Bananas and feeling sleepy...

I think I may have heard this before, but do bananas contain anything like a natural sedative?

For lunch today, I had a sliced banana sandwich (basically just sliced banana on a whole grain English muffin- I added a bit of cashew butter, too), which I baked.

It was really good, but now, I can barely keep my eyes open! I'm so sleepy...I got plenty of sleep last night, so that can't be it. It feels like I took some Benadryl or something. ^^;

Yes and no.  Bananas contain a form of serotonin which can be a smooth muscle (organ muscle) relaxant.

The more likely reason you feel sleepy, though, is because of poor food combining.

Yes, if you had protein in there, without the fat of the cashew butter, you would've been more chipper.
Carbs do that to ya...evil, evil carbs...

Well, in that combination, anyways.

Actually, if you read up on food combining, you'll see that a banana-nut butter sandwich is a bad combination on multiple levels.  The fat-protein combination is far from the worst one.

Bad combinations, in order of how difficult they are to digest:

Protein + starch (the bread itself, plus the nut butter which is made of cashews which are actually high in starch, plus the banana which is starchy also)

Fruit + nuts

Fruit + grains

Protein + fat (most people don't have that much of a problem with this, not as much as with the other stuff)


Basically you just dropped a brick in your stomach.  :)

Oh...I feel so ashamed and disgusting now...^^;;

I won't eat that again in the future!

Aww, hehe, don't worry about it.  Drink a liter of water and put it behind you... no pun intended.  :D

Most people don't know about food combining.  That's why people like Suzanne Somers can get away with co-opting it for their own (Somersizing) and making millions of dollars off it when the knowledge gives people power they didn't previously have.

Ahh, I couldn't help myself! I was craving bananas and an English muffin!

On the plus side, I now know what to make on those desperately sleepless nights! Seriously, I thought I was going to drop dead.

Maybe next time try just the bananas and the cashew butter?  Still not the best combination, but without the wheat it'll sit a lot better.

I like to have slivers of banana sitting in collard greens with a few dollops of raw almond butter, perhaps with a medjool date mashed in there too.  Then I roll it up and call it a breakfast burrito.  Soooo good...

That does sound pretty good...I do love bananas and I have been looking for more creative, better ways to prepare them.

Though, admittedly...my banana sandwich was really more of an "end of a busy week" comfort food!

Thanks for the link, Venix- lately, I have been eating a ton of fruit. I seriously think I could live off raw fruit, but I do love raw vegetables too.

The only raw fruit or vegetable I don't really like are tomatoes...I don't really know why, I just have a "thing" about raw tomatoes.

I look forward to going to the store and picking out fruits and veggies. It's almost like a hobby...I get excited about it!

But anyway, it was still an interesting read. Thank you!

That does sound pretty good...I do love bananas and I have been looking for more creative, better ways to prepare them.

Green smoothies!

Banana + greens + water + any other fruit you want to throw in the blender.  If you like bananas and you want more greens in your diet, you'll have a lot of fun with these.

Though, admittedly...my banana sandwich was really more of an "end of a busy week" comfort food!

I dig.  You could have done a lot worse!

Thanks for the link, Venix- lately, I have been eating a ton of fruit. I seriously think I could live off raw fruit, but I do love raw vegetables too.

Oh, that's cool.  There are a good handful of books out there to look at if you want to keep vibing on the raw fruits and veggies thing.

One is Frederic Patenaude's Raw Secrets.  He's very keen on establishing fruits, salads, and blended soups as the basis of a healthy raw (or mostly-raw) diet.

I look forward to going to the store and picking out fruits and veggies. It's almost like a hobby...I get excited about it!

Oh man, me too.  Like some people never miss happy hour, I never miss my two mornings a week at the farmer's market.

The only raw fruit or vegetable I don't really like are tomatoes...I don't really know why, I just have a "thing" about raw tomatoes.

That's ok, you don't have to eat 'em.  :)

You actually CAN live very healthfully off of raw fruits and veggies.  It's worth a try even if only as an experiment for a week or two.

Ooh, a green smoothie. I love spinach and bananas, but I never thought to combine the two. Why not? I'll crank up the blender and give it a try. I have some blueberries left that I want to use before they go mashy, so maybe I will add those, too.

I kind of figured recently..."I like eating raw fruit and vegetables, why don't I eat them more often?"...so I have been eating them a lot more.

Like, for breakfast, I had a donut peach and a banana, and I feel pretty satisfied. That donut peach was so good...way better than a real donut. :)

Ooh, a green smoothie. I love spinach and bananas, but I never thought to combine the two. Why not? I'll crank up the blender and give it a try. I have some blueberries left that I want to use before they go mashy, so maybe I will add those, too.

Oh, totally!  That's almost exactly what I had for breakfast and lunch today.  I made like a full quart of kale-blueberry-banana smoothie.  Not too much banana, mostly blueberry.

It's so amazingly satisfying and energizing.  It's like your cells get this download of mineral information from the greens and your whole body goes, "OH!!!  THAT'S what food is supposed to be!!!"


I kind of figured recently..."I like eating raw fruit and vegetables, why don't I eat them more often?"...so I have been eating them a lot more.

Like, for breakfast, I had a donut peach and a banana, and I feel pretty satisfied. That donut peach was so good...way better than a real donut. :)

Awesome.  yeah, those donut peaches are great.  I hope they still have them when I'm at the market on Thursday.

