassium’, and ‘help you stay regular’ were the mantras I grew up with. Imagine my surprise when I found out that they weren’t the golden child that commercial growers such as Dole and Chiquita would have us believe.

It is well-documented that bananas have an array of nutrients to offer us, including potassium, one of the most important electrolytes in the body which helps to regulate heart function as well as fluid balance in and outside our cells. Potassium is protective against heart disease, strokes and lowering blood pressure, however, in my experience, they are not the panacea that some would like us to believe. In my opinion, the evidence stacks up against this belief – the banana is the second largest fruit crop in the world but yet, heart disease, blood pressure and strokes are some of the biggest killers in the world.

According to wikipedia, bananas are also naturally radioactive, apparently banana shipments often set off the radiation monitors installed in US ports. Advocates of nuclear power, refer to the ‘banana equivalent dose of radiation’ to support their position. Now I don’t know if this is true, but it is a great ‘apparently’ fact to trundle out at a party…

Banana facts:

The banana plant belongs to the same family as the lily and orchid and comes in hundreds of different varieties. Small ones are found in Thailand, India and Sri Lanka, whilst the more popular large yellow variety is cultured in the Caribbean and South America. There is also Plantain, a greener fruit that is higher in starch but lower in sugar than the ‘regular’ banana found in UK supermarkets.

Banana Nutrition:

The sugar and starch levels are the beginning of the end of my love affair with bananas. A 15cm banana provides 1g of protein, 12g of sugars AND nearly 23g of carbohydrates. For anyone who has looked at the low GI or GL diets, or understand even a little about the action of carbohydrates in the body will know what this means.

When you digest the fruit, your body will get a massive hit of sugars that it has to do something with. You will feel your energy surge, just as you might after a cake or coffee. This is the rush of glucose into the blood stream. When your body has either a) pushed the glucose into cells or b) used up as much glucose as it can, it needs to make sure that all the sugar in the blood stream is safely removed. Unless you are very active there is little chance of this, so the body does something clever, it converts the excess glucose/sugar into fat and stores it for conversion back into glucose when we need it.

From a nutritional perspective, this isn’t the ideal scenario as we aim for energy levels to be constant throughout the day. Energy rollercoaster’s make it harder to refuse the sugar pick-me-up mid morning and evening, which can have a detrimental affect on multiple areas of health. The banana is missing a high percentage of the fundamentals that reduce the impact of carbohydrates after digestion – protein and fibre, which are minimal in a banana, are two such things. Additionally, water content is incomparable to other fruits which increases the calorific impact on the body.

Bananas, like dairy, are mucous forming. Mucoid plaque is naturally produced by the body, but certain foods exacerbate and over-stimulate production resulting in increased absorption difficulty. The pesticides used on bananas and the sulphur that is sprayed on them increases the mucus production, so for those at least four bananas per week, think about how much you cough, whether you have sinus or phlegm issues in comparison to your banana intake.

If you have sensitivity to latex, be extra careful as the banana contains an enzyme called ‘chitinases’ and the ethylene gas used to ripen them prior to retail can increase the presence of these allergenic enzymes.

Breaking the Banana cycle:

So all in all, my view is – ditch the bananas. There are so many other wonderful fruits out there to gorge on. It is a fallacy that you have to have them, or yogurt or milk in smoothies to makes them creamy. The sugar content is what draws people in. But there are lots of other fruits out there which are sweet – strawberries, apples, pears, figs to name but a few. And adding water to a smoothie is sufficient to make it creamy. I promise. After a lifetime of eating bananas I slowly but surely gave them up about 5 years ago. Recently, I was bought a bunch. They stayed in the fruit bowl for a few days and then I couldn’t cope any more and had to file them, in the bin. Unceremoniously. I couldn’t bring myself to eat them. I wish they’d been flowers – much more useful!

Very Berry Smoothie

Jam-packed full of anti-oxidants, potassium, fibre, essential fatty acids and protein. And no banana in sight! Aim for organic varieties only.

1 apple or pear – cored and chopped

½ punt each of blueberries, raspberries and strawberries

a handful each of walnuts and pecans, soaked in water overnight and rinsed thoroughly.

1 handful of sunflower seeds

Two cups of water

Blend together and serve in glasses with a straw and a couple of blueberries on top.

image by Furryscaly

The Cellulite Issue

Cellulite, the scourge of the modern women. It is possibly the #1 issue that women have about their appearance, especially as the days get hotter and the prospect of bare legs looms nearer. The weekly trash mags love to hi-light it on celebrity bodies – making them ‘more real’.

