How Bananas Eaten Daily Contribute to Potassium Deficiencies; Whaaaa?

I know my banana lovers in the house are going to riot once they read this post, but I just wanted to impart what I've learned recently about eating foods that are picked green.

When we talk about fruits it's important to keep in mind that in an ideal situation, fruit ripens on the tree (or at least get close), and then we eat them. When fruit is picked green, it still has minerals and vitamins that it has yet to develop in it's natural process towards decomposition. That is what fruit was born to do, decompose and produce seeds to continue the species.  

Fruits gets nutrients from the tree, the sun, the water; All that. Eating fruits that are not local to our region, for example bananas, are never tree ripened.  When we consume them, they pull enzymes and vitamins from our body to complete decomposition in our digestive tract.  

Bananas are a primary example because they are always picked green, they are in transit, they arrive at the store green, and they ripen within a few days to a week. Keep in mind, we have evolved eating foods in our local regions. 

In Michigan and many states really, potatoes, apples, peaches, carrots, all sorts of veggies and fruits spend alot of time on the vine, tree or bush, and are not picked prior to being ripe. They are the complete package of nutrition, and do not leach minerals from our body to complete their own decomposition in our digestive tract.  The closer we are to the source the better the mineral composition.

I've worked with some clients for mineral deficiencies and I've noticed that those individuals that consume bananas daily are almost always potassium deficient. Bananas strain the body to break down in the digestive tract by leaching potassium from you to complete it's decomposition in the gut.  I'm not advocating that you all STOP eating bananas for good- HAVE A BANANA! Just don't eat them everyday. Limit it to 1 or 2 per week.

Potassium deficiency symptoms include low energy, aches and pains, over-sensitivity to touch, negativity, mental illness, loss of ambition, suspicious thoughts or feelings about others, and even fearfulness.

Bananas are really a treat if you think about it....Grown in the tropics, shipped all the way up here, super sweet and yummy.  We think we are eating them because they are rich in potassium; but let's be honest, really we just like them!  It's much more nutritionally advantageous for us to get potassium from organic potato skins (the potassium is in the peel), than from a banana.

Potatoes sit in the ground for long periods of time and that is why it's imperative that they are purchased organic or grown without sprays.  They soak up every pesticide and herbicide used on them. I'm happy to help you find a farmer that doesn't spray in the Mid Michigan area!

Potato SKINS are much better for us up in cold country as a source of potassium.  Making homemade organic potato soup is heaven. Leave on the skins and simmer carrots, celery, onion, herbs, and use Himalayan sea salt to taste.  Simmer approximately 3-4 hours.  Leave on the lid to make sure to capture all the precious minerals these vegetables contain.

Please feel free to reach out to me for info on my Mineral Deficiency Assessments or any other natural health information at desiree@modernhippie.org