Banana Girl: the controversial Aussie who's moved to Ecuador and is now a vegan in the jungle

[Tam]

Posted by Orph (here)

Posted by Foxie Loxie (here)
"To each his own".......I'm on Meals on Wheels!!!

So you're saying you always go to the Drive-thru lane at the local greasy spoon.

Nope! Meals on Wheels is a volunteer-run organization that provides meals to disabled seniors that struggle financially.

https://www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org

[Foxie Loxie]

Orph.....here in my county in Central New York, Office for the Aging delivers meals to those no longer "up" to doing food preparation.

"Meals on Wheels" is kind of like a joke about us Oldsters! I am grateful for this service as it allows me to remain living independently & not have to check myself into a nursing home...YET!!!

[Orph]

Sorry for the confusion. I was merely making a joke. As in -- going to a drive-thru at a local burger joint in your car = meals on wheels.

If you look at my age you'll see I'm no spring chicken myself. So I've certainly heard of "Meals on Wheels". I apologize for the misunderstanding. I guess I should've put in a


Anyway, now back to the topic at hand, .... banana girl.

[Flash]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
It's interesting to cross-reference these threads:

• Ketogenic Diet Beats Chemo For Almost All Cancers
• A major key to a long and healthy life: fasting or a ketogenic diet

My own stance on this is that:

• I don't think we should be getting into food fights with each other. (Not that anyone is, here!)
• The real truth may be that all bodies are different, and some may be very different from others.
• We have to know our OWN body. All bodies are finely-tuned engines, and need their own very specialized fuel and servicing.
• Blood type may be ONE clue to what one's body really needs.

I'm not a dietician, or a naturopath, though (like many reading this) I feel I know quite a bit on the subject. But I am friends with a very highly skilled and experienced naturopath, who told me personally that he's ALWAYS rescuing seriously malnourished vegans who've been victims of a value-driven belief system and haven't actually listened to their bodies at all.

Eating a ton of fruit and veg may not be enough... it's possible that long-term problems may develop for some people. (Steve Jobs, in his last days, may have agreed.)

I have been completely vegan for 2 years and half, many years ago. At the end of this period, I would dream non stop of eating a big juicy steak. Every single night I would dream of steak, while the previous 2 years I never dreamed about meat.

I figured that my dreams were telling me something about my body. I finally gave in and ate the most delicious juicy steak I thought I ever had, gosh was it good! And I stopped being vegan.

To finally find out that I regularly start having anemia (like every 3-4 years). I never found the cause of it, but I am made that way. The only fast way to recuperate from one of those anemia bouts is to eat meat.

Listen to one's body truly.

One thing strange happened to me lately about food:
I am overweight for years, since my very distressing and stressing marriage and more stressing divorce and the aftermath. Of course, my body has not been in equilibrium nor healthy.

I wanted to lose weight, but could not even with extraordinary efforts.

My endocrinologist had suggested gastric surgery years ago, even if I am not morbidly obese yet, but because of diabetes, to get a hold on it.

I hesitated, because of the consequences (having to take lifelong vitamins, not ever being able to eat normally again, etc etc).

Lately, a new medication has been put on the market (semaglitude under the commercial name of Ozympic) which is presumed to have the same effect as gastric surgery, namely curbing the appetite (probably working on the stomach release of appetite hormone, I do not remember its name). So my doctor prescribed it to me.

I have been taking it for a month and half (injection once a week). It is working, slowly, but I am losing weight. The outstanding effect is that I do not feel the hunger as much as I did before. If you put a full plate in front of me, I will eat it, being hungry as I eat. But if the plate is just half, I will eat the half and be happy. And prior to eating, most of the time, I do not feel hungry.

The second outstanding effect is that it is changing my psychology, or even my brain workings. It is as if all my life I felt like on a starvation precipice, which created behaviors and psychology of anxiety and restlessness, kind of survival needs.

Now, I am starting to feel like life will provide, no need to feel stress, all survival needs are easily met. It is changing my overall psychology.

