The Life Force Diet: Go Bananas with Your Health!

Thanks to the low-carb craze, bananas have gotten a bad reputation. I've even had clients swear them off only to devour chocolate bars laden with sugar, preservatives, and artificial flavors. Not a good idea.

Bananas are nature's fast food: they're pre-packed and ready to eat at a moment's notice. Ripe bananas are highly digestible due to their rich enzyme content, which works to break down the fruit's starches into healthy sugars that provide fuel for your brain and body.

Some of the sugars in bananas are called fructooligosaccharides (FOS). FOS helps feeed the healthy bacteria in your gut to improve digestion, brain health, your immune system, and much more.

The specific type of fiber in bananas is called pectin and it not only binds to heavy metals in your body to help eliminate them, it also helps soothe heartburn, digestive tract inflammation, and even ulcers.

As if that weren't enought, bananas are a good source of vitamin B6, potassium, and tryptophan. The latter is a precursor to the hormone serotonin, which is your body's natural antidepressant, mood lifter, and sleep enhancer. Because bananas are frequently harvested in rainforests of South and Central Americas, choose fair trade organic ones that are devoid of ripening gases.

Michelle Schoffro Cook, DNM, DAc, CNC is a best-selling and six-time book author, whose works include: The Life Force Diet, The Ultimate pH Solution, The 4-Week Ultimate Body Detox Plan, The Brain Wash, and Healing Injuries the Natural Way. She is a doctor of natural medicine, doctor of acupuncture, holistic nutritionist, and energy medicine practitioner. Her work has been featured in/on: Woman's World, First for Women, Dr. Roizen's YOU: The Owner's Manual Radio Show, Gaiam Life, Yahoo! Shine, and The Huffington Post. www.TheLifeForceDiet.com.

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