Banana-Rama

I have a problem with bananas that have brown spots. It icks me out and I can't eat them. In fact, there's something about bananas in general that kind of ick me out. For one thing, I think they have the strangest texture for a fruit. Most fruit have watery qualities to them and are often juicy in some sense, but not the banana. I think it might actually be part foam or packing peanut.

It's this odd texture that leads to the weird way it gums up in your mouth while chewing, almost like peanut butter how it sticks to the roof of your mouth and to your gums. I can't stand to watch another person eat a banana, and I hate to see it smacking around in their mouth -- it triggers my vommit reflex.

However, it's not just the texture and the gooed up way it breaks down while chewing that bothers me about bananas; no, I ultimately feel ambiguous about the smell. Sometimes I like the smell of bananas: They smell sweet and fresh. But other times, the smell of them makes me ill: Then they smell rotten and putrid -- overly sweet. Yet, for all my complaints about bananas I still eat them, fairly regularly. I just had one, as a matter of fact (although, I didn't finish it because there were dreaded brown spots at the bottom). But there are many good things about bananas that keep me coming back to them.

They are obviously high in potassium, and that's something many runners need -- that's why races always provide bananas at the end. Along with sodium and water, your body uses up potassium when sweating, and needs to be replaced. So if you run everyday, you should follow up a run with a banana and a tall glass of water -- you will feel restored quite quickly. Bananas are also great because they actually count as two servings of fruit, so for those of you who often feel like you cheat out of fruit servings, a banana can help add to your daily intake and it doubles the amount you get.

But what many don't know is that bananas are also very high in vitamin C and B6 (I have no idea what you need B6 for, but it sounds important; however, I can recognize vitamin C and I know that's a useful vitamin). And like other fruit, they're high in fiber -- we all know what that's good for. And lastly, this creamy little fruit is only about 100 calories, so you can burn it off with just a mile's run.

In the end, you see, the good things far outweigh the aspects I dislike, so I keep on choking them down, and I try to look at the positive side: they wear their own cute yellow jacket, so each banana is kind of stylish. You can't go wrong with stylish fruit.