Despite the meme on Facebook, bananas do not cure cancer
Last year, I wrote an article about how to critically analyze pseudoscience and misinformation to get at the scientific evidence which may help you accept or reject something you might read on the internet, even if it appeared to be accurate. On Facebook, Twitter and many internet sites (including Wikipedia), there is an amazing tendency of individuals to accept what is written as “the truth” without spending the effort to determine if what is written is based on accurate science. Twitter, of course, limits itself to 140 characters, which means you either have to click on a link to get more information, or just accept that the 140 characters are factual. And if you can make a complex scientific argument in 140 characters, I’m impressed.
Facebook is filled with false memes on just about everything from politics to medicine. The anti-vaccination crowd fills Facebook with their amusing and highly inaccurate memes. For more than a year, there have been dozens of photos of bananas with a few words that some Japanese scientists claim that ripe bananas have high levels of “tumor necrosis factor“, so eat bananas to cure cancer and maintain a healthy immune system. Facebook is famous for these things, little pictures with a few words, no sources of the information, and broad conclusions. Eat bananas. Cure cancer. And people share them with a click of the button and move on to the next cute cat picture. It’s really the lazy person’s way of learning. Although who doesn’t enjoy the cute cat pictures?
But what are the facts? What can bananas do nor not do? Let’s start at the beginning.
The mysterious Japanese Study
The actual study was published here (pdf) (or here, also pdf) in Food Science and Technology Research in 2009. I have several issues with the article with respect to the banana meme, especially in trying to make any conclusion that bananas have anything to do with “curing cancer” in humans:
- The authors do not make one single claim (as best as I can tell) that there is tumor necrosis factor in a banana. No, this article does not say anything about bananas having TNF. Really, nothing else I write about this article really matters, because they just don’t make any claim whatsoever about TNF and bananas.
- The study is in a mouse model, and many animal model experiments just don’t transfer to human clinical research. It’s not that it is impossible, but until it does, it’s difficult to make an appropriate prediction from such an experiment. So, even if the authors claimed that bananas had TNF (and that would be Nobel Prize winning research), we have no clue as to whether it has any clinical impact. But let’s not forget that the authors make not a single claim that TNF is in bananas.
- The article is published in a low impact journal. This journal has an impact factor of less than 1.0, which indicates a very low quality journal and it’s not even indexed in PubMed, which further indicates its low value.
- The bananas are not fed to the mice, the are injected into the peritoneal cavity. I am not sure why the authors did that, and I am unclear what it is supposed to prove. That it induces TNF activity might be expected since the body would react to any foreign substance (an apple, viruses, bacteria, anything) injected into the peritoneum, and production of TNF might be expected. But the TNF does not flow out of the banana, it is just the immune system’s reaction to a banana injected into the body.
- What is the clinical significance of what was induced? In other words, is there actually TNF isolated from the bananas in a form that actually can do something? Or is there some other effect just because there’s a blob of intraperitoneal banana extract which induces some other immune response.
- Bananas produce small amounts of serotonin (5-hydroxy tryptamine) and dopamine, depending on their stage of ripeness. These can have a stimulatory effect on neutrophils and macrophages in a living organism, and these can in turn produce the touted TNF-a, Interleukin-12 (IL-12) and other cytokines. In this role serotonin and dopamine are said to serve as a “biological response modifier” (BRM). In plain English, the stuff in ripe bananas can (but not necessarily will) stimulate a subset of white blood cells to produce chemical signals to deal with a variety of threats. However, this is a small effect, and it will not help you fight off cancer.
- No one has repeated this experiment, and certainly no one has shown this effect in humans. There is not a single double-blind clinical trial to show that bananas induce a TNF-alpha response in humans. And one more point to remember: bananas do not produce TNF. It is simply an evolutionary impossibility, unless through some amazing instance of evolutionary convergence, the banana plant evolved the ability to produce the TNF molecule for a completely different purpose for the banana plant. This would violate several principles of evolution, since there are reasons why the TNF molecule evolved in mammals and not in plants.
- The “Japanese scientists” made no claim that there’s TNF in a banana, but the junk medicine pushers continue to make the claim, facts be damned. The problem is that anyone with a basic comprehension of biochemistry would understand that tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is a fairly complex protein, with a highly specific role in the human immune system (something notably lacking in a plant), so the chances that a banana would have some substance that exactly mimics or copies TNF is so tiny as to be close to impossible. A banana has no need for TNF, since it lacks an immune system of a vertebrate, so evolving a complex protein like TNF would be crazy; in fact, if it did, we’d have to rewrite our understanding of evolution. Let’s make this clear–we don’t have to rewrite evolution, because there is no TNF in bananas.
