#so lets share a banana bud get your potassium for the day

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Thank you for the potassium buddy, I saved you half!!

I'm also deeply confused!!!! :-D

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Celebrity gardener David Domoney's 1p gardening trick that all gardeners need to know!

It’s spring! The sun is out and the April showers have given your garden the boost it needs to get growing. So now is the time to do a bit of prep work to reap the benefits. But with so much to do in the garden in May, what is top of the priority list?

This Morning’s celebrity gardener David Domoney, broadcasting live from his own garden in Warwickshire, shared his expert tips and tricks – to help us improve our gardens this month.

More: Brilliant budget garden ideas to boost outdoor spaces without breaking the bank!

Practice makes perfect! Join me on @thismorning for my top #gardening tips for May. See you very soon. pic.twitter.com/CdsSq7ugWs

— David Domoney (@daviddomoney) May 5, 2020

David Domoney’s gardening tips

1. Prune your shrubs

‘When it comes to pruning, it’s a great time,’ David explains. ‘Most things, you’re pruning to remove dead, diseased and damaged branches in shrubs, roses and trees.

David does warn, ‘It’s not a great time for cutting hedges and the like, because we’ve got to be wary for birds.’ He explains the RSPB recommends refraining from pruning hedges between March to August, because of nests.

Image credit: TI Media

2. Always prune to an out-facing bud

David demonstrates on a branch of his apple tree how to prune with precision. The direct in which you angle the cut – so if the cut slants left the growth will follow that direction.

He goes on to say when pruning trees, apples and the like ‘always try to keep them almost like a wine glass’ – as in their shape. This will encourage growth, ‘around the outside, and free of crossing branches in the middle.’

3. Use the 1p garden hack

I’m often asked ‘How do you tell if a plants alive or dead at this time of year if it hasn’t come into leaf?’. His response, ‘All your need is an expensive bit of equipment’ he jests, as he goes on to explain, ‘it costs a penny, it is a penny!’

He goes on to demonstrate how you use the 1p coin to scrape away a small patch of the bark on a branch, to determine the health of the plant. If it’s brown, it’s dead and if it’s green or white (depending on the branches) it’s still alive and well. This simple garden hack instantly tells you which plants are alive or dead.

4. Feed gardens with natural plant food

He stresses the importance of healthy soil for feeding plants. ‘Healthy soil is a healthy garden’ he exclaims. He goes on to share his top tip for feeding your garden naturally.

‘Collect up some nettles, put in a bucket and let that stand for about seven days for a good source of nitrogen to boost the foliage of your plants – when you use the water that’s rotted those down .’

Image credit: Spike Powell

Alternatively ‘Comfrey is a good source of potassium which is good for fruit and flowers’ he says. Saying you can grow this yourself, or collect some on a woodland walk.

Lastly he shares the tip of using bananas, ‘or at least the skins’ he says. The skins are especially good for roses.

‘Please feed your plants an organic matter in your soil, it helps to make plants healthy’ he concludes.

Related: Wildlife garden ideas – how to turn your outdoor space into a haven for wildlife

He finishes his segment by explaining the importance of simply watering the garden.

‘There’s something about being outside and engaging with nature that makes us feel better, both physically and mentally’ David rightly points out.

The post Celebrity gardener David Domoney's 1p gardening trick that all gardeners need to know! appeared first on Ideal Home.

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Bananas grow all year-round in India, and Indians consume a whopping 30 tons of the produce annually. The health benefits of banana include weight loss, reducing obesity, curing intestinal disorders, relieving constipation, and curing conditions like dysentery, anaemia, tuberculosis, arthritis, gout, kidney and urinary disorders. These benefits of bananas are attributed to its rich vitamin, mineral, and phytochemical content.

Now let’s delve deeper into understanding why bananas are so appealing to everyone.

Bananas are the nation’s 7th largest crop and 26 out of 29 Indian states grow bananas. Banana is not only popular in India but also worldwide. You will be amazed to know that global banana exports reached about 18 million tons in 2015 and about half of them catered to the United States and the European market.

