• The term “Going bananas” is actually based on scientific studies that prove the positive effects of bananas on the brain.

• The banana plant is NOT a tree. It is an herb – the largest herb plant in the world.

• The so-called “banana diet”, which has become very popular in Japan, is known to help in weight loss without depleting one’s energy and causing depression.

Related links:

 Morning Banana Diet – Japan’s Simplest Diet

 Banana Man Frank’s Banana Tips

 

• There is  a man from Australia who founded a raw food vegan group called 30 Bananas A Day

 

• In Washington (in the USA, which is the top single country banana importer in the world), there is a privately-owned museum dedicated to banana-related memorabilia. It is called The Washington Banana Museum ( www.bananamuseum.com)…

 

• But In California, the Banana Museum Has Lost its Appeal, writes Mary Pilon in the Wall Street Journal

 

• The best way to keep bananas for a long time is to make sure they are in a cool, dry place (not on top of the fridge) and to “hang” them rather than to lay them on a flat surface or in a bowl. Read more from Fidgety Fingers.  

 

• In Thailand, pregnant women are encouraged to eat bananas as it is believed to be a “cooling fruit” that helps in the emotional temperature of the mother and to make sure that the baby is born with a cool body temperature.

• In Kerala, India, nothing is wasted in the banana plant writes Sarah Khan in Tasting Cultures

 

• In several eastern African countries, banana is not just a staple food that is eaten raw, cooked and mashed, or fried, but it is also fermented and turned into wine or beer.
• Scientific studies show that eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!
•  Bananas for hangover are good!
• The banana peel can be re-used for many different purposes! Find out more from Bert Verdonck. 

 

• Bananas, known most often as a healthy, convenient food, are also popular ornamental plants in the southern United States. Read more from the Science Daily.

 

• Why a banana is a banana in Arizona, writes Clay Thompson in “All is tickety boo with banana names but not with me”

 

• As early as 1905 the United States was importing 33 million bunches of bananas a year. Read more from James and the Giant Corn and check out his other blogs about why he is “…so Excited about the Banana Genome”.

 

• Bananas came to America at the beginning of the 1500s and eventually became a huge success in Central America and parts of South America. In late 1800, Costa Rica was the first “banana republic”, it is a country with a single major export crop controlled by a foreign company. Read more from the Information Hub