This Post is Bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S!!!

I love bananas!  Especially with a spoonful of peanut butter or Nutella, sliced over Cheerios, or in Banana Nut Bread (great recipe coming up soon).  Bananas are conveniently available all year-round and have many natural benefits to the human body.  Since I was young I've been told that bananas are good for you and that they're great when playing sports to keep you from cramping.  But what about bananas makes them healthy and preferable over other fruits?  What makes them America's #1 fruit?

I happen to like bananas when they're still mostly green and probably not even considered ripe yet.  Thankfully, A likes them when they're ripe and freckled, so a bunch of bananas is typically evenly distributed.  But what if I lived alone?  I'd never be able to buy more than 2 or 3 bananas at a time for fear they'd ripen too quickly before I could eat them!  I wanted to know how to keep them green longer, so onto the world wide web I surfed.  I did find out ways to keep my bananas green, but along the way I learned a surprising amount about the benefits of bananas.  

• Bananas have no fat, cholesterol or sodium.
• Bananas have 3 natural sugars: sucrose, fructose, and glucose.
• The average American consumes over 28 pounds of bananas each year!
• Over 96% of American households purchase bananas at least 1x per month.
• Eating 2 bananas will provide you with enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout.
• Compared to an apple, bananas have 4x the protein, 2x the carbohydrates, 3x the phosphorus, 5x the vitamin A & iron, and is incredibly rich in potassium.
• Bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and can help in cases of anemia.  
• Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a bananana instead of a Tums.
• Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.
• Adding bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel movements, helping to overcome constipation without laxatives. 
• If you suffer from PMS, eat a banana.  The vitamin B6 in bananas regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.
• Along those same lines, bananas can help Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) sufferers because they contain tryptophan, a natural mood enhancer.  Tryptophan is a type of protein that your body converts into serotonin, which is known to make you relax, improve your mood, and generally make you feel happier.
• Bananas can help people trying to quit smoking.  The vitamins B6 & B12, potassium, and magnesium found in bananas help the body to recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.  
• When you get an annoying mosquito bite, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana peel; many people feel it helps reduce swelling and irritation from insect bites.
• Bananas are so potassium-packed that they've been found to assist learning by making pupils more alert.  
• And one of the most interesting banana facts... One of the quickest ways to cure a hangover is to make a banana milkshake sweetened with honey.  The banana calms the stomach, the honey builds up depleted blood sugar levels, and the milk soothes and rehydrates the system.

Now, back to the ripening question.  As a general rule, bananas give off a higher concentration of ethylene gas than most fruits.  Ethylene gas is responsible for the ripening of all fruits.  My friend, JB, is convinced that spreading out a bunch of bananas into individually-placed bananas across his kitchen countertop keeps them from ripening too fast.  I thought it looked utterly ridiculous, but does it work?  I'd never even heard of the theory, so of course the inner nerd in me decided some research was in order.  

I found several articles about how to ripen bananas faster and also how to keep them from ripening too quickly; and here's what I found:

If You Like Your Bananas Green:

1.  Choose bananas based on when you want to use them.  All bananas are picked when they're green, so greener bananas at a grocery store will last longer than buying an already yellow banana.

2.  Choose the best bananas of the bunch.  Apparently, there's an art (who knew?) to picking bananas; bananas should be firm to the touch, free of bruises or cuts, smell clean, look fresh, and have both the stem and the tips attached.  And FYI - the curve and size of the banana has no bearing on its sweetness.

3.  Bananas ripen faster in warm weather so pay attention to storage temperature.  If the room temperature is in the high 70s, bananas will ripen very fast.  If you want to keep them greener longer, keep the temperature low--like in the basement or another cool location that isn't refrigerated.  Although the fridge seems like a good solution, it's actually too cold for green bananas and placing them in there will stop the ripening of the fruit altogether, forever!

4.  All fruits give off different amounts of ethylene gas that aids the ripening process.  If you want to keep your bananas greener, keep them away from other fruits and vegetables, especially apples that have nearly as high a concentration of ethylene gas released.  

5.  If a banana does ripen quicker than you can eat it, you can put it in the refrigerator.  If the green banana is now yellow on both ends, it's ripe and you can safely place it in the fridge for a few days.  The yellow peel will brown significantly in the fridge, but supposedly doesn't affect the taste of the banana (I personally beg to differ).

I like my bananas in the 2-4 range, maybe a 5.  A likes them more in the 5-7 range--the more ripe, the better.

If You Prefer A Sweeter, Riper Banana: 

1.  When picking out bananas at a grocery store, steer clear of the green, firmer bananas if you want a ripe one.  Ripe bananas have a creamy, yellow peel and are slightly softer to the touch.    

2.  Since bananas give off a fairly high amount ethylene gas, the "ripening gas," it would make sense that keeping bananas closer together will help them to ripen faster (if that's what you want) or separating them will help to keep them from ripening too quickly.  Placing bananas near other fruits will also help them to ripen faster.  

3.  Some people prefer ripe, yellow, sweet bananas.  If you need a green banana to ripen faster, you can put it in a tightly sealed container that will seal the ethylene gas in and increase the speed at which it ripens.  A brown paper bag does the same job.

So it appears that JB's crazy theory might just actually be true.  I'm going to grab 2 bunches of bananas on Sunday and do a little experiment.  1 bunch I'll separate out individually and spread around the kitchen, assuming that they won't ripen as fast.  The 2nd bunch I'll leave in tact and put in our fruit bowl, assuming that it will ripen sooner than the separated bunch.  I'll let you know what the verdict is.

In the mean time, if you have any experience with this theory or any suggestions on how to keep my bananas from going yellow too quickly, share the wealth and comment below!  

Why do kids make everything funnier and look cuter??

For more information on bananas, check out Good Reasons to Eat a Banana, Wikipedia's article on Bananas, The Fruit Pages for nutritional information, or All Recipes.com for delicious recipes with bananas.