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Bananas are the most common fruit in the world. This product is considered one of the most useful, and at the same time, there are many conflicting hypotheses regarding the excessive calorie content of these fruits and their toxicity. However, the mere fact that bananas are among the top three first baby foods suggests that this product and all its derivatives – fruit drinks, jam, jam, juice – must be present in a healthy menu.
The benefits and harms of banana products
Previously, when bananas were not so commercially available, doctors were confused about what to recommend to a person as a healthy snack, a daily source of vitamins and nutrients. Since bananas began to appear on store shelves, and banana jam has ceased to be something exotic among products for clogging for the winter, the answer to this question is almost unambiguous. The hypoallergenicity of fruits allows them to be eaten by both children and the elderly, the multifaceted useful composition and high calorie content can make eating a banana a full meal, which is very important for busy people who eat because of their own schedule, anyhow. You can cook from fruit puree as a side dish, bread and, of course, jam and jam.
Despite the absence of a characteristic acid in the product, the banana is rich in vitamin C, which actively destroys all kinds of viral infections in the human body, strengthens the vascular walls, and improves immunity. A large amount of carotene (a derivative of vitamin A) and vitamin E in bananas are responsible for a shiny appearance – healthy hair, smooth young skin, and human sexual health. Even the heat treatment of this fruit is not able to kill the entire spectrum of vitamins and microelements, banana jam contains a huge percentage of the B vitamins contained in the product, which are responsible for the nervous system, strong hair, strong nails, and moisturized young skin. Substances such as magnesium, calcium and potassium strengthen bone tissue, normalize high blood pressure and contribute to the excellent functioning of the heart muscle.
All derivatives of this fruit are very useful for women’s health, especially during childbearing, lactation or on critical days. There is an opinion that the banana contains the hormone of happiness – serotonin, however, this is not entirely true. This product contains a lot of vitamin B6, which fights depression and produces the production of serotonin in the brain.
The fibrous texture of bananas is very beneficial for the digestive tract. In this regard, experts do not advise cooking banana jam with a homogeneous texture, it is better that it remains a little undercooked, with pieces. You can eat this fruit even with exacerbations of chronic diseases of the stomach, unlike all other plant products.
For children, the use of bananas and jam from them is simply necessary to replenish strength during physical and emotional stress. In addition, it is an excellent and tasty (which is important for children) source of a vitamin-mineral complex involved in the formation of a healthy body.
However, under certain conditions, the harm of bananas is quite obvious. People who lead an inactive lifestyle are at risk of acquiring flatulence due to the fact that these fruits are slowly digested. Banana products can thicken the blood, which can lead to blood clots. This fact indicates that any banana treats should not be consumed by people prone to strokes, heart attacks, thrombophlebitis or varicose veins.
Often, fresh bananas lose many of their useful qualities due to disruption in the transportation and storage of the product. From such fruits you will not get tasty and healthy jam. In addition, they can cause poisoning and allergic reactions (high-quality bananas are hypoallergenic).
Well, one cannot fail to say about the most common negative quality of a banana – it is high in calories, which means it can cause fat deposits. And although the calorie content of banana jam or jam is 215 kilocalories per 100 grams of weight, which is not very much compared to other sweets, the product is absorbed worse, which means it is more harmful to the waist and hips.
Application in folk medicine
Banana jam is very popular among homemade recipes for defeating coughs of various origins. The product will help well with sore throat, wet or dry cough in children and adults. The fleshy fruit coats the mucous membranes, reducing inflammation. In addition, vitamin C contained in banana jam contributes to a speedy recovery. This medicine is especially effective for young children, who are difficult to drink with a bitter and tasteless medicine.
To prepare banana jam, you need 2 ripe fruits and 1 cup of boiled water. The pulp of bananas is kneaded into gruel, rubbed through a sieve or softened with a blender. The resulting mass is poured with water and brought to a boil over high heat. The resulting banana jam should be consumed several times a day until the cough symptoms improve.
For bronchitis, it is recommended to cook banana jam with the addition of honey, since honey is an excellent emollient and expectorant. The only nuance of treating cough with banana jam is the fact that it constantly needs to be boiled again – the mixture loses its healing properties almost instantly.
Home recipes
There are many delicious recipes for making banana jam at home. Banana jam can be preserved for the winter, or you can eat it immediately after cooking. Incredibly delicious from bananas and jam. This is a dessert product obtained by evaporating the pulp of bananas in honey or sugar to a jelly-like state. At the same time, the fruit pulp is completely boiled soft and becomes homogeneous.
To make delicious banana jam you will need:
- 3 ripe banana;
- 2 medium oranges;
- 1 large lemon;
- 200 grams of sugar.
Juice is squeezed out of citrus fruits. The pulp of bananas is cut into circles, mixed with juice and sugar, and brought to a boil over a fire. The fire must be reduced to a minimum and cook the jam until thickened. The product must be completely cooled and let it brew a little.
Overripe bananas are an excellent base for a light and tasty jam that can be prepared without much difficulty. Usually, such fruits are sold very cheaply, because after a day or two they are simply thrown away, so jam from bananas is even more budgetary than from apples or cherries.
The only disadvantage of this jam is the short shelf life of the finished dish.
So, to make banana jam you will need:
- 500 grams of peeled ripe bananas;
- 180 grams of sugar;
- a tablespoon of vanilla sugar;
- a teaspoon of citric acid;
- 1 star anise star.
Banana pulp must be cut into circles and put in a bowl. Next, the chopped pulp should be well kneaded with a fork until smooth, sprinkle with sugar, add vanilla sugar, citric acid and star anise, mix everything thoroughly. Transfer the jam to a saucepan and bring to a boil over low heat, then remove from heat. Cool the mixture, and after 3 hours boil again and after boiling, simmer on the fire for about 10 minutes. Cool the jam again, repeat boiling after a couple of hours 2-3 more times. Ready-made banana jam is poured into jars with tight lids and stored in the refrigerator.
Cooking application
Banana jam can be eaten separately from any baked goods with tea. This is an incredibly tasty delicacy, which, fortunately, you can’t eat much. But in cooking, there are many recipes for other dishes in which banana jam is added. For example, when baking croissants, chefs use banana jam, which, due to its consistency, is perfectly retained inside the most delicate pastry dough.
Incredibly popular are homemade chocolates with banana jam inside. They are easy to prepare because the filling does not spread and is the basis of the candy itself. It is delicious to smear banana jam on a simple baguette, they are complemented by pancakes and pancakes, you can also use the product as a sweet sauce for some types of meat.
Banana jam can be very beneficial if consumed in moderation. The energy value of this product is shown to people with increased mental work, irritable people and those who suffer from a lack of vitamins. If you use jam or jam from this fruit one spoon a day, there is practically no risk of getting better, but the likelihood that peace will become a life credo, on the contrary, increases very much.