That's what the cashier told me today as I picked up my weekly case of bananas from Trader Joe's. I told her I don't get any inflammation from them, and she said it's an internal inflammation, of the intestines. I asked her how she eats her bananas, she said doesn't anymore, but when she did, she'd eat them when they were yellow, she doesn't like them spotty. I told her that might be the problem, she said it makes no difference...
Naturally, she said she's read her books, and I told her I've read mine. We decided to agree to disagree and go our separate ways. I got things to do, ya know... But I'm not finished! I still need to know the truth! Lol. I know Dr. Graham's been eating bananas like a chimpanzee for years now, as well as Harley, and they both look pretty good; however, we all know outside appearance isn't everything. So I just wanna know, has anyone else heard about this? Does anyone know the science behind it? Could it possibly be true? Could we be harming ourselves and not even know it? I mean, we were doing it the whole time we were eating the SAD diet. It could be possible...
And lastly, just to clarify, I'm looking for some scientific facts on the subject. Things like "Dr. Graham looks great for his age," or "Harley's a sexy banana-munchin, trailblazin, beast," although valid points, ain't gonna cut it for me. I already know they look good and healthy. I have eyes too. Thing is, a lot of other athletes who aren't vegan look just as good and seem just as healthy. I'm just sayin. I need scientific facts. :)
Hope we get to the bottom of this.
Peace, Love, and Seasonal Fruit,
Steve
Replies
i would try to remember that these research studies are done on people who are far from raw foodists. I would not blame the banana for the average sad eater to have intestinal infamation after eating one. Think about it. U no their intetines are FAR from healthy. Like freelee says about food allergies, u put a bunch a garbage that shouldn't go in ur body and muck everything up, then they blame the fruit for causing them problems. makes no sense to me. Every study is twisted and distorted to get the answer some one is either trying to get, or just has no clue as to the countless other reasons that would also lead to the same conclusion. Think about how many little tiny factors could effect 1 action in the body. Its just bottom line, fruit=good. If 1 kind does cause you discomfort, by all means avoid it, lucky for us theres lots of differant fruits!
Hi Lori,
I really relate to your list of symptoms - mine are exactly the same. I have been told by a friend that I have Reynaud's syndrome because my fingers have started going completely numb in any kind of cold weather. Is that what you get?
My mum has lupus - and I've thought for a few year that I would be a candidate for full blown auto-immune disease if I kept going along the SAD path.
bananas seem to have no inflammatory effect on me either. But I am still getting quite a bit of mucus, and some back pain when I overdo housework.
don't worry Steve. just keep things simple.
you don't have to prove that bananas don't cause inflamation.
you can legitimately assume that they don't unless someone proves the contrary.
Peace, Love, and Seasonal Fruit,
daniel
Steve,
She is right if her fruit was not ripe, she ate fruit and high fat, or mixed fruit with animal products. (My sarcasm is intended here:D))))
Well, it seems you already know this, but other people may not:
http://www.30bananasaday.com/forum/topics/how-does-ripe-fruit-look-...
Also, mixing fruit with animal products is like drinking alcohol and toxins indirectly. Fruit might digest within 2-4 hours, animal products between 4-12 hours. Guess what? The fruit is going to ferment.
Not to mention other potential problems with blood sugar and candida. Actually, the inflammation she might be concerned about could be candida symptoms.
Peace, PK
Wikipedia definition of "inflammation":
part of the complex biological response of vascular tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants.[1] Inflammation is a protective attempt by the organism to remove the injurious stimuli and to initiate the healing process. Inflammation is not a synonym forinfection, even in cases where inflammation is caused by infection. Although infection is caused by a microorganism, inflammation is one of the responses of the organism to the pathogen. However, inflammation is a stereotyped response, and therefore it is considered as a mechanism of innate immunity, as compared to adaptive immunity, which is specific for each pathogen.[2]
We are all familiar with this.
