B-A-N-A-N-A-S

EVER since I was a child, I take my meals usually with a piece banana on the side. It’s a trait I apparently share with people of an older generation and is a constant source of surprise or goofy wonderment for people whom I’ve just met. I learned the habit from my Mama and her mother, my Lola, but I’ve never questioned why they did it, and I suppose I grew up thinking this is the just a typical part of a meal. Bless my friends when I visit them for a get-together, they will usually have a bunch of bananas on hand, and of course I will be kapal enough to demand to take these home, if there are any left after our meal.

But I’m picky about what type of bananas I eat. It has to be the sweet orange-colored Lacatan, and not the white-fleshy Latundan which to me, tastes rather dull and flat. And I don’t eat the bananas with any kind of meal either. It has to be rice-based; so you won’t ever catch me eating a Lacatan while wolfing down a pasta dish or having a sandwich.

Somehow, a meal isn’t complete and my digestive system isn’t working well unless I have a banana. Apparently, this feeling of unease especially after a heavy meal with rice and meat isn’t some figment of my imagination. There is a scientific explanation to why bananas promote gut health.

(Meanwhile, I remember stories about a media colleague who supposedly consumes bananas like a monkey when she feels depressed. I don’t know how true that is because the stories are told by a guy she once dated, an equally weird person, but the said anecdotes have become part of the folklore in the publication where we used to work.)

According to the website Health Exchange, there are six good reasons to eat a banana:

■ They are one of the best fruit sources of vitamin B6, which helps produce red blood cells and help eliminate toxins from our bodies.

■ Bananas are a “respectable” source of vitamin C, which aids the body produce collagen and promotes the production of serotonin, a hormone that regulates our sleep and moods. (Aha, there you go! Depression away!)

■ They’re good for our complexion as it has manganese, which protects the skin against damage from free radicals.

■ Bananas also provide about 400 mg of potassium which is good for cardiovascular health and the regulation of one’s blood pressure.

■ They aid in digestion because it provides about 12 percent of one’s daily fiber needs. (Told ‘ya!) “Soluble fiber helps your body control your blood sugar level and get rid of fatty substances such as cholesterol. Insoluble fiber adds weight and softness to stools, making it easier for you to have regular bowel movements.”

■ Lastly, bananas gives us and fat- and cholesterolfree source of energy, so if you ever feel lethargic and need a pick-me-up in the middle day, have one.

And so, I write this odd ode to the banana because I was deprived of the fruit when I was recently checked in a hotel. There were no bananas for dinner, nor where there any for breakfast. On the upside, the establishment did offer other summer fruits like watermelons and cantaloupes, but I found it extremely weird that they had no bananas when it’s such an ubiquitious fruit served in most hotel restaurants.

(Which reminded me, on a recent lunch with friends at Abe restaurant in Trinoma, one of the veteran waitstaff who was familiar with my meal habits asked, “Ma’am, wala ka atang saging?” The waitstaff has known me from way back since my gang has been patronizing Bistro Remedios in Malate. I was so happy that he noticed, as he proceeded to fetch the bananas from the kitchen. Credit must go to the late restaurateur Larry J. Cruz for having trained his staff so well, and for keeping them on until they’re good and ready to retire.)

Anyway, back to the said hotel, “supply issues,”

nd was the response of the chef to the waitstaff to whom I addressed my query on the absent bananas at the breakfast buffet. To which I replied, only halfjokingly, “Ang lungkot naman.” (On the upside, the hotel has at least a lot of Greek yogurt which helps ease my digestive issues, although my potassium level is running low.)

I should be more understanding, I suppose. In my latest trips to the supermarket, I found the Lacatan selling anywhere from P149 a kilo to P153 a kilo, the latter from a Davao-based fruit farm. Wasn’t it just in December, when most food prices shoot up because of the Christmas season, that I was paying P100 a kilo for bananas? And now that it’s summer, I don’t quite understand why the Lacatan is priced so high when there shouldn’t be a shortage of the fruit.

(But then my brown rice is now selling for P85 a kilo, when it was just P60 last Christmas as well. So, yes, inflation is a bitch.) Anyway, I ususally end up buying Saba bananas which sells for P60 a kilo at the supermarket. The only thing is that it takes longer to prepare them for my meals as I have to slice then fry these, before topping them off with coconut sugar.

What a conundrum. There aren’t even enough bananas to get me over my funk of having to pay high prices for bananas. “This shit is bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S!”

—GWEN STEFANI