15 Fun Facts for Friday: Bananas

We all know and love bananas...right?  Well, most of us do.  In an attempt to make a quick, but interesting post, I wanted to share this list of 15 Facts You Probaly Didn't Know About Bananas.  Have a look; that's scary to think a fungus could wipe out the whole banana population.

Imagine, a world without bananas.....

No peanut butter and banana sandwiches or wraps. : (
No mashed banana to make Low-fat Peanut Butter Bread. : (
No cool and creamy easy banana ice cream. : (
No chocolate peanut butter banana smoothies. : O
And the list can go on and on...


I enjoy bananas, and from the other bloggers I read out there, you like them too.  Here's a post I made a while back on banana benefits and how to enjoy them. Sometimes, I just unwrap a banana, mash several dry roasted almonds inside, and then proceed to eat.  I'll do this when there's no peanut butter around or when I want a sweet, salty, and crunchy treat.

Q: How do you enjoy using bananas?  If you don't like them, is it allergies or just plain repulsed by the green/yellow/black-spotted yellow fruit?

An Apple a Day Keeps the Coffee Away?

Not that I have any resentment towards coffee, I have it almost everyday, but studies have shown that apples are better than coffee at waking us up in the morning. Of course, studies have shown a lot of things that aren’t actually true, so I decided to confirm this myself. The result? Sure enough, the apple appeased my appetite and kept me feeling more energized than coffee each morning. An added bonus is that apples help keep your mouth and breath clean, as opposed to the all too familiar coffee breath.

How are apples able to do this? The complex carbohydrates (sugars) present in apples provide a perk to your body by keeping it active digesting the complex carbs. While working to digest, your body will feel more awake. Another reason for the apple’s sprightly qualities is from the chewing motion of your jaw which aids in stimulating your brain. Coffee’s caffeine is a great stimulant, but is usually shorter lived than the effects of an apple.

So simple, yet so complex...

I have gone back to coffee (and coffee breath) since this short experiment, but apples remain a daily staple in my diet. With their aforementioned mouth cleaning qualities, I usually end my work lunches with an apple…..my co-workers thank me.

If you don’t want to give up coffee (I don’t blame you!), there are other ways and reasons to consume apples on a regular basis. Apples have a good amount of fiber which assists with digestion and prevents constipation. They are rich sources of iron, phosphorous, and potassium which helps treat those suffering from anemia, arthritis, and gout. The malic acid present in apples help to neutralize uric acid which relieves arthritis and gout. The acid content in apples also promotes the flow of saliva and acts as an antiseptic to germs in the mouth; this helps keep our traps fresh and clean.

For all you fruit and veggie skin haters out there, it is ill-advised to remove the skin from apples. Anthocyanins, pectin, quercetin, and other beneficial enzymes are found throughout the apple, and they are highly concentrated in the skin. These nutrients help regulate blood sugar by slowing sugar digestion to keep a steady level in the bloodstream. Total and LDL cholesterol are decreased from regular consumption of apples because of the pectin and polyphenols contained in apples. That being said, a whole apple is always a better choice than just apple juice or sauce.

To help soothe your stomach and please your taste buds, lightly mash whole apple slices and sprinkle with a little honey and cinnamon to eat before a meal. This will help stimulate slow digestive juices and facilitate the absorption of food.

Apples are great as a dessert for the sweet tooth, or as a savory addition to the main meal. With the unusually high level of nutrients found in the skin, it is recommended to leave the skin intact even if a recipe is calling for its removal.

Quick serving suggestions:

• Slice and dice an apple and place the cubes in the freezer. Use to mix with yogurt or any type of milk along with granola or raw oats and some toasted nuts. Add a little honey and cinnamon for a great treat or breakfast.
• Toss fresh diced or sliced apples with walnuts, goat or blue cheese, and arugula for a refreshing salad.
• Core a medium apple, sprinkle with cinnamon, and stevia (sugar if you must). Place in a shallow, microwave safe dish and pour a little orange juice on top. Microwave for 2.5 minutes, flip over and microwave for another 30 seconds for a quick “baked” apple treat.
• Combine sliced apples with low-fat cheddar and peanut butter. Sounds weird, but this is awesome.
• Saute diced apple and serve on top of pancakes or waffles with some toasted almonds, cinnamon, and honey.  Alternatively, you could mix the diced apple in the batter.

For more detailed sweet and savory apple recipes, Eatingwell.com has plenty to offer.

Leave a comment and let me know how you get your apple a day…..or every other day or every week or if you get it at all!

A few apple fun facts:

- Red Delicious is the most popular and most-produced apple in the United States. Golden Delicious is the second most popular.

- The more apples a person eats, the lower his or her risk of developing lung cancer.

- The average person eats 65 apples per year.

- One medium apple contains about 80 calories.

- The apple is the official state fruit of Washington, New York, Rhode Island, and West Virginia.

- There are more than 7500 varieties of apples grown in the world. About 2500 varieties are grown in the United States.

Food News and Views

Just a few articles I found and wanted to share on today’s post. Enjoy the reading and use the info as you see fit!