- Even if we could assume that a banana makes TNF, the digestive tract would break down the complex proteins and substances, such as TNF, into its constituent components, such as amino acids, simple sugars, and fats, before being absorbed into the bloodstream. The TNF probably wouldn’t survive intact within the digestive tract. The true scientific skeptic would, even if they thought that maybe a banana evolved a TNF molecule by some strange mechanism, know that it could not enter the body.
- Since TNF has a very specific action on the immune response, and not directly on cancer cells, how do we eat sufficient bananas (even if it did have TNF and it could be absorbed into the bloodstream) to increase the level locally to actually cause the appropriate immune response? And which one of the 200 or so cancers would it effect? It is clear that the name, tumor necrosis factor, leads one to believe that a drop of it on a cancer immediately kills the cancer. I would have to write a 20 page paper just to describe how TNF is regulated and disregulated within the immune system both locally and generally in response to a wide variety of immune challenges, including cancers. It is incredibly complex, and the name is simply one given without consideration to future alternative medicine pushers who jump on it as the the “cure” to all cancers. It isn’t.
- Which leads us to how TNF causes many of the clinical problems associated with autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, hidradenitis suppurativa and refractory asthma. So, if a banana had TNF, if it could pass into the bloodstream from the digestive system, and if it could reach high enough levels to actually do something, it probably wouldn’t have any effect on any of the cancers, but it could have serious side effects. However, I wouldn’t worry about it, since there are so many “if’s” that it’s just not possible.
- And this “boost the immune system” myth? The immune system is an incredibly complex system, with an almost infinite number of interactions between various proteins, compounds, organs, factors, and cells. As long as you’re healthy, so is your immune system, there is nothing you can do to make it stronger, better, or “boostier.” Well, vaccinations help, but they rely upon an appropriate immune response. So even if you won the Nobel Prize by finding some miracle compound that “boosts the immune system,” it would work on one tiny part of that system, and it would have a zero net effect.
So here we go again. Someone reads that some scientists discovered bananas cure cancer. They didn’t dig up the actual paper to find out that the scientists didn’t actually say that it did. They didn’t think through the problem that bananas wouldn’t actually contain tumor necrosis factor or that the digestive tract wouldn’t actually absorb it. Or that you couldn’t possibly eat enough bananas to get enough TNF to do any good. Or that if you could that it would have some very bad effects.
If you want to eat a banana, go ahead. It does have some benefits I’m sure. But it isn’t going to prevent cancer. It’s not going to cure cancer. It’s not going to do make you live longer. It’s just going to provide nutrition.
Key citations
- Iwasawa, Haruyo, and Masatoshi Yamazaki. “Differences in biological response modifier-like activities according to the strain and maturity of bananas.” Food science and technology research 15.3 (2009): 275-282. doi:10.3136/fstr.15.275
So: when a journal is not indexed in the MainStream PubMed, it is of low value? That's quite an arrogant statement.
Well, it is one of the major ways we decide if research has value or not. Non scientists seem to think that all evidence has equal value, when a true skeptic knows that it doesn't.
And PubMed indexes lame journals on Homeopathy, so I don't think they intentionally exclude it for some nefarious purpose. It's excluded because it doesn't meet the minimum standards for PubMed, which isn't all that high. And part of indexing is the responsibility of the publisher.
So, please get your facts right. Dank U Well.
i reviewed the paper and the authors do oral administration as well as intraperitoneal injections, and they find that there is an increase in cytokine production in both instances.
That wasn't the point of my post. the point is, and continues to be, that this published article does NOT show that bananas contain TNF. Moreover, even if it did, it could not be absorbed to have a physiological effect.
Moreover, the article fails as high quality research, since it was not published in a high impact journal. Furthermore, there isn't a single other peer reviewed article that states that bananas contain TNF.
Again, the paper might have some value, but it is limited and does not provide any support to the hypothesis that bananas have TNF.
Saying the word "science" over and over doesn't mean the "science" you have chosen to accept as fact actually is. One scientist contradicts another scientist every day, yet, they may not both be correct. Beyond their "science", I'd investigate who is funding the said scientific research and what they have to gain. Simply put: follow the money. If you think Big Agro and Big Pharma are a bunch of swell guys that love you, then be my guest… just don't expect everyone to fall for their "science".
That said, maybe bananas are not special. And maybe there is no god. But maybe, on both accounts, they are and there is. Some of you are about as scientific as you are open-minded i.e. not quite as much as you think you are. What we do not know vastly exceeds what we do know.
You apparently have poor reading skills. No scientist contradicted anyone, it was some ignorant fool on Facebook who totally misinterpreted it.
