Bananas Only

[RighteousYogini]

Hey There
I read about a woman (Freelee I believe her name is) who is a raw vegan and who started her journey on a monolithic fruit diet: bananas only for 10 days. She described phenomenal health benefits and has basically never turned back. She's incredibly fit and healthy and talks about the raw energy that many other people share. i guess Im just confused because so many others talk about the importance of greens and sprouts, almost exclusively.

How do you know what's what with so much information out there!

[dime]

So she's only eating bananas? For how long?

I think we already had a discussion here about such a mono-banana life and came to conclusion that you need at least some greens?

[MysticTree]

Whilst it's nice to share recipes and chat generally about raw, the bottom line is not what is what with others but what is what with oneself.

Don't worry about what others are eating too much. You can learn what works for you if you listen well enough.

[dime]

In order to live on a bananas-only diet I'd need 11kg of bananas per day to cover all my essential amino-acid needs as recommended by the WHO. Note: essential amino acid means we have to get it through diet.

This is 10000 calories, 2.5kg of carbs... I don't see how such a diet would practically work for anyone.

[RighteousYogini]

So she's only eating bananas? For how long?

I think we already had a discussion here about such a mono-banana life and came to conclusion that you need at least some greens?

No she just started that for 10 days, and then goes mono fruit again for healing, but other than that eats 96% fruit, 2% nuts, 2% greens


on any given day she has like 30 bananas...........15 for breakfast, for example....

[dime]

That's a different story then. Yeah in the short term for fasting/healing basically any mono-fruit-diet would work.

[MysticTree]

on any given day she has like 30 bananas...........15 for breakfast, for example....

I'd throw up eating that much for breakfast but each to their own :)

[RighteousYogini]

I'd throw up eating that much for breakfast but each to their own :)

Yep, like you said... everyone follows their own path. Shes also an athlete running marathons. I dont necessarily agree that tuning in enough will give me the answers, either. I actually prefer to research, ask people about their experiences, compare information, experiment. This womans inner voice certainly didn't say eat only banannas and nothing else for 10 days. She had outside guidance and has never turned back.

But my question is this.... what is the reasoning behind eating monolithic fruits??? And does it mean for several days, the same fruit for each meal, can it differ? Are bananas special in this regard? For example, I try to be a little more world-centric rather than ego-centric and consider my footprint on the earth as well. We dont' grow bananas in Canada, so could I eat locally grown apples only and receive the same benefits? so much to learn! so many options!

[Steven]

If I recall right Freelee did a banana mono-diet for 10 days with the guidance of Doug Graham. And any fruit can be used when one goes on 'mono-island', but fruits like bananas, dates, mangos, etc are best because they are calorie and carb dense so you can meet your daily calorie requirements easily. Also when one goes on a bananas island for example for however many days you decide(a week is average), you just eat as many bananas as you care for every meal and no other fruits.

[sport]

You can blend them in water and have a banana smoothie. Just eating bananas would get very monotonous.
You could probably have banana ice cream as well even though Doug Graham does not approve of eating frozen food.

[RighteousYogini]

If I recall right Freelee did a banana mono-diet for 10 days with the guidance of Doug Graham. And any fruit can be used when one goes on 'mono-island', but fruits like bananas, dates, mangos, etc are best because they are calorie and carb dense so you can meet your daily calorie requirements easily. Also when one goes on a bananas island for example for however many days you decide(a week is average), you just eat as many bananas as you care for every meal and no other fruits.

but what are the benefits of that? the mono island

[CathyA.]

it is supposed to help in digestion of food. the smaller the amount of different items digested at one time the better. so if you eat 3 bananas at one time your system can digest that easier than say a banana, nuts, and dates because the bananas will digest at the same rate and a combo will not.. also the mono eating is helpfull to those who have problems with food addiction. theory is that when you mono eat you tend to start gravitating towards stopping when you feel full rather than for taste alone. things get to almost non-taste after eating only one thing.

[Steven]

but what are the benefits of that? the mono island

This is a quote from Freelee that I found on the web, :

Common benefits experienced on the island...
(that may completely heal or start to...)

* Chronic fatigue/Adrenal fatigue
* Acne/skin problems
* Blood sugar conditions such as diabetes and candida overgrowth
* Depression/mental disharmony
* Hormonal disturbances
* Weight problems (although focusing on this is not recommended)
* Digestive conditions
* Sinus and mucus problems
* Eating Disorders
& many more…

By the way, here is a good "Banana FAQ" page to check out: LINK (http://health101.org/banana)

[green goddess]

Hope I don't sound like a broken record, but: I've done the banana-only thing for seven days. To sum it up:

-I wouldn't do just bananas only again. I'd have them with greens; I started craving greens, and feeling like the bananas were giving me too much sugar.
-My mouth got this icky sticky gummy-ness going on, coating my teeth, that was hard to remove even with brushing teeth.
-Eating nothing but bananas day in, day out was liberating in that I never had to think about what I was going to eat. I got to be creative in my meals - whole bananas one meal, sliced bananas with banana milk another meal, banana smoothie another meal.
-My friend doing the banana feast with me was getting scared because she became constipated and ended a day early (I was fine in the eliminative piping department).

I think mono-eating is a good idea, for simplicity and for cleansing reasons. I wouldn't want to limit to just fruit, however; I feel greens are needed to counter the sweetness of the fruit. I agree that bananas are not really the best choice for this, because of the environmental footprint. If you're interested in trying out apples, go for it! Just be prepared to eat lots and lots of them! My friend is salivating over the prospect of doing watermelon feasts right now. Mmmmm!

[Steven]

-My friend doing the banana feast with me was getting scared because she became constipated and ended a day early (I was fine in the eliminative piping department).

