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Health guide
Compiled by Shanika Sriyananda

'A banana a day keeps the doctor away'

It is one of the oldest and best known fruits of the world. In 600 BC the banana is mentioned for the first time. In Buddhist history texts, in 327 BC Alexander the Great discovered the taste of the banana in the valleys of India. In 320 BC the first banana plantation was found in China.

This hygienic fruit which is wrapped in a germ proof skin has miraculous health benefits, says Dr. Rani Goonewardene.

What are the different varieties of bananas?

There are more than 30 varieties known all over the world. Most common are the, dwarf bananas "ambul", the blunt ended bananas "Kolikuttu", red bananas, green "anamalu", rath kehel, seeni kehel, and the ash plantains, a vegetable used for cooking.

What are its food values? (Values per 100 gms edible portion.)

Bananas contain water 74%, Carbohydrates 23%, proteins 1% (high grade with 3 essential amino acids), fats 0.5%, 2.6% fibre, Vitamins B. A. C. (anti oxidant), minerals, iron 0.6mg, phosphorus 50mg, calcium 85 mg, K - (Potassium), Mg - (Magnesium), Zn - Zinc, (Values vary with different bananas) and energy.

One large banana provides 100 calories.Studies show that two bananas provide energy for a 90 minute strenuous work out. It also contains:

Sugars:

Ripe banana is a good source of absorbable sugar and provides quick energy. During the process of ripening the starches in the banana are converted to sugars. These are fructose, sucrose and glucose. A ripe banana has only 1% starch. In an unripe banana the carbohydrates are mostly starches about 20 to 25 percent.

What are its health values?

It is a good source of quick energy, and helps to overcome fatigue.

Heart & Blood pressure

Banana is a rich source of Potassium, and it is low in sodium, hence it is highly recommended for patients suffering from high blood pressure.It reduces the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine eating bananas as part of a regular diet can reduce the risk of death due to stroke by 40%.

What is the part played by potassium in maintaining a good health?

Potassium is an essential mineral . It helps to regulate blood pressure, water balance, levels of acidity and neuro muscular function.

How can Potassium help in the functioning of the heart?

It helps in the transmission of electrical impulses of the heart muscle. It normalizes the heart beat and sends oxygen to the brain.

It is documented that people with low blood potassium levels undergoing heart surgery are more prone to heart arrhythmias (Irregular heart rates) and increased need for cardio pulmonary resuscitations.

It is claimed that the fibre and mucilaginous substances, contained in bananas have a beneficial effect in the treatment of intestinal disorders, including diarrhoea.

Bananas are unusual, in that they work for constipation too. They contain mucilaginous bulking substances, pectin which is water absorbable, and gives a bulk producing ability in relieving constipation.

Ripe bananas are highly beneficial in the treatment of ulcerative colitis. It is a bland smooth and easily digestible fruit, with slightly laxative properties, and it will relieve the symptoms and promote the healing process in Ulcerative colitis.

Bananas have a natural antacid effect , in the body. By reducing the acidity it reduces irritation, by coating the lining of the stomach. Eating a banana will result in soothing relief from heart burn and ulcers.

Research (in Middlesex) has shown that bananas boost brain power. Students are more alert, which assist them in thinking and understanding, after eating the potassium packed bananas at breakfast and lunchbreak.

Studies undertaken by Mind show that many people suffering from depression, felt better after eating a banana.

Bananas contain a protein called tryptophan. The body converts the tryptophan to serotonin which helps you to improve your mood, relax and make you feel happier. When we are stressed our metabolic rate rises and this reduces your potassium levels. Eating a banana snack can rebalance the potassium levels.

Vitamin B6 in banana regulates the blood glucose levels, which can help you to overcome mood changes during menstruation (PMS).

Studies show that banana flower helps increase progesterone (hormone) levels which reduces excess bleeding during menstruation.

Bananas can be profitable to strengthen the hair, helping to prevent baldness.

It also helps to prevent Seasonal Affective Disorder(SAD). Bananas can help SAD sufferers as they contain Tryptophan which is a natural mood-enhancer.

Another major benefit of eating banana is that it helps to overcome anaemia. Bananas are rich in iron and by stimulating the production of haemoglobin in the blood it cuts down the risk of anaemia.

