Bananas

banana ripening chart

This is a blog-essay. Apparently a blog is when someone mutters along about nothing in particular, which I often do. Whereas an essay it a blog that has been researched. So maybe this ‘Just Journaling’ entry should be called a ‘blessay’ or a ‘blogay’?  Either way I thought I would tell you about the most popular fruit in the world, a banana. 

I tend to eat bananas every day, for breakfast normally. Bananas are normally eaten when they are yellow and only ripen from green once they are picked. My sister likes her bananas a little under ripe. I on the other hand like mine a little over ripe. I even like them when the skin has that mottled brown colour. Apparently the riper they are the sweeter they become. 

So here are a few facts about bananas:

-          They contain dietary fibre

-          Low-fat

-          Contain 15% of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C

-          20% RDA vitamin B6

-          Contain complex carbohydrates, makes them slow to digest

-          Contain potassium, which helps to maintain the fluid balance in the body

-          Average 110 calories per banana

-          Will raise energy levels by 20% for 2 hours (www.chiquitabananas.com)

However the one thing you should never do with a banana skin is throw it on the ground. It takes an average of 2 years for a banana skin (or an orange peel) to biodegrade in the UK (www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/sep/24/bananas-litter-hikers-mountains-mountains) 

It doesn’t actually say in the article why it takes so long to biodegrade but my thought is this – it’s not a natural plant to the UK and there are no animals that will eat it, not even tiny little ones.

Eat a banana every day for breakfast and if you have no time for breakfast (tut-tut) you can peel the banana and eat it as you walk down the street. Go on enjoy but don’t drop your banana skin on the ground.