If you were shopping in a grocery store in the 1940s, you wouldn’t recognize the bananas in the produce section. The Gros Michel species was shorter and stubbier than today’s version, without that signature curve. That banana was wiped out by the TR-1 (Tropical Race-1) fungus. The Cavendish bananas we eat today are resistant to TR-1, and they’re clones of a banana species that was grown in the Duke of Devonshire’s hothouse in China.
Now a new fungus, TR-4, resistant to all fungicides, is threatening Cavendish bananas, and the race is on for a resistant replacement.
We don’t just hope bananas stick around for their great texture and flavor; they’re also a great source of potassium, and mounting evidence shows how important potassium is for heart health. (But don’t go nuts; each one averages 105 calories.)
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Health
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Potassium in bananas provides heart-healthy boost
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A new lab study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation found that potassium-rich foods could help protect against atherosclerosis, which reduces your risk for a heart attack. The study showed that animals with lower dietary potassium were more likely to experience artery calcification, hardening of their arteries. In addition, previous research found that increased potassium levels and lower sodium levels reduce the risk of heart disease. Plus, a deficiency can trigger an irregular heartbeat and boost your blood pressure.
So make sure you’re getting enough potassium in your diet: Adolescents and adults should aim for 4,700 mg daily. Not a fan of the banana and its 425 mg potassium)? Try salmon (3 ounces gets you 300 mg), beans (1/2 cup equals 300-475 mg) and/or a baked potato (925 mg).
Spirulina supplement boosts immune activity
Today, Mexico City sits in a dry basin, but back in the 16th century, the area was filled with the waters of Lake Texcoco. That was home to the Aztecs, who built a city on an island in the lake and used its waters as a food source. They would scrape a slimy blue-green substance they called “tcuitlatl” off the water’s surface using fine nets. They’d then dry it into square cakes that, according to a Franciscan missionary in the early 1500s, they ate a great deal of.
The Aztecs may not have known why this staple was good for them, but it sure was. These days, it seems their pond scum is the same substance we call spirulina, a photosynthesizing bacterium (nope, not algae) that’s packed with all the essential protein-building amino acids, vitamins like niacin and the B’s, minerals like calcium, iron and potassium, and inflammation-dousing antioxidants.
One animal study found that a spirulina supplement boosted immune activity, helping fight off fungal and bacterial infections. Another study published in 2017 found that 60 obese folks who took a 1-gram spirulina supplement daily for 12 weeks lost more weight and had lower cholesterol levels than a control group. Is it better than a daily multivitamin (1/2 morning and 1/2 night)? We don’t know, but both act as insurance against an inadequate diet.
So, if you’re looking for a boost from a food that’s like you’d get from a multivitamin, try mixing powdered spirulina into your smoothie or sprinkle it onto baked fish.
Students benefit from water with lunch
The 2009 documentary “Tapped” looks at megacompanies that repackage municipal water and sell it to you in gussied-up plastic bottles for a huge profit, when you could filter your tap water and get a just as healthy (or healthier) beverage for almost nothing!
Clearly, Americans still haven’t figured this out: Each one of you drank about 39 gallons of bottled water last year, using and throwing out 50 billion plastic water bottles in the process!
That’s why we praised the New York City school system for its “water with lunch” campaign that brought large water dispensers (not bottled water) into some public schools: We knew that it would mean kids would consume fewer calorie-laden beverages, drink more water (so important for a healthy metabolism) and eliminate plastic bottles. Win, win, win.
Well, the data on the test run is in. Researchers from the University of Illinois have done a cost-benefit analysis of that campaign and found:
Expanding the program to public and private schools nationwide can prevent more than 500,000 youngsters from becoming overweight or obese and trim down medical costs associated with kids’ weight-related problems.
Making water with lunch available to every K-12 student today would cost only about $18 per pupil! And the net benefit to society? $13 billion over those students’ lifetime.
So talk to your local school board and PTA about installing fresh-water dispensers in all cafeterias; and stop serving sugar-added beverages of any kind at home! Concerned about water quality? Use an easy-to-install, on-tap water filter.
Q: I’m thinking about getting a vasectomy. We have two kids, and that’s perfect for us. This seems like the best method of birth control. Are there any downsides?
Glen H., Cincinnati
A: Any operation increases your risk of infection, but a vasectomy is a relatively safe and simple procedure: The vas deferens (sperm canal) is detached from each testicle. You’ll need an ice pack to control swelling and will experience slight discomfort, but you should be up and running in seven to 10 days.
The process is 99.9 percent effective as birth control and as a bonus, there’s some new, good news about an unexpected benefit for men who’ve undergone the procedure: The conventional thinking has always been that the only change after a vasectomy is the loss of sperm in the ejaculate (it makes up only about 5 percent of the fluid). A man’s sex drive, erections and orgasms were thought to be unaffected. But apparently that’s not so. When a guy wants to and does eliminate the possibility of pregnancy, his enjoyment of sex increases.
According to a study from Germany’s Frankfurt University of 279 heterosexual men who had vasectomies, guys develop a stronger sex drive, have sex more frequently and experience better orgasms post-vasectomy – and a woman’s satisfaction isn’t reduced. Proving, once again, the strongest sex organ is between your ears!
But beware! It can take up to three months to clear the sperm out of your ejaculate, so stick with your current birth control method during those three months. And if, down the road, you have a change of heart or circumstances and want to hook the boys back up again, you can have a vasectomy reversal. After a reversal, pregnancy rates range from 30 to 70 percent; however. patency rates – the return of sperm in the ejaculate – can reach 95 percent.
Article source: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/health/article/Potassium-in-bananas-provide-heart-healthy-boost-12461731.php