Morning sickness can be avoided by snacking on bananas in between meals. It helps to maintain adequate blood sugar levels and prevent morning sickness.

What are the other benefits of eating Bananas?

It is believed, that banana milk shake, sweetened with honey may be the quickest way of curing a hang over. Milk will help to rehydrate the body.

Banana and sugar will help to calm the stomach and build up the low sugar levels.

Reports show, that to avoid panic induced food cravings for those subjected to pressure at work can control the blood sugar, and keep the blood sugar levels steady by eating high carbohydrate snacks every 2 hours.

Studies show that bananas can help you to quit smoking. Vit B6, B12, potassium and magnesium help the body to recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal. Rubbing the affected area with the inside of the skin of a banana will help to reduce the swelling and irritation.

Bananas should never be kept in the refrigerator as low temperature, prevents the process of ripening. Bananas should not be taken by those suffering from kidney disease as it contains high potassium content.

Ecstasy may damage the brain's physical defences

The drug 'Ecstasy' impairs brain's defences, leaving it vulnerable to invasion by viruses and other pathogens, a new study of on rats, revealed.

The researchers warn of "clinical considerations which may apply to the treatment of people who abuse MDMA". For example, anaesthetics could find it easier to penetrate the brain, "greatly increasing the risk of unwanted sedation".

And they say infections could cause permanent damage to brain cells or alter the ability of the brain to function normally.

The brain is protected by a fence of tightly packed cells, called the blood-brain barrier.

This prevents all but the smallest molecules from passing through. But the new experiments show that MDMA - the chemical name for 'Ecstasy', or "E" - somehow forces open that barrier, allowing larger molecules access to the brain.

Bryan Yamamoto at Boston University, US, and colleagues gave rats four doses of MDMA over 8 hours. "We were trying to approximate a human dosaging pattern," says Yamamoto. The scientists also injected a blue dye, made of molecules too large to get into the rats' brains under normal circumstances.

One day later, the researchers found the dye had made its way into parts of the brain, such as the caudate and the hippocampus. Ten weeks later, despite no further doses of MDMA being given, new injections of dye were still passing through the blood brain barrier.

Ten weeks in rats could be considered the equivalent of five to seven years in humans. "It does seem to be a very protracted opening," says Yamamoto. But, as yet, he is unable to say for sure whether the breach is permanent.

Other new research on MDMA has investigated "binges" of ecstasy-taking in rats. Scientists found that rats exposed to many single doses of ecstasy as adolescents are protected from much of the harm caused by e-binges as adults.

Jerrold Meyer at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, US, and colleagues gave pre-pubescent rats two doses of Ecstasy over 4 hours, then repeated that every five days, until young adulthood - a total of 12 doses.

After a period to allow the rats to clear the drug from their bodies, they received up to four times the previous dose spread only over a few hours. The researchers monitored such things as body temperature, body weight and behaviour.

A week later, their brains were studied for signs of neurotoxicity.

Typically after a big ecstasy binge, animals suffer hyperthermia, fatigue and lethargy and sustain damage to serotonin axons - the long fibres extending from serotonin-containing neurons. All these features were observed in control rats.

But the rats that had been pre-exposed to the drug were spared these symptoms, including damage to their serotonin system. "Exposure does have this powerful effect to protect animals," says Meyer. Whether any prior exposure, or only exposure during adolescence, can protect humans this way is not yet clear.

"My hunch is that it might be specific to the adolescent period," Mayer says. But the mechanism remains a mystery. Among the possibilities is that the pre-exposed animals may be metabolising the drug more quickly, he says, or they may be ratcheting up antioxidant activity in their bodies, or they may be modifying their serotonin receptors.

Not all research on MDMA is into its negative effects. Stephanie Linley at Florida Atlantic University in Port St Lucie points out that the drug is now being investigated for clinical use in diseases as wide-ranging as schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder and terminal cancer.

- NewScientist

Kicking habits - thumb sucking

Habits that parents don't like aren't necessarily bad ones-more often they're just very annoying. Some are established as responses to frustration or anxiety, others as tension relievers to provide security in a confusing world.

Some parents find that ignoring a habit helps, if no one is being hurt, but others try to get to the bottom of things. Remember, that you can't break a child's habit-you can only help the child break it.

