May/June 2009 Living Now
The Appealing Uses of Banana

by Jennifer Cox

The banana has been used as a phone and as an appealing punch line to jokes, but is there more to this yellow tropical fruit? Don't throw away that peel because it might save your skin. The banana not only offers vitamins, fiber and potassium, but its peel also can help with topical ailments.

Here are some simple banana peel remedies to try:

  • Wart remover. Rub the inside of the banana skin on the wart. Then lay a small piece of banana skin, yellow side facing out, against the wart and hold it in place with a band-aid or surgical tape. The salicylic acid in the banana skin helps to dry the wart out and many claim that the wart does not return once removed.
  • Mosquito bites. Rub the inside of the banana skin on the bite. In most cases, it reduces swelling and irritation.
  • Splinter removal. For those hard-to-remove wood splinters, take a small piece of banana skin, large enough to cover the splinter, yellow side out, and carefully tape it over the splinter. Overnight, the banana and its enzymes will work the splinter out, dissolving it and sealing the wound.
  • Poison oak, ivy and sumac. The banana peel's salicylic acid helps to dry up poison ivy, oak or sumac. Just eat the banana and then rub the peel over the rash. Do this a couple of times a day until the rash goes away.

Sources: www.healthmad.com and www.vitalhealthnews.org.