Don’t get me wrong, in this day and age where airbrushing pictures is so de rigeur that we have a distorted view of perfection, I would be lying if I said seeing cellulite on an otherwise ‘supposedly’ perfect body didn’t make me feel a little warm inside. However, my personal viewpoint is that the media, rather than focusing on the not particularly nice looking stuff should focus on the natural and positive attributes – without the digital effects of image distortion.

Excessive cellulite is a result of our fast-paced processed/junk food lifestyle. It can appear on the stomach, arms, bums and thighs  – i.e. the places where fat is stored. That said, cellulite is a multi-faceted issue, there is not a total cure, however there are a number of nutritional protocols that you can do to help reduce it dramatically.

Contributory Factors:

The presence of cellulite indicates congestion within the body’s fatty tissues. Poor diet, lack of exercise, constipation, over-burdened liver contribute to toxin overloads that impair the efficiency of blood flow and lymph circulation as well as the exchange of fluids, nutrients and expulsion of toxins from cells.

Lymph:

This is how the fatty tissue is transported around the body. Unlike the blood, there is no pump so it is pushed around the body, solely via the movement of the body, which is why exercise is so important. When lymph is overburdened and there is a build-up of toxins this can be a significant contributor to cellulite and skin appearance.

Liver:

The liver is the body’s workhorse. Everything that comes into our bodies will go through the liver at some point from alcohol and drugs to the nutrients of food, cholesterol is made here, as are hormones – and it detoxifies all the nasties that our body can not cope with for elimination via the digestive tract. It is our silent partner, the background cog that just keeps on churning, no matter how much crap we throw at it. When the liver is at capacity or does not have the required nutrients to perform its actions with each of the detoxification pathways, it becomes clever. It packages up toxins, such as heavy metals like mercury, lead, aluminum; or chemicals or plastics that we consume through our food, bundles them up and hides them so they do not cause a threat to the body.

And guess where they are hidden? In the fat cells, which are innate so cannot cause damage.

This makes the fat cells more difficult to remove and contributes to the cellulite problem.

Connective tissue:

The connective tissue that separates cells becomes weaker with age, and if the requisite nutrients are not consumed or absorption is problematic then this will increase the fragility and exacerbate the orange peel effect.

Cell Function:

If the body is dehydrated and not enough good fats are consumed in the diet then there will be issues surrounding fluid and nutrient exchange and toxin removal. The cells become harder and it is more difficult for these essential actions to occur.

Constipation:

Toxins are eliminated via the bowel and if constipation occurs the will be re-absorbed and recycled in the body. This has a cumulative effect on toxin levels and increases toxic storage requirement in fat cells. Dietary fibre, good gut bacteria, magnesium, essential fats and water are all essential ingredients to allow good stools to be formed.

What to avoid:

The concept of Negative Equity Nutrition^TM is ideal to follow here, foods that are high in sugars, saturated fats, additives, chemicals, toxins, salt, caffeine and low in fibre all impact cellulite including:

• Processed, ready meals and junk foods
• White starchy carbohydrates (bread, pasta, rice)
• Trans, hydrogenated and saturated fats: baked goods, processed meats, cakes, biscuits and crisps.
• Caffeine and artificial sweeteners in fizzy drinks & fruit cordial
• Excess red meat and dairy products can trigger higher oestrogen levels, which also increases the burden on the liver
• Alcohol: the sugars and toxins in alcohol directly impact the body.
• Smoking reduces blood flow to the skin and destroys vitamin C and zinc levels – both crucial nutrients for skin health.

What should we be eating instead?

• Strengthen the connective tissue: Peppers, kiwi fruit, broccoli, citrus fruit, tomatoes, berries and peas are rich in vitamin C. Goji berries, blueberries, cherries, blackberries, grapes and buckwheat are full of bioflavonoids.
• Water – water is the most important ingredient to help flush the skin and keep cells working well.
• Liver support: Dark green leafy vegetables such as cabbage, kale, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, watercress, radishes and grapefruit. Research has shown that cabbage proteins have helped enhance liver detoxification as do broccoli sprouts, which contain sulphoraphane.
• Enhance cell performance and balance hormones through increased consumption of essential fats – nuts, seeds, oily fish and omega 3 enriched eggs.

• Organic food is preferable if you want to remove the toxins from the food you eat. If you have budgetary considerations, purchase organic varieties of apples, pears, berries, grains and citrus fruits.

Finally, bodybrushing and exercise such as rebounding specifically help to stimulate lymph and may be helpful in reducing cellulite, however, any active exercise will aid the movement of lymph and enable the bodys cells to work more effciently.