THEN, Google the Inflammation Factor System, which claims bananas are highly inflammatory, and you find through the link to Nutrition Data:
"
The IF Rating™ System
Monica Reinagel, a noted nutritional researcher, is the creator of the IF (Inflammation Factor) Rating™ system. Before creating her system, she spent years studying systemic inflammation, and compiled data from hundreds of different research studies. Her system considers the inflammatory and anti-inflammatory effects of more than 20 separate nutrients. In Nutrition Data's opinion, this rating system is the most sophisticated approach to date for predicting the inflammatory effects of foods.
Early in 2006, Monica authored the book The Inflammation Free Diet Plan, which provides simple guidelines for using her system to plan your diet, and includes IF Ratings for 1,500 common foods. Nutrition Data recommends this book to anyone considering using the advice of the IF Rating™ system. You can also learn more by visiting InflammationFactor.com.
NOW. Can anyone see, just by these few bits of information, how easy it would be for this science to be flawed? How do we know, first of all, that a person who is eating a standard diet isn't already prone to inflammatory responses to foods, and that those of us who are LFRV are not susceptible in the same way?
The IF System is based on the inflammatory response the body has to 20 KEY NUTRIENTS. Then, this is mistakenly applied to foods that contain these nutrients. It assumes that foods with higher concentrations of these nutrients much be inflammatory. There are so many problems with this! A food is made of many parts, and it is more than the sum of its parts.
Yikes. Another crappy system of Western Nutrition designed to confuse people for profit.
Why would a species specific food be harmful to us in any way? Doesn't make sense does it?
All food matter is essentially "harmful" to our bodies. Fruit and tender leafy vegetable matter are only the least "harmful" because they digest faster in our system than other types of matter. If this easy to digest matter is to be blocked by matter that is not easy to digest, additional internal problems of course ensue.
The concept of life isn't so black and white. This concept also isn't a specific entity that has the ability to directly pick and choose what species eats what. We eat what we eat because that is what was most available to us as our bodies embarked on millions of years of evolution.
Some food matter that would be deemed acceptable to our digestive system and visually appear to be delicious, can be, in fact, poisonous.
So, it doesn't make sense to ask why a species specific diet is mysteriously harmful to us, as all food is harmful to us, to an extent. The toxic byproduct that our cells release when they process glycogen is one of the major causes of aging. The excess load of toxins, due to compromised immune systems and poor dilution (water intake); due to lack of cell energy relating to added stress to a compromised digestive system: all will eventually result in disease, which of course, shortens our life spans even further.
Even knowing that all food, even the innocent fruit and leafy green, are harmful to us to an extent; doesn't mean we should fear it.
All other matter like wheat, animal products, feces, insects, tree bark, etc; are thousands of times more harmful than the food matter that we've evolved to process as a fuel in order to allow us to survive long enough to procreate.
There is no other option.
The core of our life is to find what food naturally appeals to us and is easiest to obtain with the least amount of effort; procreate; die and feed the worms and trees. Rinse and repeat.
All other concepts are just a manifestation of the ego.
+1. nanners are so soothing.
I have a very sensitive system. I've always thought that I probably have an undiagnosed autoimmune disorder. I have Raynaud's disease, which really points me in the direction of autoimmune, but am prone, when eating an inflammatory diet, to get asthma, allergies, skin problems, joint pain, etc. Maybe I'm just "sensitive." Regardless, my biggest indicator of if a food is inflammatory is if my fingers start to swell and my heart rate increases. I get none of these symptoms when eating bananas. Anyway, the googlers have done their research with inflammation indexes and things, so I figured I would offer a case study.
:)
I have always been allergic to bananas. Nothing serious just some mild irritation in the mouth. I have been eating them fairly regularly about 20 a day for the past month. I also switched to only organic bananas and haven't had any irritation in the past week. I have always been taught by many athletes and nutritionists years before I ever heard of this site that bananas are good for you. They help with all kinds of issues that you experience in high stress and physical jobs.
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