Moreover, yeah I can say science over and over, because I know what it means. It is not magic, unlike pseudoscience and faith and belief. Science is a logical methodology to find evidence or no evidence for a hypothesis through experimental data, analysis, and publication. The fact is that if you actually had read the article, you would determine that the authors of the study did NOT state that bananas contained TNF. They did mash up bananas, surgically placed it in a mouse abdomen, and measure the blood levels of certain proteins. I could have shoved a piece of paper in their and done the same thing, because the mammalian immune system releases certain factors based on what is challenging the health.
Finally, I don't care about maybes. I care about hypotheses and evidence in support or nullification of said hypotheses. Furthermore, I am openminded to evidence, that's it. Not rhetoric. Not logical fallacies. And certainly not outright crap.
All this shit you people argue/ talk about is funny as hell. Kind of more interesting than the article. Lol
I'm insulted.
Funny, I've never seen an article touting the consumption of Brussell Sprouts, broccolli and other brassicas to prevent prostate and bladder cancer due to sulfurophanes…. But its a true story, with peer reviewed articles that back it up. Maybe brussell sprouts just aren't as tasty as bananas…
personally I really do love brussells sprouts sprinkled with pepper
I love brussel sprouts with a squeeze of lime juice
I had to share this and bookmark your blog, excellent debunking. As soon as I saw people sharing this, I though, "BS!" And bingo… Sad to see that even sources I sometimes take as credible had this one wrong… goes to show that skeptical research and the scientific method can never be abandoned.
Thanks for sharing this.
Excellent, A very wise peer review. Congrats!
Eat banana and enjoy healthy life , this is gift from God. thanks
There is no god. It's a gift from evolution and selective breeding of agriculture.
Michael Simpson Sorry maybe you are from evolution but i am not and that explain's why you come to your false data on a lot of this agriculture.A fool say's in his heart there is no God and i don't trust fool's
Michael Simpson – Thank you for sharing you atheistic lump; I mean that in a good kind of way . . . can't wait till you awaken. But to say there is no God is a pronouncement far more presumptuous than this present argument about the benefits of a banana.
There is no evidence for any of the 3400 gods that every claims to exist. It's not a pronouncement, presumptuous or otherwise. Those of you who pronounce the existence of gods are the ones who are presumptuous considering you've never brought one stitch of evidence. This is a science-y blog, and if you don't have evidence, I get to just plainly ignore it.
Bill Van Dyke Oh well. I'll live knowing that all life on earth evolved from a common ancestor about 1.5 billion years ago (possibly longer). And the great thing about science is that it CAN answer every question about the universe. Your god is getting such a small amount of the gap in knowledge. It's irrelevant.
Bill Van Dyke What false agricultural data are you talking about?
the fool in his heart says there is no God
No Theresa. Not really. It's the fools that believe in nonexistent gods (any of the 3400 presumed to be walking around the earth today). We are star stuff, and in 5 billion years, our atoms will be spread throughout the universe. I don't need to believe in something to be quite satisfied with my place in the universe.
you are really good at posing propaganda as science, I should have know by your GMO corn article and Pro vaccine views. Please contine to eat all the GMO foods you like and get every vaccine recommended by CDC twice! you will be the healthiest person in the world… but as far as the article mentioned above in reference to bananas, I read the complete article.
NO WHERE in the article do the authors suggest that rip bananas produce TNF's, the article marly suggests that rip bananas have higher rates of BMR's – Biological Response Modifiers.
"Bananas contain many anti-oxidative substances. We also intend to evaluate differences in the anti-oxidative activ- ity among strains and maturity levels. Due to the association between immunostimulatory and anti-oxidative effects, oral banana intake has the potential to help prevent lifestyle- related diseases and carcinogenesis."
cant wait for your next article: "GMO salmon is better then natural salmon".
So a strawman argument and ad hominem is your technique for refuting scientific evidence? Good for you. And if you were technically able to read, I wasn't really refuting the article published, but idiots that used the article as the proof source that bananas contained TNF and, thus, prevented or cured cancer. Your critical thinking skills are amazingly low.
La Fe…aw the Monsanto ploy. Bores me, but I'll play. Do you have any evidence of this? Because you sound like those global warming deniers that frequent the backwoods of the internet. You use the same illogical conspiracy statements. That's boring. Bring me some science. I'll read that.
Michael Simpson Cut Tovanyan some slack. He is a chiropractor. He is not trained in science or medicine.
I love how they scream BT corn contains *teh toxins*, yet BT has been authorized for use on organic crops for 50 years.
Thanks! I'm going to bring this article into a class on critical thinking.
leggete!
Essa foi boa, parabéns. That's great, congratulations by the work.
Interesante. Realmentela investigacion amplia es lo ideal para deducir, aseptar o nó, cave a cada uno la decición.
I like you.
Critical banana review.
well eating bananas is better than eating burnt meat isn't it?