I am at the point now where I think "wow, some people lived with this restful state about hunger all their life. They never felt any thing regarding starvation or danger for survival. How lucky they were" - I was not aware of those feelings before they are finally slowly stopping.

I am pretty sure that Taurine supplements have something to do with this as well, having started to take them before the prescribed medication and having seen a difference in my stamina at that time.

[Joe Sustaire]

Ya'll are missing the main point damnit!


She's young, great looking, and naked...……. or damn near...…….. what more do you want from a lady?

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Joe Sustaire (here)
Ya'll are missing the main point damnit!


She's young, great looking, and naked...……. or damn near...…….. what more do you want from a lady?

Ahem!



We're talking about BananaPerson.

[RunningDeer]

FYI: Mike will add a post to his photo.

[Mike]

Thanks Paula!

So I tried the banana thing(that's my drink in Paula's post above).My little nutriblast machine could only handle 8 bananas (I wanted to try 10).

I mixed it with coconut water, and it was pleasant tasting. It wasn't too tough to get down.

I felt pretty good after finishing it. It gave me a nice little energy bump.

Banana's are so high in fiber.... My concern was that at some point I would run to the bathroom and have a bowel movement roughly the size of a fire hydrant. But nothing like that happened.

Interesting experiment. I can see now that it's not too unrealistic to get maybe 30 or 40 a day.

[spade]

Contrary to popular belief, Bananas actually cause semi-constipation instead of diarrhea / bowel movement. It's apples and water that that contribute towards a quicker BM.

[RunningDeer]

Posted by spade (here)
Contrary to popular belief, Bananas actually cause semi-constipation instead of diarrhea / bowel movement. It's apples and water that that contribute towards a quicker BM.

Two major factors to consider are the number of bananas you eat, and how ripe they are. It is also important to be aware that we are all individuals with unique digestion, and what is suitable for one person may not be for the next. (article below)

Bananas are a conundrum when it comes to constipation foods to avoid. It's a matter of timing: Unripe bananas can cause constipation; ripe bananas can help relieve constipation. ... Bananas also contain fiber (pectin), which draws water from the intestines toward the stool. From - 15 Foods That Cause Constipation

Bananas: Cause or Cure of Constipation?

{article snippets}

Good source of fibre

A medium sized banana provides a generous dose of dietary fibre, as much as 3g. This is around 10% of our recommended daily intake of fibre - and can therefore be a useful addition to your daily diet, helping to keep your bowels healthy and regular. It is important to ensure you drink plenty of water in addition to eating fibrous foods, as the fibre has the effect of bulking up the stool, and it requires fluid to help its transit through the large intestine.

Mineral rich

Bananas are a rich source of the mineral potassium, known as an electrolyte. Electrolytes are important in maintaining the balance of fluid in our cells. We know that it is important to ensure we are properly hydrated in order to support bowel function, and as a result the potassium in bananas may be helpful in contributing to our optimal hydration. This will help to keep our digestion moving and bowel functioning as it should. However, if we eat too many bananas, this may upset the balance of electrolytes, causing things to slow down, therefore leading to constipation. As mentioned previously, always ensure drinking plenty of water alongside your banana intake.

Summary

Overall, in terms of research it seems there is a bit more supporting bananas as a remedy as opposed to a cause. However, we are all different and, as explained above, the pectin and other ingredients may create problems for some. Two major factors to consider are the number of bananas you eat, and how ripe they are. It is also important to be aware that we are all individuals with unique digestion, and what is suitable for one person may not be for the next. If you believe bananas are a trigger I would recommend reducing them to a minimum in your diet, perhaps just eating them 1-2 times a week. If however they are helpful in keeping you moving, enjoy this lovely bendy fruit! 

[David Trd1]

Posted by Mike (here)
This woman has got me feeling competitive. I'm tempted to blend up 51 pork chops just to piss her off.