How Much Sugar Do Americans Consume Daily? (Hint: Way Too Much)

In a country where candy displays are perched next to cash registers at every retail outlet imaginable and drinking soda is a birthright, it can hardly be surprising that Americans consume a large amount of sugar. But 22 teaspoons a day? That's hard to swallow.
Yet the statistic is true. U.S. adults consume 22.2 teaspoons of sugar daily -- or 355 calories, reports UPI. That wildly exceeds the daily recommended amount, says Phil Lempert, a food industry analyst. He says average-sized women should be consuming no more than 6.25 teaspoons; men 9.4.
Not only is the sugar bad for your waistline, but diets high in the sweet stuff have been shown to contribute to high blood pressure, increased triglycerides and cardiovascular disease, the American Heart Association says.
As is usually the case with dietary matters, a little moderation goes a long way.

Sugar is a hot topic on many news articles. It is the center of attention in the Corn Refiner’s Industry trying to change high fructose corn syrup to “corn sugar” thinking the new name won’t have a negative connotation. No matter the debate, it’s a non-nutritive, calorie dense ingredient in most packaged foods. An easy way to shed a few pounds is to cut out sodas and fruit drinks from the diet. Most people could do that alone and notice the improved composition and benefits in a week. Please, any sugar-filled drink users out there, switch to water for a month and see how much will change……for the good.

Dukan Diet Book, A Celeb Smash, Hits U.S. Stores

The Dukan Diet reportedly has Kate Middleton and J. Lo slenderizing. But is this high-protein, low-carb, four-phase diet really anything new? Calling Atkins and South Beach!

Now you can find out what all the hype is about. The English version of the decade-old French weight-loss bible The Dukan Diet: 2 Steps to Lose the Weight, 2 Steps to Keep It Off Forever, by French physician Pierre Dukan, MD, hits stores today, April 19.

Our friends over at Everyday Health asked nutritionist Kelly MacDonald, RD, to review the Dukan Diet, and lay out the pros and cons. Among them: "Though you may see rapid initial weight loss, it will mostly be from water and, later, from muscle mass. You'll also likely experience fatigue, moodiness, and other symptoms because the diet is so severely lacking in carbohydrates."

Full article is here - http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-and-nutrition/the-dukan-diet.aspx

I despise fad diets, plain and simple. Most fad diets seem to have something to sell or someone will benefit with the more people trying them out. I’ve said it before and I will keep saying it, stick with foods directly from the earth and lean animal proteins and you’re good. Steer clear of any marketing, remember, businesses are just that….businesses, in order to survive, they must profit. Please stop trying to find the “trick” to weight loss and health. It’s no trick; just eat whole foods, cooked in your home most of the time. This will work for the majority of humans on Earth, please give it a try. The cost of wholesome food is offset by less medication or doctor’s visits in the long term.

Government Wants Companies to Limit Marketing to Kids

Is the federal government about to put Tony the Tiger out of a job?

In the face of a national epidemic of childhood obesity, a collection of federal agencies has been working for two years now to come up with a set of voluntary guidelines that would restrict what foods can be marketed to kids. Food companies and marketing groups rejected a set of proposed guidelines last year, and the government has repeatedly postponed releasing new ones.

But as the Associated Press reports, the feds may finally pull the trigger as soon as today. Apparently, the AP reporter got a sneak peek at the new guidelines and writes that "companies would be urged to only market foods to children ages 2 through 17 if they are low in fats, sugars and sodium and contain specified healthy ingredients."

The story goes on to say that the new guidelines are stricter than the standards companies have set for themselves in terms of targeting kids. (Not a surprise since a company like Kellogg's, for example, still doesn't see anything wrong with hawking Frosted Flakes to tots, as an article in the New York Times pointed out last year.)

The guidelines will reportedly cover not only traditional forms of advertising (e.g., commercials during Saturday morning cartoons), but the burgeoning market of online advertising as well.

There's probably more to say here, but darn it, in the middle of writing this we popped over to the Lucky Charms website (which gets, like, a quarter million hits a month), and we got so distracted trying to navigate Lucky the Leprechaun through the Chocolate Mines that we ran out of time.

Luckily, there's a tiny banner at the bottom to remind us: "Hey kids, this is advertising!"

Another attack on the marketers, I know. Well, I say adults are still the most to blame as it’s our responsibility to question what goes into our body. To this, it’s the adult’s responsibility for what goes in their kid’s body as well. I understand parents just want to make their kids happy, and buying them whatever they saw on the latest commercial will do just that…..for the day at least. So, advertising to kids is an effective approach for a business, but makes it hard (not impossible) to keep the kid’s diet clean. Parents must strive to teach their kids early and by following a healthy lifestyle themselves. So they throw a fit, it can’t last forever, just know of you succumb to the fit, they’ll be another one right around the corner.


Please consider my thoughts on these articles and do what you will with all similar info. An enjoyable life is a healthy life. Health can be obtained through wholesome foods and a better attitude towards life.