Many parents say, "Don't try to stop it; thumb sucking fulfils a need for comfort and security, and is not necessarily a manifestation of unusual tension or frustration." I'm partial to the mother who said, "Ignore it. Sucking is a basic need.

Orthodontia is less expensive than psychiatry." Some dentists feel that if it's continued for a long time (after the age of four), thumb or finger sucking can change the shape of a child's mouth and put permanent teeth out of alignment-a good reason for regular dental checkups. Yet one neighbour told me "My child sucked his thumb but my neighbour's four did not. Who needed braces? All of them!" If you want to see it stopped, there are things to try. Try giving a baby a pacifier as a substitute. Some dentists say a pacifier will not ruin tooth alignment.

Try some physical means of stopping the thumb sucking, such as a bad-tasting solution that you buy at the drugstore. (Some parents caution that if a child rubs his or her eyes, the stuff will sting.) Sew mitts to pajama sleeves, or buy or make finger puppets for the child to wear for sleeping.

Put a kiss in each of your child's hands at bedtime, and tell him or her to hold them closed all night to keep the kisses in.

Restrict thumb sucking older children to their own rooms.

The desire can then be indulged, and you won't have to see it. Changes are that keeping you company in the rest of the house will become more important than the habit.

Ask your dentist to warn the child about possible future dental problems. The voice of a neutral party often carries more weight than that of a parent.

- Practical Parenting Tips

Low carb diets 'cut heart energy'

Scientists in a new study have found that high fat, low carbohydrate diets can reduce energy to the heart.

The Oxford University team says it is unclear at this stage whether this could have a damaging impact on health - but says that more research is needed.

Many people have lost weight quickly by following such diets - but scientists fear they may not be good for health in the longer term.

"We would certainly not recommend high fat-low carb diets to anyone who wants to lose weight and look after their heart, says Prof. Peter Weissberg. They found that the energy stored in the heart was reduced by an average of 16% among those who followed a high fat, low carbohydrate diet.

In some people the energy reduction was as much as a third. Their hearts also became slightly 'stiffer' - not relaxing quite as well as before the diet.

The changes were reversed within two weeks after returning to a normal diet. Lead researcher Professor Kieran Clarke told BBC News that people with illnesses such as diabetes, obesity and heart disease also had lower than normal heart energy levels. A more severe form of energy depletion is one of the features of heart failure, where patients struggle with physical exertion because they have little 'in the tank'.

The British Heart Foundation, which funded the work, said the results reinforced their view that people should not follow high fat, low carb diets to lose weight.

Prof. Peter Weissberg, BHF medical director, said: "Diet devotees can be reassured that this research in no way suggests that the high fat-low carb regime is going to give them heart failure.

"However, they should be aware that such unbalanced diets are a major insult on their bodies' metabolism and, as this study shows, may be having direct effects on their hearts, particularly since they tend to be high in saturated fat. "We would certainly not recommend high fat-low carb diets to anyone who wants to lose weight and look after their heart.

- BBC News

Path to true happiness

Experts believe they have found the essential ingredients to make a person's life happier. In an unusual three-month experiment, six specialists from a variety of disciplines worked to improve the happiness levels of a typical UK town.

The experts tried and tested 10 simple measures in the quest for happiness.

They found successful strategies included nurturing a plant, smiling at strangers and cutting television viewing by a half. A four-part observational documentary series, Making Slough Happy, beginning on BBC Two on Tuesday, follows the team and their progress.

We will begin to change the psychological climate of Slough Dr Richard Stevens, one of the happiness experts said.

The happiness team includes psychologist Dr Richard Stevens, psychotherapist Brett Kahr, work place specialists Jessica Pryce-Jones and Philippa Chapman, social entrepreneur Andrew Mawson OBE and Richard Reeves, whose expertise spans philosophy, public policy and economics.

During the series, they take 50 volunteers from Slough, with the aim of planting the "seeds of happiness" amongst this core group who will then spread their cheer to others in a ripple effect. Dr. Stevens explained: "The volunteers will take their newfound skills and attitudes out into the community, and in this way we will begin to change the psychological climate of Slough."

Based on best knowledge and research, the team came up with a 10-point plan for happiness.

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