No. Thank you for asking.
you've gone bananas over a banana:)
Marie Fe Decierdo Roederer.
http://safeaccess.ca/research/pdf/MD_AndersonCancerStudy.pdf
s
Tumor Necrosis Factor is mentioned in the study, its referred to as TNF alpha (symbol is used) and it does state that in different strains at different levels of maturity it is increased. However it makes no reference to anti-cancer properties. TNF is generally misconceived to be directly associated with cancer due to its name, however it is cytokine which is part of the immune signalling system and is associated with many parts of the immune system.
I applaud your work on cracking bad science, it makes me angry these things are passed around willy nilly with no real knowledge and no source reference to back it up.
thank you for this information..
I'd be more apt to buy and eat a green Orange than a brown Banana…Except for bread….orange Banana bread..Hummmm Maybe there's something to this!
And can I get a side of Corn Syrup with that ?
NIH August, 2012 TNF study on MS patients. Interesting.
Yes banana is better than chips Let the writer also send expert comments on chips/Burgers/French fries/Icecreams/Coke/Pepsi too to bring in parity of scientific analysis.
[...] wrote an article a few months ago debunking a link between bananas and preventing cancer, because the study didn’t actually write anything about [...]
Your Point 4 appears contrary to the summary and detail in the report I have just read :
"The priming effect of cytokine production was observed.
both in mice subjected to intraperitoneal injection and those.
subjected to oral administration."
Could you explain this apparent discrepancy?
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=310403819071807&set=a.241405075971682.47251.241392719306251&type=1&theater
The link above is what made me curious about this claim. I, for one, will just keep using the banana peel to whiten my teeth and not cure cancer. 8)
I wonder where this explanation comes from. who put this on the internet. which scientist working for which multinational. I was told that the spots come from "treatment"… the "normal"bananas" coming from gardens of people living in the rainforest don't have these spots here in Peru… so what?
@Lizette……I totally agree!
bananas are good food but not a miracle fruit…some people are `willing to repeat anything like a mindless parakete and say is a fact instead of trying to learna bit more of the issue…it hapens all the time.This is a great article with real facts, good job.
Thank you for your research, there are far too many real cancer fighting foods out there for people with cancer to be consuming without wasting what little time they may have left consuming foods that ae not likely to work.
thank u for the inf. its very scientific and in dept.
intresting..
Ahh but how do we know you're not lying!!
Grammar Police:
"It’s not going to do make you live longer" at the end of the article.
:3
Lovely article!
Heya, in point 7 you have "There is a single double-blind clinical trial to show that bananas induce a TNF-alpha response in humans." — I'm thinking you meant that there is NOT a single… etc?
Love your blog
bu ne ya…:))).
Hello I cant read the study I would like that somebody tell me how I can read it.
You can't download the link? I'm going to add a secondary link, in case the original one is down.
thanks
Should be working now. There are now three separate links to the original article embedded.
yes now I can read the original article, is interesting because there are not other investigations like this one
I really loved the way you wrote…thanks…it really did help…I quoted one of your paragraph to put under one of the bananas…:)
Hello again. I just found something interesting on a website called "Hoax or Fact". Could you please check it out at your leisure and comment on this? The reason is, they claim the opposite that you have. They have a lot of scientific garlbe-de-gook that I and most others don't understand. I'd like to see if they are possibly correct in a different way?, or out of their minds?, or something else. Thank you. Here's the link – http://www.hoaxorfact.com/Health/full-ripe-banana-with-dark-patches-combats-abnormal-cells-and-cancer.html.
Thank you So Very much for doing this hard work, so that us layman folk can have some glimmer of truth in our lives.
INTERESTING.
Fantastic article! Actually found it quite enjoyable to read…love your writing style. Thank you for the great info! Will have to look at more articles here.
VERY INTERESTING
agree it was a good article,,:-)
I just "fell" here after someone posted the link to this article on a facebook status about that banana thingie.
Now I see your site is called "Skeptical Raptor". I may need to stick around and read the other articles… that's a really awesome name for a site, really xD.
Please do stick around. I do talk about more than just that "banana thingie." Hmmmmmm?!? Seriously, that banana TNF meme was about as lame as one could get.
Just curious, since we breathe while eating the banana, would it be possible to detect micro-organisms, potentially not vegetable, that would be present in an over-ripe banana as it begins to break down and ferment the sugars that would be absorbed in small numbers into the lungs, not broken down by digestive juices in the stomach? Actually I agree in principle about pseudo-scientific claims that are profligate on Facebook, but too often the baby is thrown out with the bathwater. This may deserve a closer look.
Maybe, but they still wouldn’t produce TNF. And you still couldn’t absorb TNF in the lungs.
