Banana History Plus Facts

There is so much rubbish about bananas online that it is hard to find the truth. Unfortunately most websites simply repeat the same lies and rarely - if ever - actually delve into the facts because that would take brain power.

Here we will try and answer the history of bananas and also a few other inconsistencies.

"Never let the truth get in the way of a good story" old adage

A few Banana FACTS are:

1) Bananas have so much Potassium that eating 2 or more a day can be harmful to the body.

A: This is complete and utter BS. Many vegans and vegetarians, as well as people on Fruit Diets will eat between 6 - 10 bananas a day with zero side effects.

This is similar to another lie told over 50 years ago that IF you did not eat for longer than 5 days you would die. Yet in India there are many hundreds of thousands (possibly millions) of people who regularly Fast for 10 - 40 days for religious reasons. (note the word: Regularly)

Also, many people on effective diets often make a banana smoothie every morning using 2 or 3 bananas. This is because with their LOW GI, bananas can reduce your cravings for food (and thus sugar) well into the afternoon.

*** NOTE: The ability to eat multiple "genetically modified" bananas a day - and remain unharmed - has not been properly tested and as such is not included in any statements on this website.

PLEASE NOTE: Potassium requires Magnesium (and other minerals such as sulphur etc) to be most effective. So here is the problem. Sugar removes Magnesium from the body, so if you ingest lots of refined foods, soft drinks, ice cream or anything that contains sugar, then you are causing your body to have less Magnesium.

This means that the ability of any Potassium in your body to be effective is greatly reduced and if you have too much sugar, then any Magnesium benefits are negated, the same as sugar does for Vitamin C.

2) Bananas were taken around the world by Arab traders.

A: While it may be true that Bananas - as a generic name - were "Renamed" by Arabs (and the French), the epic history of the Banana has been found to be recorded in legends in Central Africa which date back "many Thousands" of years before the supposed date that the Arab traders were supposed to have been responsible for the Banana's escape from SE Asia.

While there is no denying that Arab traders may have "also" taken bananas "out" of SE Asia, the evidence shows that the original bananas migrated long before Arabs as an entity, even existed. [1]

3) Some "so called" scientists are saying that Bananas were the "First Fruit" which appeard around 10,000 years ago???

A: Really?????

With around 1,300 million years of plant evolution on this planet and 700 millions years of advanced plant evolution [0] [PDF], they are saying that only 10,000 years ago, firstly Bananas appeared and then "suddenly" a Plethora of other fruit magically appeared just in time for modern humans.

Apart from being one of the stupidest statements ever made, please think about just how deceptively concocted that "first fruit business" sounds? Perhaps these "scientists" were 5 year olds dressed in white lab coats?

If this statement is even remotely true, then think about this. Bananas have been recorded in "many" different legends from Central African dating back over 10,000 years. So "who" brought the bananas to Africa "IF" man did not exist as a global traveller at that time.

If this statement is even remotely true, then think about this. Bananas have been recorded in "many" different Central African legends dating back over 10,000 years.

So "who" brought the bananas to Africa "IF" man did not exist as a global traveller at that time.

This gets even more interesting when you consider that the DNA for the African Plantain banana matches bananas found on the side of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1980. [1]

What is interesting about this is that of all of the bananas that could have been taken from the extremely isolated islands of the Philippines, they then chose the bananas which grow on the side of an extremely remote and isolated volcano located 40+ mosquito infested Kms from the coast.

POINT #2. Actually there are over 1,000 different varieties of bananas globally [FAO UN] (ranging from 50cms tall to over 15 meters tall) and they all are supposed to have suddenly appeared at the same time?

4) The "Lady Finger" banana "tree" is the tallest in the world (around 7 - 8 meters in good soil).

A: This is completely false, the "MUSA INGENS" grows to over 15 meters tall and has a trunk over 1 meter thick. It typically grows on the sides Papua New Guinean mountains between 1,000 meters to 2,000 meters in elevation, although 1 "group" has been found much lower down the mountain near the coast and possibly brought there by humans.

BTW, another false story online is that the Musa Ingens bananas are the biggest in the world... This is yet another lie.

Despite what "pictures" you may see online, the Musa Ingens bananas are a mere 15 cms long (6"), and they do not even taste good which is why local natives do not even bother to cut down the "trees" to get at the fruit when it is ripe.

See the next picture and guess which one is 1 meter thick?

5) There are no more GROS MICHEL bananas left in the world due to the Panama Disease.

A: Completely untrue.

The Gros Michel banana is no longer grown commercially because of the Panama Disease but you can still find them in SE Asia from the Philippines to Viet Nam and across to Thailand (in Thailand they are called HOM THONG).

Gros Michel can also be found in Central African countries like the Congo.

6) There are no GMO Bananas.

A: Completely untrue.

(a) In 2018 - and with zero oversight - the US Govt has allowed the USDA to permit "ANY" food item to be, or contain GMO's. One of the first foods to be released after this was approved was a GMO banana. [2]

(b) Scientists in Queensland are also manufacturing a GMO banana to be resistant to the next wave of "Panana Disease" which is now threatening the Cavendish variety of bananas. [3]

(c) India also has GMO bananas as of 2018. [4]

What is important to note here is that these GMO bananas are going straight to human testing.

7) Bananas need to be GMO so that they contain higher levels of Vitamin A.

A: This is another complete lie.

While this sounds very noble on the surface, the truth is much more sinister.

There are many vegetables which have dramatically higher levels of Vitamin A than any GMO fruit or vegetable. Sweet potato and Dandelion are just 2 where just just 100 grams contains more than double the RDA.

The Vitamin A lie exposed.

One example is Golden Rice which requires each "poor" person to eat over 30 bowls of rice a day. Not only is it impossible for "poor" people to buy 30 bowls of rice a day, but it would also cause every person eating 30 bowls of rice a day to become obese and diabetic. This would also cause all of these people to become critically mineral deficient as well.

Now compare 100 grams of Sweet Potato to 30 bowls of rice.

White rice is milled rice that has had its husk, bran, and germ removed. This alters the flavor, texture and appearance of the rice and helps prevent spoilage and extend its storage life. However, the bran in brown rice contains significant dietary fiber and the germ contains many vitamins and minerals.

One of the other problems with refined carbs - such as white rice - is that they have a very high glycemic index causing sugar highs and lows and very destructive to the pancreas and insulin.

Finally

Please do not believe everything you read on the internet.

Many articles are posted by "Click Bait" websites and they often publish "junk" which gets people's curiosity to click to their website hoping that you will also click one of the ads they display.