It's a constant battle in my house...when are bananas the perfect ripeness? Me, I like 'em with plenty of dark spots on them...sweet and tasty...Mrs. Chonga tends to like them a little greener and not mushy soft. Well, for those of you like me, here are some facts to back up your desire for those riper bananas which could fight off diseases like cancer! Thanks to the good folks at OHSU for enlightening us...
As the banana ripens, you will notice that dark spots and patches will develop all over its skin. The more these dark patches and spots that it has, the higher the immunity enhancement quality that it will be. The Japanese people have been known to consume fully ripen bananas particular when they fall ill.
Based on the scientific research conducted by the Japanese scientists, it was found that TNF are known to have anti-cancer properties. The degree of the anti-cancer effect is related to the degree of the ripeness of the fruit. In another words, the riper the banana, the higher or better of the anti-cancer quality.
In an animal experiment that carried out by Professor Senji of Tokyo University, he found that among the fruits that were fed to lab mice, banana produces the best overall health benefits. Other fruits which were used in the experiment includes grape, apple, water melon, pineapple, pear and persimmon. Banana is able to increase the number of white blood cells, enhances the immunity of the body and produces anti-cancer substance, TNF.
Moreover, according to the professor, yellow skin bananas with dark spots and patches on it are eighth times more effective in enhancing the property of white blood cells, as compares to the ones which are still green.
And so it is recommended that you should eat at least one to two bananas daily to increase your body immunity to diseases such as flu, cold, and etc.
