What makes bananas so amazing?After reading tis,u'll nvr look at d banana in d same way again...

Bananas contain three natural sugars —sucrose, fructose and glucose —combined with fiber, a banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proved that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes. But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin,known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS: Forget the pills — eat a banana.The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.Anemia: High in iron, bananas canstimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it the perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so,the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industryto make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex, England) school were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast,break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit canassist learning by making pupils more alert.

Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito Bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin.. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.

Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austriafound pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and crisps (potato chips). Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate food severy two hours to keep levels steady.

Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in chronic cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a "cooling"fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand, for example,pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD):Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer, tryptophan.

Smoking: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral,which helps normalize the heartbeat,sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance..When we are stressed, our metabolicrate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.

Strokes: According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine, "eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%."

Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart,with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plasteror surgical tape!

So, you see, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around.

LONDON - IF YOU have been indulging in dark chocolate this holiday season, thinking that it is good for your heart, you may be making a mistake.
Any health claims about dark chocolate may be misleading, and instead, many products may just be abundant in fat and sugar - both of which are harmful to the heart and arteries, the online edition of BBC News quoted the British medical journal Lancet as saying.
Plain chocolate is considered naturally rich in flavanols or plant chemicals that are believed to protect the heart and lower blood pressure.
However, many manufacturers remove this chemical while producing chocolate because of its bitter taste.
'When chocolate manufacturers make confectionery, the natural cocoa solids can be darkened and the flavanols, which are bitter, removed, so even a dark-looking chocolate can have no flavanol,' the Lancet said.

Could stonefish have done this?

Could stonefish have done this?


HER mouth swelled and her lips started to peel.
She saw the doctor eight times in a month to find out what happened.
Madam Lim now thinks it has something to do with a stonefish dish she had at a seafood restaurant on 24 Nov.
Stonefish have spikes containing venom and can cause intense pain when stepped on.
But experts say the venom is destroyed if the fish is cooked.
According to a Shin Min Daily News report yesterday, Madam Lim and her family had dinner at a seafood restaurant in Bukit Timah on 24 Nov.
The report did not name the restaurant.
Attempts by The New Paper to contact Madam Lim were unsuccessful.
Curious about the Hong Kong-style steamed stonefish dish, the 30-year-old housewife ordered it despite its hefty price tag of $105 per kilogram.
She told Shin Min: 'My husband didn't eat the fish and my four-year-old daughter ate only the tail portion.
'I was the one who ate almost the entire portion of the fish.'
She claimed her symptoms started as soon as she got home.
Her throat felt dry and itchy and her entire mouth started swelling, she said. The area around her mouth also started going numb.
She said: 'My throat felt so dry, it felt like it was splitting open. I had to drink water every 10 minutes or else it would have been unbearable.'
She dismissed it as an allergic reaction to seafood.
But after three days, she felt it could be more than that so she saw a doctor.
In all, she made eight trips to the doctor in one month, costing her $150.
NEED MORE TESTS
She said: 'The doctor told me he needed to do more tests to make sure it was indeed the toxins from the stonefish causing these reactions.'
Added Madam Lim: 'It was my first time eating stonefish. When I ordered it, I didn't know that these fish had toxins.'
Anyone handling the fish has to be trained and wear thick gloves when removing the venomous dorsal spines.
They are cut off with a pair of scissors before the fish is cooked.
Madam Lim could not remember if the fish still had spikes on its back.
In an earlier report, Singapore General Hospital's Dr Teoh Lam-Chuan, chief of the hand surgery department said: 'There are several worldwide studies done which found out that the venom can be destroyed by heat.'
Professor Chou Loke Ming from NUS biological sciences department said the stonefish is harmful only if the venom is injected into the body.
'Cooking the stonefish destroys its venom,' he said
An employee at one restaurant selling stonefish told The New Paper that the dish is usually steamed or cooked and served in a thick, milky herbal soup. The restaurant has been selling the dish for about five years.
Up to 10 stonefishes are consumed each month. He claims none of his workers or his customers have fallen ill from eating or touching the stonefish.
Despite this, the restaurant has stopped selling the fish for about a month now because supply has dried up.
A check with the supplier of the stonefish confirmed this.
Mr Simon Loh, who works at the Unique Seafood market - which supplies stonefish to three restaurants in the Turf City area and three restaurants outside of it - said his centre has not had stonefish delivered to it for more than a month now.
He also said no one had come forward to say they fell ill from eating stonefish.
The only case he remembered was of a worker who got stung a few years ago while handling the fish but his pain was relieved immediately as they injected him with anti-venom on standby.
In 2002, there were five reports of men being stung by stonefish in the waters off Sentosa, Changi beach and St John's Island.
In 2005, one such incident was reported.
Recently, on 3 Nov, a Chinese national stepped on a stonefish as he was wading in the waters at Sentosa.