Yesterday I made a whole meal out of these freaky misshapen kiwis I got from the farmer's market for 95 cents a pound.  Apparently they can't sell kiwis commercially if they don't fit the "kiwi shape"!

As you get more into fruits and vegetables, try doing mono-meals, i.e. only eating one type of fruit (from the same orchard, optimally) at a meal.  See if you notice a "taste change" as you take each bite...

I've read a little about food combining before. I don't understand why a banana sandwich is a bad combination if bananas are starchy and bread is also.

At one point i went maybe a month or two, eating probably 50% of my diet raw fruit and veg. I found that I had so much more energy and felt brilliant! The only thing was I am bordering on underweight anyway and lost around a stone in this time which freaked me out a fair bit.
At that point i started eating the chocolate croissants again every day and cookies lol which helped me put the weight back on but seemed to sap my strength somewhat (unsurprisingly). I still try and keep the general principles of food combining and eat as much raw food as i can but still eat lots of biscuits and the like.
Is it possible to eat healthy and not lose weight? without having to spend lots of money

I've read a little about food combining before. I don't understand why a banana sandwich is a bad combination if bananas are starchy and bread is also.

Because grains aren't just starch, and bananas are mostly simple sugars and only a small percentage starch.  Grains are generally around 30% protein.

Grains are, in and of themselves, a bad food combination.

At one point i went maybe a month or two, eating probably 50% of my diet raw fruit and veg. I found that I had so much more energy and felt brilliant! The only thing was I am bordering on underweight anyway and lost around a stone in this time which freaked me out a fair bit.

That's a frequent story in raw food.

At that point i started eating the chocolate croissants again every day and cookies lol which helped me put the weight back on but seemed to sap my strength somewhat (unsurprisingly). I still try and keep the general principles of food combining and eat as much raw food as i can but still eat lots of biscuits and the like.

Well, that's unfortunate.  Add other things like eggs, even cooked, instead of grains, and you'll feel a whole lot better and keep your weight on.

Is it possible to eat healthy and not lose weight? without having to spend lots of money

Of course.  Find out what kinds of fatty foods are plentiful and cheap where you live.  For me, those are avocados, eggs, sunflower seeds,  sesame seeds, flax seeds, and occasionally fatty fish like salmon.  I live in California; your mileage may vary; but eggs and seeds are almost universally cheap sources of fat.

Sometimes bananas give me a weird kind of stomachache, especially if I eat them first thing in the morning.

Sometimes bananas give me a weird kind of stomachache, especially if I eat them first thing in the morning.

I've heard that complaint often.  There are a few different reasons for this, having mostly to do with the state of human digestion in the morning.

1 - try them organic if you've only been eating conventional.  Many people are sensitive to the sprays on conventional bananas, *especially* in the morning.

2 - morning digestion is not well-suited to starches.  If you absolutely think you should have a banana in the morning, try eating much darker bananas or even black ones -- those have the least starch, as it's been converted into simple sugars.

3 - you as an individual, due to genetic heritage, don't deal well with high-carbohydrate breakfasts.

Whatever the case, the fact that your stomach feels weird is a good instinct to pay attention to... i.e. "don't do that".  :) 

Most people feel much better starting the day with acid fruits like oranges and grapefruits anyway.  Acid/sugar digestion is something your body does best in the morning.

I used to get horrendous stomachaches from eating bananas on an empty stomach and people told me I might be allergic or have some kind of potassium problem. Well, even though it hurt I kept eating them and eating them and dealt with the pain until finally my body got used to them and now I can eat them with no problems. :-)

I don't know, I can't take food combining too seriously.

Here's a quote from Wikipedia:

Many of the assumptions used to justify food combining are not supported by biological and medical science, and there is currently little evidence supporting real-world success for these theories. One randomized controlled trial has been reported in the peer-reviewed medical literature, which found no evidence that food-combining principles were effective in promoting weight loss.

[Link to study]

Also, from what I have seen, Jack Lalanne, probably the healthiest man alive, has very poor food combining. Here's a sample of his recommended breakfast menu: Fresh fruit or fruit juice, Egg or meat, Whole wheat toast, and if you want, some black coffee or skim milk.

I gave up worrying about food combining 10 years ago. It didn't work, and it causes so much stress it's not worth it.

I've just had a large roast lunch (lamb + potatoes (4) + peas, carrots, cauliflower and a huge yorkshire pudding). This would be a food combiner's nightmare. My energy levels have been supurb all afternoon.

On other occasions I load up on meats (beef, chicken) with rice in Thai style or Indian style. Never a problem.

I believe you body will tell you when a meal is right and when it is wrong if you're in touch with it.

The banana + cashew butter sandwich sounds perfect and delicious. I'd be looking into other reasons for your lethargy after eating it.

Yeah, about what Jensen said, the reason you had so much energy is probably because of the digestive process giving you more sustained energy.

"The idea that people should not eat certain food combinations (for example, fruit and meat) at the same meal because the digestive system cannot handle more than one task at a time is a myth. The art of ?food combining? represents faulty logic and is a gross underestimation of the body's capabilities. In fact, the contrary is often true; certain foods eaten together can enhance each other's use by the body." - Eleanor Whitney and Sharon Rolfes, authors of "Understanding Nutrition"