This is the picture of the bunch of banana I bought from the local Vietnamese suburb, Cabramatta, in Sydney.  It is called the Monkey Banana.  I would say it is one of the best types of banana I have tried so far.  It seems pretty common in Malaysia but not so in Sydney.

Thirty, forty years ago, it would hardly be the subject of conversation at all.  What makes this special today is because it is “organic” and “natural”.  It is expensive but it is “the real thing”.

More and more people look for organic or natural food these days because they taste better, and more importantly, they have better nutritional value.  Why is nutritional value so important?  Ask anyone and they would tell you that it makes our body healthier. This is absolutely correct. More precisely, the nutrients from food, consisting of vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants, are the prime ingredients to nurture our body cells. You know, each one of us is made up of over 200 types of body cells to a total of some 70 trillion to 100 trillion cells. They are just like little babies diligently doing their work non-stop 24/7 inside our body. It is a small universe there. If these babies are well fed, they will be strong, and so we are. In other words, our health depends on the healthiness of our body cells.

But, how would we know if these babies are fed enough?  This is precisely why we have to focus not just on nutrition, but also optimal nutrition – that these babies are fed with complete and balanced mix of nutrients.  World renowned nutritional specialist on sports nutrition and on aging, Dr. Michael Colgan, states that we have to ingest a precise mix of 59 nutrients to optimize our body functions.

We also understand that being “complete and balanced” is extremely important. Imagine if we make a cake, we know the recipe requires so many parts of sugar, flour, butter, and egg.  There is no way we can get that same result if we either take away one ingredient or alter the proportion of ingredients.  To the body cells, the question on “balance” is a highly critical issue.  For instance, we all know that calcium is good for the bones.  However, it can only do the job if calcium is accompanied by the right ratio of magnesium and vitamin D.  Calcium alone would likely be left in the blood streams and eventually cause stone formation in the kidneys.

As we go down this path, we come to know that safety is a big issue too.  But let’s talk about it next time.

Live Life, Junius.
Reference:

Dr. Michael Colgan (Wikipedia) Bestsellers The New Nutrition: Medicine for the Millennium