Bananas

It seems the banana in 2010 is the egg of 1970.

In the last two weeks, I’ve commented to patients regarding snacks to simply eat a banana and you wouldn’t believe the concern and fear. You would’ve thought I asked them to eat an egg in 1970.

I have come to the realization that people believe bananas are bad for you. Frankly I’m surprised because isn't “eat your fruits and vegetables” a mantra that we’re all supposed to follow? One patient told me that their medical doctor told them not to eat bananas because of their high sugar content. Another person told me about bananas and the lack of fiber. Still another person told me that they refuse to eat bananas because of the glycemic index chart. This all seems very strange to me. People are spending way too much time investigating this issue.

This reminds me of a time when the egg was evil. You couldn’t get people to eat an egg even if you paid them. They thought that an immediate heart attack was about to happen if they consumed it. Years later the yolk was to blame, so everyone was eating egg whites. Currently we know that the yolk has lecithin which is actually supposed to LOWER your cholesterol. Jeez, you just can’t win.

Now the banana is the bad guy.

My argument is that in time we will find another food to blame and bananas will be popular again. For those of you on the fence, I’m not asking you to eat 90 bananas a day. I mean, it’s just a banana. How many can you eat in a day anyway? It’s just a piece of fruit.