Bananas are good for reducing blood pressure, protecting heart health, boosting metabolism and immunity, reducing the severity of ulcers, ensuring healthy eyes, building strong bones, and detoxifying the body. It can also help with menstrual problems.

Did You Know? – There are about 1,000 different types of banana plants – The so-called “banana tree” is not a tree; in fact, it is the world’s largest herb – Sportsmen eat bananas during the breaks in between games for an extra surge of energy

Bananas are a rich source of carbohydrates and hence have the ability to provide instant energy. They are also a good source of dietary fibre and protein. Furthermore, bananas contain the amino acid tryptophan, which gets converted to form 5-HTP (hydroxytryptophan) in the brain. This, in turn, forms melatonin, a hormone that regulates the sleep and wakefulness cycle of your body.

Bananas have been considered as one of the healthiest options for fruit consumption for many years due to their impressive nutritional content, which includes vitamins like vitamin C, B complex vitamins as well as trace amounts of other vitamins. In terms of minerals, banana delivers a significant amount of potassium, manganese, magnesium, and copper.

Given below are a few health benefits of bananas.

Reduces Inflammation

The compounds inside bananas are anti-inflammatory in nature, meaning that they can reduce swelling, inflammation, and irritation from conditions like arthritis and gout. These conditions are very common in older people and individuals having an unhealthy diet.

Prevents Kidney Disorders

Potassium, in bananas, helps regulate the fluid balance in the body and can ease the strain on the kidneys by encouraging urination. This prevents toxin accumulation in the body and their accelerated release through increased frequency and volume of urination.

Furthermore, there are antioxidant compounds (such as gallocatechin) in bananas that positively impact kidney function while also stimulating the proper functioning of the kidneys.

Aids In Weight Gain

When consumed with milk, bananas help to increase a person’s weight rapidly. Milk provides the necessary proteins and bananas provide the sugars. Furthermore, since one can easily digest bananas, an underweight person can easily consume 5-6 bananas in a day apart from the regular meals without facing indigestion. This leads to an additional 500-600 calories, which is quite necessary for weight gain.

Promotes Satiety

Bananas contain a lot of fibre and are therefore easy to digest. Furthermore, they do not contain any fats. Therefore, they are good for weight loss.  The roughage slows down the feeling of hunger by inhibiting the release of the hunger hormone, ghrelin. Roughage is the fibrous indigestible material in vegetable foodstuffs which aids the passage of food and waste products through the gut.

Both pectin and resistant starch present in bananas are known to promote satiety after meals preventing overeating. Bananas, therefore, reduce overeating, keeping the person healthy.

Improves Digestive Health

Bananas contain significant amounts of dietary fibre and therefore help in regularizing bowel movements. Fibre is able to bulk up the stool and stimulate the body’s peristaltic motion. Thus, facilitating bowel movements through the intestinal tract. This can help reduce unhealthy digestive conditions, as well as colorectal cancer!

Reduces Piles

Piles are characterized by having a difficulty in passing stools that may lead to bleeding. Bananas have anti-inflammatory properties, which help treat piles by reducing the inflammation and associated pain that often leads to itching and consequent worsening of the condition.

How To Include Bananas In Your Diet?

Banana is a delicious fruit, and there are many ways in which you can consume it-

Mix it with other fruits and consume as a fruit salad.

Sprinkle a little black salt on bananas to make them taste delicious.

You can also make a banana smoothie by blending it with low-fat yoghurt.

Another way to eat a banana is to either cut it into slices or mash it and add in your sandwich.

Banana flowers also called banana buds and you can use their extracts (alcohol based) to ward off infections. You can also use banana leaves for serving food. Now you know what makes banana so appealing, and why most of the people worldwide are going bananas over the bananas. Hope you find this article useful. Share your views in the comments box below.

Disclaimer- The amino acids in bananas can dilate the blood vessels, and this can cause headaches. Also, since they contain tryptophan, eating too many of them can cause sleepiness. Excess banana intake might increase blood sugar levels. Though the fruit has fibre to counter this effect, people with high blood sugar must eat it in moderation.