Do you know if your friend was making sure to eat the bananas when ripe? If bananas arent fully spotted they can become constipating because they are full of starches at that point.



For example, I try to be a little more world-centric rather than ego-centric and consider my footprint on the earth as well. We dont' grow bananas in Canada, so could I eat locally grown apples only and receive the same benefits?

I agree that bananas are not really the best choice for this, because of the environmental footprint.
The best thing to do is buy organic fair trade bananas, I get a brand that is organic fair trade as well as eco-friendly and sustainable. A good short article on bananas and carbon foot prints/etc:
Link (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/green-living-blog/2010/jul/01/carbon-footprint-banana)

[sport]

-My mouth got this icky sticky gummy-ness going on, coating my teeth, that was hard to remove even with brushing teeth.
!

That only happens to me if the bananas are not fully ripe (no brown spots) but I do prefer them a little under ripe.

[MysticTree]

That only happens to me if the bananas are not fully ripe (no brown spots) but I do prefer them a little under ripe.

I used to think I didn't like them when they had brown spots but now I think the most important factor is bruising - and they bruise so easily :(

[sport]

I think mono-eating is a good idea, for simplicity and for cleansing reasons. I wouldn't want to limit to just fruit, however; I feel greens are needed to counter the sweetness of the fruit. I agree that bananas are not really the best choice for this, because of the environmental footprint. If you're interested in trying out apples, go for it! Just be prepared to eat lots and lots of them! My friend is salivating over the prospect of doing watermelon feasts right now. Mmmmm!
We had a thread on this topic before and I stated that the best one would be a combo of mango and cantaloupe because you can get your complete spectrum of nutrients from them in the perfect combo.
Having said that I think that I would prefer to do watermelon but they would have to be nicer than the dreadful ones that I am getting now.
I would include juicing the skin in that as you get greens that way.

[green goddess]

Having said that I think that I would prefer to do watermelon but they would have to be nicer than the dreadful ones that I am getting now.
I would include juicing the skin in that as you get greens that way.

I agree about using the watermelon rinds; we make watermelon juice using the entire melon, and I think it's delicious with or without the rind, so more greenery it is! Of course, we have to make sure we're using organic watermelons, so as to avoid any pesticide-y residue on the skin. One day I'll simply grow my own. One day...!

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

l am no fan of the fruitarian or the 80-10-10 diet, but l am surprised by how well you can get many of your daily rda's for vitamins and minerals by eating lots of bananas. Try running it through the cronometer. Many healthy looking young folk eating lots of bananas on another forum, so l will be interested in seeing how they hold up over the long term.

Then again, big fruit eaters often report sleeping alot and research done by a top sleep scientist has found that folks sleeping less than 6 hours a night and people sleeping 10 or more hours a day develop similar diseases over the long term and are 3 - 4 times more diseased than people sleeping normally. lt might not apply to raw food people, but extreme sleeping is obviously not healthy and needs to be carefully considered in the whole picture of things because as we know...not all raw fooders live healthy ever after. lt's not stuff people want to hear, but it is still worth thinking about.
(see this link)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asbyEWIyezU&feature=related


How much nutritional loss comes from fruit that is not freshly picked straight from the tree? And if you aren't eating fresh fully ripened fruit over the long term, what are the consequences?

Lots of issues involved here.

[dime]

Do you know if your friend was making sure to eat the bananas when ripe? If bananas arent fully spotted they can become constipating because they are full of starches at that point.


Bananas simply don't work for some people. I only eat bananas if they are properly ripe, yet they always harden my stools. If I eat more than 5-6 per day or more than one at a meal I'll for sure get constipated.

[dime]

http://stoolhealth.com/do-bananas-cause-constipation/

Eating more than six bananas a day, without proper hydration will lead to banana constipation in some people. This is due to a high starch content in the stomach from the fruit. It can also be due to the pectin. Pectin is a binding element. It will absorb water from the digestive tract leading to a hard poop. This is the reason why when a child is having constipation the doctors normally recommend that bananas are eliminated from the diet.
I'm not sure what the hell is a proper hydration for bananas, am I supposed to drink loads of water and go to the toilet evrey 5 minutes? Do you drink a lot of water while or right after you've eaten a banana? I hope the more experienced banana people here have some advice :) I'm simply amazed at how some people can handle 30 bananas a day.

[MysticTree]

http://stoolhealth.com/do-bananas-cause-constipation/

I'm not sure what the hell is a proper hydration for bananas

I find the whole hydration thing a tricky issue fullstop. I never seem to be getting as much as is variously recommended but I'm not thirsty either. I figure it'll work itself out.

[sport]

http://stoolhealth.com/do-bananas-cause-constipation/

I'm not sure what the hell is a proper hydration for bananas, am I supposed to drink loads of water and go to the toilet evrey 5 minutes? Do you drink a lot of water while or right after you've eaten a banana? I hope the more experienced banana people here have some advice :) I'm simply amazed at how some people can handle 30 bananas a day.
For some reason I have developed the habit of sipping warm water if I am eating bananas and the riper they are the more I will sip. I do not know why this is because I do not drink with any other fruit.
Maybe I know something that I did not know I knew (and no, I did not get that one from George Bush).

[Danny89]

Thanks everyone for sharing his comments. Those were helpful for me!
But I'm just curious to know that how a person who live mono-banana life, can afford
so much bananas. lolzzz
just kidding. :P

[Revvell]

Then again, big fruit eaters often report sleeping alot What's "a lot?"


and research done by a top sleep scientist has found that folks sleeping less than 6 hours a night and people sleeping 10 or more hours a day develop similar diseases over the long term and are 3 - 4 times more diseased than people sleeping normally.

What's "normally?" I sleep on average 5-6 hours a night. Dis-ease free!

... but extreme sleeping is obviously not healthy ....

What's "extreme sleeping?"