Can eating Banana prevent COVID-19?
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| Can eating Banana prevent COVID-19? Photo credit: Giorgio Trovato @giorgiotrovato @unsplash |
Can eating Banana prevent COVID-19?
@healthbiztips by Arlene Gentallan - Healthbiztips - health blog
Eating banana prevents COVID-19 (officially named SARS-CoV-2)! Sounds incredible or a claim too good to be true? People are on the rave over this fruit as online blog post claims this information is based on an Australian research. But, just how true is this?
First of all, banana (Musa acuminate) is a good source of BanLec lectin which is revealed by research to possess an antiviral property which is being studied for it's potential medicinal application in viral infections such as HIV.
It is worth knowing that banana is not the sole source of lectin as over 500 varieties of plant-derived lectin have already been identified. Among these sources were obtained from algae and mushroom.
However, do note that good'ol banana is not the vaccine the world desperately needs. As of April 2020, COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) is a pandemic affecting more than two hundred counties across the globe with both infected headcounts and death toll mounting. That is to say, eating banana is no substitute to social distancing, hygiene, and quarantine being implemented across various nations.
Do you honestly believe with all your heart the widespread claim that consuming banana can ward off a global illness that already wrech havoc in multiple nations? Do you?
Although, this is not to undermine banana's extraordinary health benefits as a superfruit. Let's just clear out facts from fiction. Sure, despite the fact that regular consumption of banana indeed gives your body energy and vitamins, let's be realistic considering that we are dealing with a virus that can spread at an unprecedented rate from human to human. People in perfect shape have already been infected, and while there is a higher mortality rate among the older age group, there has also been death among young individuals with no known comorbidity.
Considering that there isn't yet any approved vaccine or medicine to treat covid-19, a sound immune system is at best the most that infected individuals have together with supportive therapy. In this regard, a balance nutritious diet complete with macro and micronutients is important. Moreover, among people suffering from diarrhea such as those brought about by covid-19, they can be advised to consume banana to control such symptom.
How do we ultimately prevent COVID-19? Folks, wash your hands with soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds, sanitize your hands if soap and water is unavailable, cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, wear mask if possible, maintain social distance, and abide by government policies of quarantine and lockdown. I know these things may not be as simple as a banana, but please let's be real.
Resources:
Singh, Senjam Sunil et al. “Banana lectin: a brief review.” Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) vol. 19,11 18817-27. 17 Nov. 2014, doi:10.3390/molecules191118817
Mishra, Abtar et al. “Structure-function and application of plant lectins in disease biology and immunity.” Food and chemical toxicology : an international journal published for the British Industrial Biological Research Association vol. 134 (2019): 110827. doi:10.1016/j.fct.2019.110827
