The unique mix of vitamins, minerals, and low glycemic carbohydrates in these fruits has made them a favorite fruit specially among endurance athletes. Their easy portability, low expense, and great taste also help support their popularity.
Bananas are thought to have originated in Malaysia around 4,000 years ago. From there, they spread throughout the Philippines and India, where in 327 B.C. Alexander the Great’s army recorded them being grown. Bananas were introduced to Africa by Arabian traders and discovered there in 1482 A.D. by Portuguese explorers who took them to the Americas, the place where the majority of bananas are now produced.
Here we present twenty curious facts about bananas:
1. Bananas are the best-selling items at Walmart! Cheap, healthy and tasty – the right choice!
2. Bananas contain a natural chemical that can make a person happy – The same chemical found in Prozac. Just have a break and eat a couple of them daily.
3. Eating 50 bananas will give you the same dose of radiation as 1 dental xray because they themselves contain radioactive isotopes.
4. Just two bananas provide enough energy for an intense 90 minutes workout. Do you remember how apes are strong? This is probably why.
5. Bananas can help prevent and cure hangovers. Just like any other fruit with high content of potassium.
6. Yellow bananas are actually a mutant strain that was discovered in 1836. The original bananas were not sweet at all and instead of being yellow were red and green.
7. Humans share 50% of their DNA with bananas. Well, bananas could be a great symbolic birthday gift!
8. It would take at least 480 bananas to die of potassium overdose. One medium-sized banana contains a whopping 400-plus mg of potassium — an essential mineral for maintaining normal blood pressure and heart function.
9. Eating bananas is a natural cure to reduce the effects of stress and anxiety. That’s why so many people of the world love bananas and say it’s their favorite fruit.
10. A study says that women who eat bananas at time of conception are most likely to have a boy.
11. Bananas have no fat, cholesterol or sodium. Instead it is a good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Potassium and Manganese, and a perfect source of Vitamin B6. (Vitamin B6 25%; Manganese 16%; Vitamin C 14%; Potassium 12%; Fiber 12%; Copper 10%; Biotin 10%)
12. Bananas are known to lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes, as well as decrease your risk of getting cancer, according to the FDA.
13. Bananas are composed of 75% water. Still they seem to be dry and rather firm.
14. Bananas have long been valued by athletes for prevention of muscle cramps.
15. Slipping on bananas was an actual health hazard in the early 1900s. This fact even influenced the American legislation and gave birth to new laws (“sliding act”).
16. The fruits grow off the main stems in large clusters that can weigh over 100 pounds, with up to 400 individual bananas per cluster!
17. Today bananas are grown in over 100 countries and there are more than 300 species of the fruit.
18. The Banana Club Museum, located on Highway 111 in Mecca, Calif. (just south of Palm Springs), houses the world’s largest collection devoted to any one fruit. There you may see over 17 thousand different banana items.
19. Bananas are picked being green and hard. They are stored in special chambers using ethylene to ripen on.
20. Bananas “trees” are actually the world’s tallest herbaceous plant. Their height may reach 20 ft. And they have no wooden stem.
