Monkeys are fantastic. Why are monkeys fantastic? Because bananas are
hella tight yo.
Apart from the stuff everyone else mentioned, bananas are currently the most popular fruit in North America. I heard on the radio the other day that the average American eats 25 lbs of bananas per year. I probly eat like 150.
Bananas apparently are wonder fruits, more so than the overrated apple "doctor-a-day" crap, cause bananas can help cure a whole slew of diseases. And BTW, 'banan' in Arabic means 'finger'.
Depression - bananas got tryptophan, which boosts serotonin levels in your body, which makes you happy.
Anemia - They also have high iron content, which helps with hemoglobin production in yo bloodstream.
Nervousness - Tote 'n' snarf a banana before your next job interview. High amounts of vitamin B-complex help calm your nerves.
Stupidity - I'm serious. The high potassium levels contribute to alertness are supposed to boost your brain-power.
Ugliness - Yup. The Body Shop uses some 250,000 bananas in their products every year. Mashed bananas can relieve dry skin, exfoliate skin (blended with cosmetic clay), condition hair (blend with few drops almond oil), or moisturize hands (slap in 2 pats butter).
Constipation - Yes folks, bananas can even help you poop with their high fiber content.
Being Filipino, I ate (and eat) bod-bod, which is some kind of rice with coconut oil, wrapped in the leaves of, you guessed it, the banana plant. There's also a species of banana that's small and red, though I haven't tried it.
I also have a banana story. So when my dad was around 12, he lived in the Philippines. At his house, his parents had hired servants, who would usually do the shopping at market or whatever. One day, one of the servants brought home this funky species of banana that my dad hadn't seen before. That very day, my dad had been brushing up on his English vocabulary and was learning the term, "hoi polloi," which means the common people, or the masses - and if you are at all familiar with dialects of Filipino, you'll know that 'hoi polloi' sounds a lot like a filipino word despite having Greek roots. ANYWAY, he sees this weird banana. His dad (my grandfather) comes home and stumbles upon this funky banana bunch and says, "I've never seen this kind before. What is this banana called?" After thinking hard, my dad replies, "Uhh.. Hoi polloi."
To this day, my grandfather has never been informed as to the real name of the mysterious hoi polloi banana. I hope I go shopping in the Philippines a few years from now and find some bananas at a stand labeled 'Hoi polloi.'