Hmmm, is the molecule too large? Seems as if most other “pollutants”enter the bloodstream through the lungs? Is this a reasoned response, or another internet “factoid?”
No. Knowledge of physiology. “Pollutants” that cross the pulmonary barrier would be small molecules. Very small. Or have particular chemical profiles that allow them to do so easily, such as certain narcotics and anesthetics. TNF is not one of them. I don’t play around with internet factoids, other than to deconstruct and debunk them. You’re trying to violate parsimony to invent some method to get a banana to provide the human body with TNF, when the original study said no such a thing, when it’s nearly impossible for the banana to do so (or some microorganism to generate it too), or for the molecule to enter the body in some creative way.
Yes, I am inventive, and I do appreciate the more thouough response. Keep up the good work. we do appreciate what you do. Not long ago it was thought that injecting stem cells into a Joint would not create cartilage, but now… with the right additive it is working.
[...] here, but in fact the truth is that this linkage in the science is extremely tenuous, and based on implanting banana rather than eating [...]
Just curious, since we breathe while eating the banana, would it be possible to detect micro-organisms, potentially not vegetable, that would be present in an over-ripe banana as it begins to break down and ferment the sugars that would be absorbed in small numbers into the lungs, not broken down by digestive juices in the stomach? Actually I agree in principle about pseudo-scientific claims that are profligate on Facebook, but too often the baby is thrown out with the bathwater. This may deserve a closer look.
Maybe, but they still wouldn't produce TNF. And you still couldn't absorb TNF in the lungs.
Hmmm, is the molecule too large? Seems as if most other "pollutants"enter the bloodstream through the lungs? Is this a reasoned response, or another internet "factoid?"
No. Knowledge of physiology. "Pollutants" that cross the pulmonary barrier would be small molecules. Very small. Or have particular chemical profiles that allow them to do so easily, such as certain narcotics and anesthetics. TNF is not one of them. I don't play around with internet factoids, other than to deconstruct and debunk them. You're trying to violate parsimony to invent some method to get a banana to provide the human body with TNF, when the original study said no such a thing, when it's nearly impossible for the banana to do so (or some microorganism to generate it too), or for the molecule to enter the body in some creative way.
Yes, I am inventive, and I do appreciate the more thouough response. Keep up the good work. we do appreciate what you do. Not long ago it was thought that injecting stem cells into a Joint would not create cartilage, but now… with the right additive it is working.
If I believe it will, a banana can heal me of cancer. Mind is the builder.
have a healthy lifestyle and that would make your life longer….enjoy eating veggies and fruits….NO MEAT!
We live much longer because of vaccines, sanitation, better medications and healthcare, and food supply. There is very little scientific evidence that a vegan diet is going to make you live longer, though a lower calorie diet, and one that has more plants and less meat probably will reduce risks of cardiovascular disease and some cancers.
have a healthy lifestyle and that would make your life longer….enjoy eating veggies and fruits….NO MEAT!
We live much longer because of vaccines, sanitation, better medications and healthcare, and food supply. There is very little scientific evidence that a vegan diet is going to make you live longer, though a lower calorie diet, and one that has more plants and less meat probably will reduce risks of cardiovascular disease and some cancers.
We are Organic and the food we have is not.I came from the farm and i do know a little about our food supply and you are very wrong.
It could be something to do with the Potassium-40 in the bananas and how Potassium-40 regulates itself in the human body. http://hps.org/publicinformation/ate/q4905.html…. http://boingboing.net/2010/08/27/bananas-are-radioact.html and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium Interesting how some of these potassium rich foods are considered good for fighting cancer…
Well, there was no claim by anyone but the “internet” that bananas did anything for cancer, including the paper discussed in this article. As of right now, there is no scientific evidence that any food prevents cancer or inhibits its progression.
“Large claims have been made for the effectiveness of particular diets in preventing cancer or inhibiting its progression. However, more recent clinical studies have not confirmed this.” See: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21904992
And there’s just no other evidence for anything else having anything to do with preventing or inhibiting cancer. However, and this is important, reducing calories has clearly been shown to reduce the risk of cancer. So, eating bananas (or any plant for that matter) can be very important in reducing your risk of cancer by reducing your calorie intake (as long as you don’t have a comorbidity like diabetes, and something like bananas just has too many sugars).
Potassium regulation in the body is just so complex, and in healthy humans, is usually just fine that you couldn’t do much to influence it. I doubt that an isotope of potassium would be that important…or even that healthy. K-40 is a beta emitter, and the less of it you have the fewer mutagenic events you might have.