In all seriousness, I'm going to try the banana thing. I'm off to the store now. I'm gonna try 10 to start. If my heart seizes up from excessive potassium and I die, I'm going to haunt this Freelee woman for decades by making spooky noises and routinely knocking her hemp jewelry off her dresser until she has a complete nervous breakdown.

Deb, thanks for posting here. My cynicism and wise assery didn't allow me to think the whole thing thru. Her and her boyfriend deserve some credit for sure. It appears they're building all this by themselves, whereas i can barely hammer a single nail into a 2 by 4. It's gutsy to live out in the middle of nowhere, even if they do have some amenities. It appears she's evolving from some of her earlier, slightly obnoxious incarnations, and that's commendable. That diet frightens me a little, but she looks extraordinarily healthy! There's no denying that. It's working for her, and she's made a name for herself with her industriousness and fortitude. I do admire that!

Well said😊

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Mike (here)
This woman has got me feeling competitive. I'm tempted to blend up 51 pork chops just to piss her off.

She may be pissed off already. Bananas are in danger. (Yes, seriously.)

From https://forbes.com/sites/stevensavag...-better-banana

(Caution: this writer is advocating GMOs to save bananas. And presumably, to save Banana Girl.)

It's Time To Build A Better Banana
Steven Savage, 13 August, 2019

As I wrote for Forbes in 2018, we might lose bananas as an affordable part of our diet. A dreaded new strain of a soil-born fungal disease that has already severely hurt the industry in Australia and Africa has now been confirmed to have reached the Americas. Others have raised this alarm. This also happened in the mid 1900s when an earlier strain of this fungus wiped out the “Grand Nain” banana variety. That calamity made the 1923 song by Frank Silver and Irvin Cohn, “Yes, we have no bananas” sound prophetic. The great old Simon and Garfunkel song, "Slip-slidin Away" also comes to mind.The current “Cavendish” banana of commerce has a colorful history traveling through England of all places, but by chance it was was resistant to the first strain of the fungus. Unfortunately the new, Tropical Race 4 strain has overcome that resistance. Once the fungus is introduced into a given plantation’s soil, there is no way to get rid of it. The industry tried really hard to keep the pest out, but all it takes to spread it is a bit of dirt on someone’s boot.

Now I’m sure some will say that this is all a problem because of “monoculture.” Yes, the whole commercial banana industry relies on very few varieties, but that isn’t something easily avoided as I explained in that earlier article. No one can do “conventional breeding” of bananas with any efficiency because, in case you hadn’t noticed, the bananas we like don’t have the big black, hard seeds of wild bananas. Remember the old kid’s song, “I love bananas because they have no bones!”

Bananas, wild or domesticated, reproduce very happily by making new sprouts, or “sons” around the base of the “mother tree.” That basically means they are "cloned," but so are most fruit crops. Bananas also provide their own “packaging” for food safety. There really isn’t any need to put them in a disposable plastic bag to bring them home from the store and even then they don't need to be refrigerated.

It's not like people haven’t tried to breed a new banana, but to get one that yields productively, can be ocean shipped (minimal carbon footprint) and then ripen as it approaches consumer sales has been a huge challenge as long as the breeders are handicapped by the anti-GMO thing.

In the late 1990s I was involved in consulting projects for two of the biggest banana shippers. We were evaluating potential solutions that might be amenable to a biotech solution. We also evaluated the the economics of those choices. However; once the anti-biotech activists figured out that they could intimidate brand-protective companies, the biotech banana projects were dropped before they really got started. It was sad.

So, shall we just resign ourselves to the eventual demise of this fruit? We certainly should appreciate it while we can, but there is a long-term solution. That solution is to fully employ the now even more advanced science of biotechnology. The tools and understanding today are vastly improved over what they were when we first considered this in the 90s. Indeed public sector scientists in Australia have already made some progress on this front. Yes, some will call this a, “gasp,” GMO, but I think it’s time to go there - past time really. Those who don’t want to accept the scientific truth about this can find some other fruit to eat. What isn’t fair is if they continue to block that freedom of choice for the rest of us.

