Brown Bananas.......Theyve gone off, Havent they?

Before you throw out a banana because it has turned brown and seems past its      eating prime, consider the potential nutritional benefits it provides. A brown banana has a higher level of antioxidants than yellow or green, unripe bananas. It's also easier to digest for people with digestive ailments, including irritable bowel and functional abdominal bloating.

Nutrient Density

A brown, yellow or green banana are all a good source of potassium, vitamin B-6 and fibre. As a banana reaches the brown stage, its concentration of antioxidants increases. Antioxidants are important in helping protect your body against disease-causing inflammation. As bananas turn brown, some of the micro nutrients present do diminish. Store ripe bananas in the refrigerator to reduce this loss.

High Sugar

In brown bananas, the resistant starch has almost completely transformed into simple sugars. When you eat a brown banana, you're blood sugar spikes more quickly than it would when you eat a green one. Type-2 diabetics are thus recommended to avoid brown-spotted or fully brown bananas, which are mostly sugar. Less ripe bananas are healthier for people who are trying to cut back on sugar.

Easier Digestion

Because a brown banana is mostly simple sugar, it's easy to digest. People with irritable bowel and other digestive ailments may find brown bananas are more agreeable to their systems. Watch for brown bananas that are too far past their prime. If it smells, is squishy or shows signs of leaking or mould, it's not fit to eat.

Cancer Impact

A Japanese study published in a 2009 issue of "Food Science and Technology Research" determined that the brown spots on bananas produce a substance called Tumour Necrosis Factor, which breaks down abnormal cells -- including those that cause cancer. Brown bananas can't cure cancer, but consuming them might boost your immune function.

AMAZING BUT TRUE THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH BANANA PEELS (AND BANANAS):

NOW BEHAVE YOURSELVES, YOU LOT

• Thanks to its oil, rubbing the inside of a banana peel on a mosquito bite (or other bug bite) or on poison ivy will help keep it from itching and getting inflamed.
• If you rub the inside of a banana peel on a scrape or burn, it will help the pain go away, keep the swelling down, and keep the wound from getting infected.
• If you rub the inside of a small piece of banana peel on a wart every night (or tape a piece of peel over the wart), the potassium in the peel can make the wart disappear in one to two weeks.
• If you tape a banana peel over a splinter, the enzymes help the splinter work its way out of your skin (and also heal the wound).
• To whiten teeth naturally, rub the inside of a banana peel on your teeth for about two minutes every night. If you gargle with salt water, this will heighten the effect. Expect results in about two weeks. It works because of the effect of the potassium, magnesium, and manganese in the banana peel.
• Bananas make great conditioner that helps restore dry, damaged hair. Mash a banana and add a tablespoon of heavy cream and a tablespoon of honey to the mixture. Then apply it to dry hair, cover your hair with a shower cap, and then wrap your head in a warm towel. Leave it on for up to an hour and then rinse thoroughly with warm water before shampooing.
• Rubbing a banana peel on your forehead can help cure a headache.
• Bananas and banana peels make great fertiliser (you can compost them, bury them whole, or cut them in small pieces and mix them with garden soil) because of their phosphorous and potassium content. Roses especially like them.
• Rubbing the inside of a banana peel on houseplant leaves makes the leaves shiny.
• You can use the inside of a banana peel to clean and polish leather shoes.
• Banana peels also make a good silver polish—just rub silver with the inside of a peel and then buff with a cloth.

Banana peel is not just a timeless comedy prop, it’s an overlooked nutritional goldmine.

That’s right – you can actually eat all your banana, from the flesh inside to the very last piece of skin – which is not only less wasteful, but good for you too.

The thought of chomping down on the tough, yellow skin may be off-putting, but it’s worth it: the skin is full of even more of the good stuff that banana flesh contains, like potassium, magnesium and fibre.

Plus it’s jam-packed with tryptophan, which is key in creating serotonin – the chemical that can help alleviate depression and assist with healthy

The banana skins also contain dietary fibre which can reduce cholesterol levels in the blood.

The skins of most fruits and vegetables contain the richest sources of vitamins and minerals as they are affected by the light during growth, acting to absorb the light and protect the fruit.

Banana skins are rich in colour and contain carotenoids, in particular the xanthophyll lutein, which is an antioxidant known to protect against oxidative stress in the eyes.