It could be something to do with the Potassium-40 in the bananas and how Potassium-40 regulates itself in the human body. http://hps.org/publicinformation/ate/q4905.html…. http://boingboing.net/2010/08/27/bananas-are-radioact.html and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium Interesting how some of these potassium rich foods are considered good for fighting cancer…
Well, there was no claim by anyone but the "internet" that bananas did anything for cancer, including the paper discussed in this article. As of right now, there is no scientific evidence that any food prevents cancer or inhibits its progression.
"Large claims have been made for the effectiveness of particular diets in preventing cancer or inhibiting its progression. However, more recent clinical studies have not confirmed this." See: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21904992
And there's just no other evidence for anything else having anything to do with preventing or inhibiting cancer. However, and this is important, reducing calories has clearly been shown to reduce the risk of cancer. So, eating bananas (or any plant for that matter) can be very important in reducing your risk of cancer by reducing your calorie intake (as long as you don't have a comorbidity like diabetes, and something like bananas just has too many sugars).
Potassium regulation in the body is just so complex, and in healthy humans, is usually just fine that you couldn't do much to influence it. I doubt that an isotope of potassium would be that important…or even that healthy. K-40 is a beta emitter, and the less of it you have the fewer mutagenic events you might have.
"As of right now, there is no scientific evidence that any food prevents cancer or inhibits its progression."
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/pharmacological-action/apoptotic
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/pharmacological-action/anticarcinogenic-agents
Over 1300 published scientific studies showing the effectiveness of certain foods and substances in both preventing and KILLING cancer cells, would suggest otherwise.
Curcumin (Turmeric) being a prime example.
Pour over some of the studies yourself before commenting please.
Conclusion
Banana flours prepared from pulp and peel of Cavendish variety had higher antioxidative compounds than those prepared from the Dream variety. In most of the cases the antioxidative compounds were generally higher in the peel than in the pulp and in the green than in the ripe components. The free radical scavenging properties of the extracts were not directly related to the TPC and TFC, suggesting the presence of other antioxidative compounds that had also contributed to the inhibition of DPPH radicals. http://www.ifrj.upm.edu.my/19%20(03)%202012/(35)%20IFRJ%2019%20(03)%202012%20Azhar.pdf
Banana peel extract suppressed prostate gland enlargement in testosterone-treated mice.
Akamine K, Koyama T, Yazawa K.
Laboratory of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods Science, Graduate School of Marine Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, 4-5-7 Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8477, Japan.
Abstract
A methanol extract of banana peel (BPEx, 200 mg/kg, p.o.) significantly suppressed the regrowth of ventral prostates and seminal vesicles induced by testosterone in castrated mice. Further studies in the androgen-responsive LNCaP human prostate cancer cell line showed that BPEx inhibited dose-dependently testosterone-induced cell growth, while the inhibitory activities of BPEx did not appear against dehydrotestosterone-induced cell growth.
These results indicate that methanol extract of banana peel can inhibit 5alpha-reductase and might be useful in the treatment of benign prostate hyperplasia.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19734683
..It seems to make your hair grow too.. LOL…. do we ever see bald monkeys? http://www.millerarts.com/discuss/viewtopic.php?p=21103
More research on the humble banana.. it is still looking good … http://www.academicjournals.org/ajpp/pdf/pdf2010/January/Ampasavate%20et%20al.pdf
[...] that may not exceed a few words, then it’s even more imperative that we separate the absurd (bananas kill cancer) from the merely misinterpreted (egg yolks are just as bad as [...]
We humans have a need to explain and moralize over bad things. Especially bad things that happen to good people. It’s a cognitive dissonance in collision with dearly held axioms and epistemologies. So if there is cancer, there must be something proactive one can do to avoid it, and more importantly, something those *other people* failed to do to ensure their health. It’s a way to blame the victim, gain invincibility, and feel sanctimonious gratification at the same time.
Some people can’t accept that much of the stuff that falls on us is subject to so many complex and intertwined causal factors with so many variables, that for all practical purposes it may as well be random. That scares people enough to set aside all critical judgment and accept any postulation that offers them control. And so they eat bananas.
Long life and good health is probably a result of genetics more than anything. And you have almost no control over that!
Excellent post. I need to use it when I run into some sanctimonious vegan.
Thanks! I wouldn’t so thoroughly discount environmental factors when it comes to health. Advances in epigenetics research suggest a relationship of dizzying complexity between the chemical switches and even stressors and behavior, much less exposure to pollutants. Frightening to imagine that some limited acquired traits might be inheritable, after all. Won’t it be fun to pick out and deride the crypto-Lysenkoists and paleo-Lamarckists coming out of the woodwork?
But first we must correct those who don’t understand TLVs, and how they are determined.
We humans have a need to explain and moralize over bad things. Especially bad things that happen to good people. It's a cognitive dissonance in collision with dearly held axioms and epistemologies. So if there is cancer, there must be something proactive one can do to avoid it, and more importantly, something those *other people* failed to do to ensure their health. It's a way to blame the victim, gain invincibility, and feel sanctimonious gratification at the same time.
