The Banana's Sexy Reputation
By: GalTime.com's Master of Gastronomy Amy Reiley
I recently heard the statistic that bananas are the most popular fruit in America. I'm shocked, not just because I'm not a big banana eater (unless you're talking those luscious, little apple bananas), but because bananas are a fruit that is impossible to grow in nearly every U.S. climate.
But then I thought about all the things we like to do with a banana. (Get your mind out of the gutter!) I'm talking about banana bread, muffins, splits, foster, cream pie, frozen on-a-stick, banana and peanut butter sandwiches. Not many fruits have that many mainstream applications. From a culinary perspective, bananas love nuts, they love dairy, they work well cooked and even when they're overripe we can still salvage their bruised pulp in a cake. Then, when I started to consider the nutritional benefits, I had to wonder if bananas might be the world's most perfect fruit.
Related: Cheese As An Aphrodisiac- Seriously?
Bananas were first cultivated in Asia, which is where we see the first evidence of their aphrodisiac reputation. In ancient India, bananas were said to be a favorite fruit of the sages. Even today, bananas are included in Indian offerings to the fertility gods.
They were introduced to the Caribbean and Central America by early Portuguese and Spanish explorers. The fruit's aphrodisiac nature quickly took hold and still remains today. In Central America, the sap of the red banana tree is sipped as an aphrodisiac elixir.
In Islam, there is a belief that the banana, not the apple, was the original forbidden fruit. Now, this bit of lore may just be based on the banana's visual appeal, the most obvious reason for its sexy reputation. But when we look at the fruit's nutrients, we begin to understand that there was more to ancient wisdom than phallic fruit lore.
Consulting the World's Healthiest Foods website, I learned that bananas are loaded with vitamin B6 as well as a nice, natural source of C and manganese, all essential for the dance of love. They are also a good source of fiber. The average banana offers 2.8 grams of fiber-an ingredient we often forget is essential to feeling and looking our most sensual. But most importantly, bananas are an excellent source of potassium, which we learned earlier this month from Delahna Flagg's new article, "Potassium: Important for Sex??" is ever so important for sustained energy and muscular control-and we all love a partner with peak muscular control!
So, do your lover a favor. Go eat a banana.
What's your favorite banana recipe?
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