Below is a sample of an article in a recent Green Wizzette Newsletter edition and GreenSheet list. ALL this and more for only $5 a month! Makes a GREAT gift! Perfect for gardeners, herbologists, food lovers, cooks, chefs, kids, and especially for those desiring a simple low cost home based family business. Empower your children to learn about money and business early on. Just think they won't have to struggle over money and have money for their college or vocational education for a secure future. Remember, the fabulous tax savings too! Be sure to get the links from your Sponsor to be properly connected to our powerful wealth building network. If you do not have a Sponsor contact Suzanne at Suzanne@investworks.net. EnJoy!
Green Wizzette
BANANAS
MARCH 2006
~~~Your GreenWiz Newsletter! ~~~Official Publication of GreenWiz.com~~
After Reading THIS, you'll NEVER look at a banana in the same way again! I have found so much information that I'm going to list it all below. What a fantastic fruit!
A banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrates, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around. So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, "A banana a day keeps the doctor away!"
Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber, a banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes. But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.
They have no sodium, little fat, and no cholesterol.
Types
At this moment there are five different types of bananas common on the market:
- Red bananas: have a green/red peel and pink fruit flesh. They taste the same like yellow bananas. The redder a fruit, the more carotene it contains, so maybe they are healthier than their yellow colleagues;
- Fruit-bananas: are the normal, yellow bananas, 15-30 cm.
- Apple-bananas: are smaller, 8-10 cm., and ripen faster. They are also yellow;
- Baby-banana (pisang susa): is yellow as well and measures 6-8 cm. It is the sweetest of the banana family;
- Baking bananas: are 30 to 40 cm. large and are green, yellow or red-like. They cannot be eaten raw. They fulfill the role of the potato in the tropical countries.
Top Dozen Trivia:
- Is the most well known and eaten (tropical) fruit;
- In Eastern Africa you can buy banana beer. This beer is brewed from bananas;
- Tropical fruit is usually picked unripe and has to ripen in the land of arrival. To make this process go faster bananas are treated with ethylene-gas. Normally bananas also ripen through ethylene -gas but exposing it to additional gas accelerates the process;
- Eat at least one banana a day, they are said to contain everything a human needs and they contain all the 8 amino-acids our body cannot produce itself.
- Bananas are a good source of fiber, potassium and vitamin C;
- Red bananas are often dried and converted to meal which is used in many ways;
- Red bananas contain more vitamin C as yellow bananas (the redder a fruit, the more nutritious elements it contains)
- 1 pound bananas equals 3 medium or 4 small bananas.
- 1 pound bananas equals 2 cups sliced or 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas.
- If stored with other fruit, bananas will accelerate the ripening of the other fruit.
- Try Banana and Peanut Butter sandwiches, they are great fried too!
- In 1972 there was US Research Team funded to find out what was the correct way to peel a banana! The Results showed there was no single way that was better than others so long as you ate the banana after peeling. And it only cost $750,000 to discover this.
healthy uses
Depression:
According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.
PMS:
Forget the pills -- eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.
Anemia:
High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.
Blood Pressure:
This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium! yet low in salt, making it the perfect way to beat high blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of high blood pressure and stroke.
Brain Power: 
200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.
Constipation:
High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.
Hangovers:
One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.
Heartburn:
Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.
Morning Sickness:
Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.
Mosquito bites:
Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.
Warts:
Those keen on natural alternatives swear that, if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!
Nerves:
Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.
Overweight and at work? !
Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and chips. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.
Ulcers: 
The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.
Temperature control:
Many other cultures see bananas as a "cooling" fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand, for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD):
Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan.
Smoking:
Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.
Stress:
Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.
Strokes:
According to research in "The New England Journal of Medicine," eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!
Other uses:
Flowers:Don’t toss the banana skin into the garbage it has a lot of nutrients to enrich your plants-calcium, sodium, silica, magnesium and phosphorus and potash. Just cut the skin into small pieces and bury it in the soil around your plants. Your roses and geraniums will love it.
Odors:Banana peels placed under the seat of a car or in closets can remove smoke and musty odors. Remember to change the peel every few months.
Enjoy your bananas and be healthy!
Rebel