Okay, but if we need make the jump to a biotech banana just have bananas, we might as well make a number of other changes for the benefit of those who grow this for us and for we as consumers. Here are the “upgrades” I would love to see for the banana crop for both rich nations like ours and also for poor people to depend on banana or plantain for a significant part of their diet. The efforts for the rich world market could pay for the work and those improved bananas could be given to poor farmers to grow for free.

Disease resistance

The “Fusarium Race 4” that just arrived in South America is the driving issue today, but there are other diseases for which a new solution would be fantastic.

There is a severe fungal disease that infects the leaves (Banana Sigatoka) and the crop has to be sprayed over and over throughout the season because if there is too much infection, the bananas won’t make the boat trip to our ports.

There is also a bacterial disease and several viruses. The viruses are an even bigger deal with key banana and plantain cultivars in places like sub-Saharan Africa. Some resistant lines have already been developed but rich-world activists have been largely successful in blocking their use where they are needed the most. One of the ways this disease has been achieved is through the use of “cisgenics.” That is the act of moving specific genes from wild Bananas into our preferred types. Basically, that is a way to tap into the considerable biodiversity that exists among wild bananas without bringing along the big hard seed issue.

Reduced Food Waste

As you have certainly experienced, bananas can move from green to yellow to black rather rapidly and that might mean throwing them out. One of the earliest ideas for biotech bananas was to stretch out that process by changing the expression levels of some of the genes related to the ripening process. The other big issue with bananas is bruising. It does not take much, including handling by your fellow shoppers, to elicit an injury response based on the enzyme polyphenol oxidase. This has already been done for apples and potatoes and I'm hoping we can start buying those options soon. By turning off that gene this major cause of food waste could be dramatically reduced. You could probably even start to see bananas offered on the “salad bar” at restaurants.

Nutritional enhancement

Bananas have already been developed that have enhanced levels of vitamin A, a nutrient that is unfortunately not that abundant in the diets of many poor people around the world. The “Golden Bananas”, like “Golden Rice” have also been largely blocked by the activists. I’d like to be able to buy such bananas and rice even though I have plenty of other sources of the vitamin in my food supply. It would be a solidarity thing with those who need it the most.

So is it likely that the big, brand-sensitive banana companies will move ahead on this? I hope so because this is not just about their businesses. There are a lot of families in places like Central and South America whose livelihood depends on being to be able to help produce and pack this fruit. In many cases these are countries that also have terrible gang violence issues that are driving their people away. To lose this huge part of their nation’s income would only compound their suffering.



A worker carries freshly harvested bananas at a farm in the town of Tenexpa, Guerrero state, Mexico

I think we should start a campaign to encourage the banana companies and the food retailers to muster the courage, the rationality, and the compassion to bring us a better bananas. If they get started now the new options might be available in time as the Fusarium will inevitably spread. Maybe someone can modify the old tune to, “Yes, we will have bananas, we will have bananas today!”

Steven Savage
Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website.

I’ve been involved with agricultural technologies for more than 40 years. After a B.S. in biology at Stanford I pursued an M.S. and Ph.D in Plant Pathology (study of the diseases of plants) at the University of California, Davis, working on grape diseases. Since then I’ve worked in academics (Colorado State), an international technology company (DuPont), and for a small, start-up that specialized in biological controls (Mycogen). Since 1996 I’ve been consulting for large and small companies, for venture capital groups, and for multi-stakeholder organizations studying sustainable. I’ve worked on dozens of crops from strawberries to potatoes to wheat. I’ve worked on topics ranging from biotechnology, to bio-fuels, to pesticide residues assessments, to technologies that reduce food waste. Since 2009 I’ve also been blogging and speaking with the goal of sharing true stories about the people and innovations characteristic of modern food and agriculture. Since April of 2016 I work part time for the non-profit, CropLife Foundation communicating the benefits of crop protection agents via blogs and the POPagriculture podcast.