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Is there a miracle substance out there that can actually cure everything snake-oil salesmen promised from the backs of their wagons a century ago? Something you can take that will lower blood pressure, increase brain power, lower body weight and eradicate warts?

Yes, there is, and it doesn't come in a bottle of magic elixir, but wrapped in a bright yellow skin. It's the wonderful, all-purpose banana, and it lives up to all those claims and more. For instance, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently agreed to let growers advertise that the high potassium and low salt ingredients in the fruit help in lowering high blood pressure, and thus prevent strokes.

Legends say that eating fish increases brain power, but jokesters counter that if the fish is so smart, how does he let himself get caught? Actually, bananas do it better, and they smell much more pleasant. A group of Engish schoolkids recently tested higher when they were fed bananas three times a day over several weeks before their exams. It isn't certain the banana diet made them more intelligent, but the experiment clearly showed that the potassium and other natural chemicals in the fruit gave them added energy to study and remember more of the information.

Speaking of diets, when I retired nearly 20 years ago at age 65, I weighed 195 pounds, too much on a five-foot-eight frame. Today, I weigh 157, and I can thank bananas for being at least partly responsible for it. The other factors were cutting way back on junk food and an hour of daily exercise. I eat two bananas a day, one at breakfast with a small bowl of dry cereal, non-fat milk and a dash of honey. I have another small or half a banana as dessert for lunch or dinner. My daily calorie intake went from 3,000 to about 1,600, and because of the bananas, I never, never again crave snacks or junk food. If I'm working late and I feel the need to feed, a banana with a glass of non-fat milk does the trick.

As for curing warts, I'm still a bit skeptical. However, some who believe in alternative healing, claim that wrapping the banana skin over the wart for a day or so can do the trick. Gee, when I think of all those magic banana peels I've thrown away over the years ....

Learn more about this author, Ted Sherman.
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