Nutrition Information 100g of Banana provides 89 Calories, Carbs – 23g (Dietary Fibre – 2.6g, Sugar – 12g), Protein – 1.1g, Fat – 0.3g (saturated fat – 0.1g), Sodium – 1mg, Potassium – 358 mg And a percentage daily value of Vitamin A – 1%, Vitamin C – 14%, Iron – 1%, Calcium – 0% (based on a 2000 Calorie diet).

Know More...Banana – World’s Most Appealing Fruit

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The Secret Foods Elite Athletes Eat

New Post has been published on http://www.greggsdiabetes.com/the-secret-foods-elite-athletes-eat/

The Secret Foods Elite Athletes Eat

Clare Gallagher, who won the 2016 Leadville Trail 100, began her ultrarunning career while undergoing a teaching fellowship in a rural corner of Thailand. There wasn’t a single sport-specific gel packet or PowerBar within a hundred-mile radius of her town. Gallagher, now 25, improvised, sucking down Coca-Cola, Thai milk coffee, pure sugarcane, and lots and lots of packets of sweet sticky rice.

Not only did Gallagher feel fine eating this unorthodox combo, but she also started kicking ass, winning her very first ultra. Now, when Gallagher looks at the prices of sports nutrition products, she rolls her eyes: “Westerners are so self-righteous with our extravagant nutrition strategies that cost more than a month of student loan payments—for one race,” she says.

Plus, gels, bars, and powdered sports drinks are not exactly fine dining—especially in large quantities, when it feels like your taste buds are being assaulted by pure sugar. This is why more endurance athletes these days are eating real food while training and racing. “It gives me something to look forward to,” says ultrarunner Dylan Bowman of his favorite salted fudge brownies.

We caught up with six athletes to hear about their favorite unorthodox fuels, and then asked Cara Anselmo, a New York–based registered dietitian to weigh in on what, if any, benefits these foods might convey. (A necessary disclaimer: Not every workout requires this kind of fueling. If you’re going out for under two hours, we suggest you stick with water and maybe a gel.)

Clare Gallagher, Ultrarunner

Favorite Race Food: Frosting and Sour Patch Kids

The Backstory: “When packing my fuel for Leadville, I was completely disenchanted at the thought of buying 20-plus gels, and I am a sucker for frosting anyway. It occurred to me that I’d actually like the frosting better than gels,” Gallagher says. “Same with Sour Patch Kids. I could buy endurance-specific gummies, or I could buy 1.9 pounds of Sour Patch Kids and have plenty to share with my crew for the rest of the weekend. I hate to think my genius frosting idea was born out of me being cheap, but it really was just that.”

The Result: Gallagher’s Leadville win, which was the second-fastest female time ever, speaks for itself. Still, though, observers gawk. “People say my diet is appalling and unhealthy. To them, I say, ‘I think I’m doing just fine, thank you very much.’ I can’t eat gluten. I eat very little meat. I avoid dairy because I also have Hashimoto’s disease. If someone has evidence that eating frosting and Sour Patch Kids instead of some $300 baby-food vomit formula repurposed into Premium Fuel for Endurance Athletes is going to kill me, then I’m all ears.” Plus, Gallagher is now officially sponsored by Frost’d, a coconut oil–based frosting company founded by fellow ultrarunner Jessica Hamel.

Anselmo’s Take: Frosting has simple carbs for quick energy and no fiber to wreak havoc on the GI tract, and it’s easy to eat. No chewing required.

Dylan Bowman, Ultrarunner

Favorite Race Food: Salted fudge brownies

The Backstory: “In 2013, my girlfriend, Harmony, and I had to do about six months of long-distance dating. One weekend, we met in Malibu, where I was running a 50-mile race. We hadn’t seen each other in more than a month, so she surprised me at the airport with a fresh batch of my favorite brownies. Up to that point, the brownies were a special indulgence, but in the context of the race that weekend, it dawned on me that they’d be a good addition to my nutrition arsenal. I didn’t bring enough gels to get me through the whole race, so I had Harmony give me a Red Bull and brownie bag at an aid station about halfway through the race.”

