A Paleo Dish With Tender Banana Stem

All parts of Banana plant can be used in some way or other. The tender stem can be collected from the banana plant after harvesting the fully grown bananas. Cut a foot length of the trunk and remove all outer layers and you will find the solid tender stem inside. Adding Banana stem in your diet is also good for controlling and preventing kidney stones.

Kidney stones form when the minerals in the urine concentrate and stick together. when the stones grow more than 3 mm in size, they may block the urinary tract and cause pain. Calcium oxalate crystals, uric acid and few other components are responsible in formation of kidney stones. You may not even know that you got kidney stones unless it become severe. The following are some of the symptoms which suggest that you may have kidney stone:

• Sharp pain that start in your back and move towards the groin
• Pain and some times blood during urination.
• Frequent urge to urinate.

In case if you suffer from the above symptoms, it is advisable to consult a qualified medical practitioner and get proper treatment.

However, prevention is better than cure. So, how to control and prevent formation of kidney stones ? In ancient Siddha and Ayurvedic medicinal practices, one of the most commonly used item for prevention and control of kidney stones is Banana stem. You can extract the juice from the Banana stem and drink it. If you do not like the taste of raw juice, you can cook banana stem like any other vegetable and add it to your diet.

However, many people are not aware of how to cook banana stem. This instructable will guide you on how to make a tasty dish using banana stem, which added to your diet regularly, will help you control and prevent formation of kidney stones.

You need a six inch long banana stem collected from the banana tree after harvesting the fruit.

Make 1/4th inch thick round slices from the stem. You may find lot of fiber while slicing the stem. remove the fiber with your fingers and discard

• Take about one liter of water in a container and mix with some curd
• Place a round stem slice on the cutting board
• Make 1/4th inch thick longitudinal cuts and again perpendicular cuts to make cubes
• Immediately put these cubes in water + curd mix. This will prevent discoloration of cubes.

• Thoroughly wash the banana stem cubes and remove any fiber present
• Place it in a pressure cooker and add enough water just to cover the cubes in the vessel
• You can also add about 50 grams of split Bengal gram, a teaspoon each of turmeric and coriander powder and little bit of salt to your taste.
• Pressure cook the mix for about six to seven minutes and remove from heat.

You can consume the pressure cooked stem cubes as they are. However, stir frying the cooked cubes will add more taste. You need the following ingredients for this:

• About a tablespoon of natural coconut oil
• One onion finely chopped
• Two to three pieces of dried red chilies
• A teaspoon of mustard seeds
• Handfull of curry leaves

• Heat a pan in medium flame and add a tablespoon of coconut oil
• Add mustard seeds and curry leaves to the hot oil
• Add the dried Red chilies
• Add the chopped onion and stir fry till raw smell of onion disappears

Now you can add the pressure-cooked banana stem cubes to the ingredients in the pan. Stir fry till the water evaporates from the mix. Remove from pan.

You can use this as a side dish with cooked rice. You may find some fiber while eating the dish which you can discard.

Does Banana Stem Really Help in Preventing and Controlling Kidney Stones ? Is there any scientific evidence to prove that ?

Yes, there are few research papers submitted on usage of banana stem to control kidney stones. However, I have referred two such articles here which can be accessed from the net.

Research Article published in Sciences International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, "Inhibition of Calcium Oxalate Crystallization In Vitro by Extract of Banana Cultivar Monthan" By S.Kalpana, R. Nirmaladevi, T. Shrinidhi Rai and P. Karthika

This article can be accessed at the following link :

http://www.ijppsjournal.com/Vol5Issue4/7830.pdf

Another article published in International Journal of Medicinal Chemistry & Analysis, namely, "ICP-MS Technique for Quantification of Potassium and Sodium in Spray-dried Extrzct of Shoot Juice of Banana Plant (Musa Balbisiana) Responsible for Antiurolithiiatic and Diuretic Activity" by Hariharan Ponnambalam and Manimaran Sellappan. Here is an abstract from the article : (quoted from the article) "Based on the above results it may be conclude that the diuretic and urolithiatic activity of musa shoot juice of banana is due to the presence of higher percentage of sodium and potassium. Diuretic activity of medicinal plant is the major phenomenon of Urolithiasis treatment of calculi patients and the presence of microelements are the responsible for the said activity."

You can access the full article at the following link for reference :

http://www.ijmca.com/File_Folder/170-174(ijmca).pd...