Friday, March 26, 2010

Ask Chef Mary Fridays...Bananas

Dear Chef Mary,

Thank you for supporting LLS. I worked for them for a few years planning fundraising events and was inspired all the time by patients and survivors. You are so right about how good nutrition before, during and after treatment helps with beating these horrible blood cancers. In your article you mentioned that bananas are good for patients during treatment and I’m just curious if you know why?

Sincerely,

Rogan

Dear Rogan,

Both Michael and Eva were true inspirations. I was so thrilled to have met both of them. Bananas are a great fruit and wonderful for patients in treatment. They are loaded with B6 but more importantly, Potassium. Potassium is an electrolyte that helps regulate fluids in the body.

When a cancer patient is going through treatment, it’s very common to have diarrhea and nausea. Eating bananas, or any foods high in potassium, helps regulate fluid and keeps fluid loss to a minimum. Bananas are soft and easy to eat if sores are present or chewing is uncomfortable.

In Michael’s case, bananas gave him energy and satiated his appetite when other foods didn’t work.

Rogan, I hope this was helpful!

Happy Cooking!

Chef Mary