The Result: “There were probably seven brownies in the bag, and I ate them all over the course of about 20 miles. I ended up winning the race, which seemed to validate this new and unfamiliar nutrition strategy. I’ve had her make them before important races ever since.”

Anselmo’s Take: “These have quick simple carbs, plus chocolate gives a bit of caffeine, which, in moderation, can enhance energy and athletic performance. They are also likely have some sodium and potassium for electrolyte repletion.”

Amelia Boone, Obstacle Course Racer

Favorite Prerace Snack: Cinnamon Roll Pop-Tarts

The Backstory: “I ate one before the Spartan Race World Championships in 2013 and won the race. So now it may be semi-superstition-related, but I actually find they sit really well in my stomach.”

Also on the Menu: “My diet sounds like the standard American diet for kids. During races, I’ll eat gummy bears, baby-food squeeze pouches, and peanut M&M’s. After races, I house pints of ice cream; it’s the only thing I can eat for about 12 hours. My stomach tends to be in knots an unable to take solid foods after really long races—I mean, go figure, given what I eat during.”

Anselmo’s Take: “Pop-Tarts are my prerace fuel, too. They’re perfect for quick simple carbs, and there’s no fiber to cause gas, bloating, or diarrhea. Also, they’re a total childhood comfort food, which might help calm nerves prerace. I’ve brought them with me when traveling for races because they travel well and never go bad, which is kind of gross but kind of great.”

Phil Gaimon, Retired Pro Cyclist

Favorite Midrace Fuel: Chocolate croissants

The Backstory: During long stage races in Europe, Gaimon and his teammates would often grab extra pastries from the hotel’s breakfast buffet and save them for later in the day. “There wasn’t a moment in the race when I wasn’t counting down to unwrapping those things,” he says. “I remember a moment where I went nuts for ten minutes to pull back the breakaway on a climb at the Tour of Provence. So I started to eat the pain au chocolat, but I was out of breath, and then the descent was insane, but I wasn’t going to spit it out and waste it, so I did a 20-minute technical downhill just holding it in my mouth.”

Also in His Pockets: Gaimon is a certified cookie monster, and his fans know it. Sometimes, before races, people would hand him wrapped cookies.

Anselmo’s Take: “A chocolate croissant has carbs as well as some fat, which you’d need during multiday events. Also, the sheer deliciousness factor makes it appealing. It’s not cloyingly sweet like some other treats, so it’s good for someone who likes less-sugary things.”

Sean Burch, Mountaineer

Favorite Expedition Food: Peanut butter

The Backstory: “I’ve always loved peanut butter, ever since I was a kid. I started letting myself eat a little more of it, and I thought I’d gain weight, but I didn’t. Pretty soon I was eating more and more. Now I eat a pound a day. On expeditions, I make sure we bring peanut butter because I don’t trust that I’ll be able to get it there. And I crave it. I look forward to eating it every single day.”

The Result: It has become an obsession for Burch. “If there’s a sale on all-natural peanut butter, I buy the store out of it—the cashiers at my local store know me,” he says. “I wish I had a sponsor for peanut butter. I spend a fortune on it. But I’m willing to spend the money because it’s an investment in myself and my health.”

Anselmo’s Take: “It’s a great, no-chew food that’s full of protein.” Plus, Burch says he only buys the all-natural variety, so it has no added sugars or hydrogenated oils.

Aaron Gwin, Red Bull Mountain Bike Racer

Favorite Between-Ride Snack: Pancakes

The Backstory: “I make a batch of pancakes at home in the morning, and then bag up two to six of them, depending on how much riding I’m doing that day. I make them pretty healthy, adding protein powder to the batter so I get all the nutrition I need. I keep experimenting and adding new things. They’ve gotten a little out of control the more that I keep adding ingredients—things like sweet potatoes, bananas, peanut butter powder, and oats—but I dig them. Pancakes give me a good base of carbs and protein for training days to keep me going without having to stop for long periods of time to eat, plus they’re easy to pack and digest, and I like the taste of them plain.”

Anselmo’s Take: “Pancakes have carbs galore, plus the little extra protein is probably good for muscle recovery after an intense and long workout.”

Original Article