Some people can't accept that much of the stuff that falls on us is subject to so many complex and intertwined causal factors with so many variables, that for all practical purposes it may as well be random. That scares people enough to set aside all critical judgment and accept any postulation that offers them control. And so they eat bananas.
Long life and good health is probably a result of genetics more than anything. And you have almost no control over that!
Excellent post. I need to use it when I run into some sanctimonious vegan.
Thanks! I wouldn't so thoroughly discount environmental factors when it comes to health. Advances in epigenetics research suggest a relationship of dizzying complexity between the chemical switches and even stressors and behavior, much less exposure to pollutants. Frightening to imagine that some limited acquired traits might be inheritable, after all. Won't it be fun to pick out and deride the crypto-Lysenkoists and paleo-Lamarckists coming out of the woodwork?
But first we must correct those who don't understand TLVs, and how they are determined.
Seth, one of the greatest comment i have ever read…. you perfectly caught what's going on in the mind of 90% users of facebook…..
what does being a vegan have to do with bananas not actually curing cancer? :-/
I happen to be a sanctimonious vegan who totally agrees with this post. There's no doubt that the banana is good for health, but I study cancer and I know that that poster going around on FB is a load of crap.
Because I’ve seen some of you post the bananas image.
…If Bananas can prevent illness, then I’m half a step away from becoming immortal.
Eating that many huh? Studies of primate eating behavior show that the great apes eat whatever is available and whatever they like, there is no “optimal” food. If you like bananas, and they do no harm, go for it. They’re cheap, delicious and probably do more good than harm.
Because I've seen some of you post the bananas image.
…If Bananas can prevent illness, then I'm half a step away from becoming immortal.
Eating that many huh? Studies of primate eating behavior show that the great apes eat whatever is available and whatever they like, there is no "optimal" food. If you like bananas, and they do no harm, go for it. They're cheap, delicious and probably do more good than harm.
go to the source: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/fstr/15/3/15_3_275/_pdf.
Who should go to the source?
people on face book. the one you put in you article.
go to the source: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/fstr/15/3/15_3_275/_pdf.
Who should go to the source?
people on face book. the one you put in you article.
ok, I read this, and still think eating two good servings of veggies and fruit a day can help “boost” your immune system by helping you become healthy.
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/fstr/15/3/15_3_275/_pdf
There is no way to boost your immune system. It is a complex system that, in a normal individual, is in perfect balance. You completely oversimplify the “immune system” which is includes organs, cells, factors, biochemicals, proteins, etc. What one thing is going to make them work better? If you’re eating a good balanced diet, you’re fine, but it’s not going to make your “immune system” better, it’s just going to keep it running, like 99% of humans.
ok, I read this, and still think eating two good servings of veggies and fruit a day can help "boost" your immune system by helping you become healthy.
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/fstr/15/3/15_3_275/_pdf
There is no way to boost your immune system. It is a complex system that, in a normal individual, is in perfect balance. You completely oversimplify the "immune system" which is includes organs, cells, factors, biochemicals, proteins, etc. What one thing is going to make them work better? If you're eating a good balanced diet, you're fine, but it's not going to make your "immune system" better, it's just going to keep it running, like 99% of humans.
I gotta disagree with your assumption that most people have a "perfect balance" of their immune system. A lot of people don't have a great diet. So given their reference frame, eating healthy foods would in fact BOOST their immune system because their are various vitamins, minerals, and other molecules that the immune system needs to operate. Having more of these molecules allows the system to complete more functions. I'm not done with the pdf science paper yet, but the abstract actually DOES say that ripened bananas have shown an increased activation of macrophages and neutrophils (which are part of the immune system).
You misinterpret what I'm saying. In a normal person, absent a chronic disease, the immune system does what it's supposed to do. You cannot possibly make it do better. It cannot fight off a cold faster. It cannot stop a cancer faster. It cannot heal a wound quicker. You cannot take more Vitamin XYZ to make it work better. If you're deficient in a vitamin, that's another problem. But you're completely wrong in "boosting" your immune system. That's a myth. But prove me wrong, provide a peer-reviewed article published in a high impact journal. Trust me I've looked, so I know what's out there.
Sure, the abstract talks about things about what the bananas do when it's placed in situ in the mouse abdominal cavity. It's clear that it was used to stimulate the immune system. You could place dirt in there. Parasites. Pieces of plastic. It may have done the same thing. But I was talking about TNF specifically, since that was the meme.
It is dangerous to attempt to "boost" your immune system. There are several fatal disorders and conditions related to an imbalanced immune system.
I’m watching as people fall uncritically for this nonsense left and right on Facebook.
