Banana is a natural remedy for many ills. When compared 
to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three
times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the
other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the
best value foods around. So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase
so that we say, “A banana a day keeps the doctor away!”
 Bananas contain three natural sugars – sucrose, fructose and glucose
combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial
boost of energy.

Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a
strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world’s leading athletes.

But energy isn’t the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also
help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions,
making it a must to add to our daily diet.

DEPRESSION: According to a recent survey people suffering from depression, feel much better after eating a banana.
This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body
converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and
generally make you feel happier.

Anemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in
the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium
yet low in salt, making it the perfect to beat blood pressure.  So much so,
the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to
make official claims for the fruit’s ability to reduce the risk of blood
pressure and stroke

Brain Power: 200 students at  Middlesex school were helped
through their exams by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and
lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the
potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore
normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to
laxatives.

Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a
banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and,
with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while
the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if one
suffers from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood
sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the
affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it
amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.

Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders
because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that
can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes
over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a “cooling” fruit
that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant
mothers. In Thailand, for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure
their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because
they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan.

Smoking: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6 / B12
they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help
the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat,
sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body’s water balance. When we
are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium
levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana
snack.

Strokes: According to research in “The New England Journal of Medicine,”
eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by
strokes by as much as 40%!

Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill
off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the
yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or
surgical tape!

  Forget the pills — eat a banana.  The vitamin B6 it contains regulates
blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

Let’s do a bit of self diagnostic of environment in which we wake-up every morning, drag ourselves until the day is over and ask just one question, how do I classify depression?

• A state when I feel no energy
• When I can only think of bad things
• Do not see light at the end of tunnel
• Fail to focus on issues (lack of concentration)
• Unhappy feeling
• Sleeplessness, fear and craving for food
• Unwell feeling on getting out of the bed in the morning

If you face any of the above in 24 hours, you might be experiencing depression, and it makes you powerless!

I wonder how many realize that one of the easy ways to shed off depression is by changing your focus to small positive things around you and also use of words that are not too negative.

World renowned transformation speaker Anthony Robbins, in his book “Awaken the Giant Within” writes the following:

“Once you understand the power of words, you become highly sensitized not only to those you use, but to those that people around you use as well. As a result of my new understanding of Transformational Vocabulary, I found myself helping other around me.”

If a little shift can change your mental state from depressed to “Fully awake” and as Tony says “Turbo Charged”, will you not experiment it? After all it is your health and career at stake!

I recently experimented it in my office with simple stuff –

When we all settle down after seeing our emails etc, we start with smiling at each other, at times we laugh without any reason. It is contagious and we all continue this crazy laughing for few minutes.

Honestly speaking, this small effort pushes extreme energy in our bodies for the day. We particularly make it a point to laugh when we are under pressure to meet some time lines.

(did you just observe, I replace the word deadline to a better and more positive word time-line).

It is as simple as that.

Lets examine the bottom line … why get a degree? why study at all? No jobs on the market, ultra qualified executives backed with experience can’t land a decent interview, so why bother at all? The general suggestion among the entrepreneurial circle for aspiring workers of tomorrow is to either land a blue collar gig, [...]

Recession Backed Layoffs Reach Asia, Further Negate Value of Education is a post from: PakMediaBlog All Rights Reserved.

“last man standing after an all night drinking marathon” Bill Cardoso, 1970

Hunter S. Thompson’s disparaging innuendoes have me all hot and bothered. Sometimes, you gotta live it to love it. Last man standing, yes? Here we go again. Coherence be damned.

After a half-night of incoherent, inarticulate boozing and a morning of colorful dreams accompanied with a massive headache, I can’t help thinking of Thompson and his suicide. Considering that my evening began with talk of a friend’s suicide, it makes sense. Was I resentful? Did I feel anger? I think I was broken a little. My friend lived the myth, right to the very end. I wish you love.

Visual artists of Pakistan, where are we headed? One of us gave in and ended his life. One can attribute personal disorders to such behavior and shove it under the carpet. I refuse to let it go. We are all responsible. I claim responsibility. I claim friendship and love. I claim empathy. It has been 2 years. I don’t think I can ever forget.

The myth (the goddamned myth) comes and bites us in the ass, yes? Am I fighting the myth or living it? How can I dissect something without objectivity? How can I be objective when I am so deeply immersed? Oh the burden of pop culture. It weighs me down.

Sometimes, nothing can be done. However, I get this nagging feeling that saying that, or thinking it even, is the easy way out. Perhaps I am too emotionally invested? Maybe I need to quit blaming myself and everyone else. But that again, is only natural. Maybe in a few years, I will come to terms with the entire business and have something more intelligent to say about it. Though, I doubt if one can ever be intelligent about the loss of a friend.

Meanwhile, I keep watching them as they live out their fiction and I live mine. Fiction is often the best fact – just like Thompson said. Just like he said.