Wellness Joy

Banana: A Sacred Ayurveda Fruit

“Bananas are one of the most widely consumed fruits in the world for good reasons. Most parts of the Banana Plant is edible. The edible parts of the plant are a rich source of fibre, minerals – potassium, Magnesium and vitamins – A, B6, C and D. Eating them could help lower blood pressure, reduce the risks of strokes and maintains a good healthy bowel movement.”

Many Uses of Banana
The ripe fruit is a low cost and highly nutritious foodstuff sometimes eaten raw or made into sweets and desserts. It also used for milkshakes. Banana fruit powder is used as Baby food. Raw banana is cooked in curries, baked or fried to make tasty fritters. The florets of the flower of this plant are cooked or eaten raw.

Health Benefits of Banana

The health benefits of bananas are widely acclaimed. Banana is one of the healing food in Ayurveda.

• Banana’s high potassium has electrolytes, which regulate heart functions, blood pressure and maintains fluid balance.
• Potassium also protects the body against strokes and heart diseases.
• Banana’s soluble fiber, pectin, assists with healthy bowel movements, reduces peptic ulcers, and helps lower cholesterol.
• Tryptophan, a naturally occurring chemical in bananas, alleviates depression and induces relaxation
• Banana’s high amount of B6 fights PMS by boosting the mood, and reduces seasonal affective disorder (SAD) symptoms by calming the nervous system
• Banana’s organic iron helps stave off anemia due to its ability to bolsters hemoglobin production.
• The fruit’s ideal combination of low sodium and high potassium regulates blood pressure.
• When eaten regularly, students showed improved academic performance over groups who ate no fruits.
• Bananas are a natural antacid, due to its ability to reduce neutralize acidity and reduce irritation of the stomach lining.
• Sufferers of morning sickness may find relief by eating a banana, on account of its blood pressure stabilizing qualities.
• Banana’s nutrients of B6, potassium, and magnesium help a smoker recover faster from nicotine withdrawals.

1. The juice of Banana flower has been found effective in controlling heavy bleeding during menstruation
2. Patients suffering from Dyspnoea can get some relief by taking unripe bananas roasted on charcoal
3. Ripe fruits are used as a laxative. It helps improve concentration. It relaxes the mind and has been found useful to combat depression
4. Juice of the stem is known to remove kidney stones.
5. The corm of this plant decreases acidity.

Food combining cautions with banana as indicated in Charak Samhita:

• Do not combine bananas and milk
• Do not combine banana and yoghurt
• Do not take liquids within an hour of eating banana.
• Eat Bananas as a Wholesome Meal

How to incorporate Bananas into a pitta-soothing diet.

Banana for pitta: mash the banana with raw sugar and cardamom to neutralize its pitta aggravating properties. Wonderful with rose petal jam!

1. Banana to Build Muscle: Chop together two bananas, five figs (preferably fresh) and five dates and two teaspoons of honey. To aid digestion, add a pinch of cardamom and two pinches of ginger powder. Great for building muscle!
2. Diarrhea: Eat two unripe bananas.
3. Constipation: eat a ripe banana in the evening before bed.
4. Dry skin, wrinkles: Nourish skin with a mashed banana face pack mixed with a little milk.
5. Warts: Tape banana peel over the wart each night for a week. Choose peel from a ripe banana—the riper the banana, the higher the antioxidant level.
6. Dry cough: Eat a banana with a teaspoon of honey and two pinches of black pepper twice daily.
7. Asthma: Insert seven cloves into a peeled ripe banana, keep it overnight and eat in the morning. Follow an hour later with one cup of honey water.
8. Burning urination: Eat one or two bananas with a pinch of cumin as a between-meal snack.

Checking for Ripeness:
With the exception of plantains and a few select varieties, bananas should be yellow; not green. They are also sweetly aromatic when ripe. Though many shun eating bananas with brown/black spots, these mottled fruits are actually at peak sweetness and perfectly edible.Unripe bananas are hard and light, whereas ripe bananas feel soft and heavy for their size. Additionally, the stem near the top of the banana should peel with ease. If the stem is impossible to bend, it’s likely unripe.

Ripe bananas have a soft, chewy,
and almost-mushy texture. Some banana variants have a tougher texture near the core, but all should be pliable and sweet. Unripe bananas are bitter and tough, and the pulp will coat the tongue with a chalky, unpleasant taste if eaten.