I'm watching as people fall uncritically for this nonsense left and right on Facebook.
Let’s just leave it at this, eating a banana is healthier than eating chips.
When did “chips” enter the equation?
I think Lizette was just making a point. If you’re going to make an eating choice, maybe bananas don’t cure cancer, but a banana certainly is a better choice than eating chips (whether it’s the English version or American version). As a skeptic, I’d agree. Chips aren’t going to cause cancer, but those are not good calories.
Thanks for helping me out Michael S. But are you sure about those chips not causing cancer? My German friends are claiming otherwise. There might even be an article on it on facebook!
It would be almost impossible to point to one substance causing “cancer.” First, you have to remember there are over 250 cancers. Each develops differently, and what might cause one will not cause another. So, you would have to have a study of hundreds of thousands of people to identify their consumption of chips vs. types of cancers that might arise. Then you’d have to see what kind of other lifestyle choices they may have (smoking, other foods, exercise, general health). You may never be able to uncover a single food causing or preventing a cancer.
People claim supplements “prevent cancer”. Yet, in real epidemiological studies, there is no evidence that any supplement does anything to prevent any of those 250 cancers, while some of those supplements show evidence of increasing the risk (and in some case greatly increasing the risk).
Here’s one thing I “believe” without scientific evidence. Increased fitness and health allow you to increase your odds to beat cancer if you get it. But it doesn’t keep you from getting it. And it doesn’t increase those odds to 100%.
Lizette Boomgaard One more thing. Germans are the center of Medical Pseudocience these days. Not sure why, but it has a long history there, going back to pre-World War II.
lol Michael I think she was being sarcastic.
Where is your proof that bananas are healthier then chips? (lol.)
Saying it does “cure or prevent cancer” when it does not may mislead people to avoid proper medical attention when they do in fact have cancer.
Right there with you, Lizette, regarding the chips (either kind) and cancer. I think there is a correlation there.
Let's just leave it at this, eating a banana is healthier than eating chips.
When did "chips" enter the equation?
I think Lizette was just making a point. If you're going to make an eating choice, maybe bananas don't cure cancer, but a banana certainly is a better choice than eating chips (whether it's the English version or American version). As a skeptic, I'd agree. Chips aren't going to cause cancer, but those are not good calories.
Thanks for helping me out Michael S. But are you sure about those chips not causing cancer? My German friends are claiming otherwise. There might even be an article on it on facebook!
It would be almost impossible to point to one substance causing "cancer." First, you have to remember there are over 250 cancers. Each develops differently, and what might cause one will not cause another. So, you would have to have a study of hundreds of thousands of people to identify their consumption of chips vs. types of cancers that might arise. Then you'd have to see what kind of other lifestyle choices they may have (smoking, other foods, exercise, general health). You may never be able to uncover a single food causing or preventing a cancer.
People claim supplements "prevent cancer". Yet, in real epidemiological studies, there is no evidence that any supplement does anything to prevent any of those 250 cancers, while some of those supplements show evidence of increasing the risk (and in some case greatly increasing the risk).
Here's one thing I "believe" without scientific evidence. Increased fitness and health allow you to increase your odds to beat cancer if you get it. But it doesn't keep you from getting it. And it doesn't increase those odds to 100%.
Lizette Boomgaard One more thing. Germans are the center of Medical Pseudocience these days. Not sure why, but it has a long history there, going back to pre-World War II.
Where is your proof that bananas are healthier then chips? (lol.)
Saying it does "cure or prevent cancer" when it does not may mislead people to avoid proper medical attention when they do in fact have cancer.
Right there with you, Lizette, regarding the chips (either kind) and cancer. I think there is a correlation there.
Michael Simpson, that still does not make the original claim any more (or less) valid. No one was arguing that bananas weren't healthy, much less healthier than chips. But I see your point. I just can't stand fallacies, especially shifting the focus like that.
The original hypothesis that bananas prevented cancer? it doesn't.
I can just see people following this ‘revelation’ instead of just using their own judgement. A great artlicle.
Thanks! If people would just use a little critical thinking skills.
I can just see people following this 'revelation' instead of just using their own judgement. A great artlicle.
Thanks! If people would just use a little critical thinking skills.
[...] And this “boost the immune system” myth? The immune system is an incredibly complex system, with an almost infinite number of interactions between various proteins, compounds, organs, factors, and cells. As long as you’re healthy, so is your immune system, there is nothing you can do to make it stronger, better, or “boostier.” Well, vaccinations help, but they rely upon an appropriate immune response. So even if you won the Nobel Prize by finding some miracle compound that “boosts the immune system,” it would work on one tiny part of that system, and it would have a zero net effect. (Note: I’ve written further updates on the Banana TNF meme.) [...]