There has been many articles lately about how ripe bananas have an anti-cancer type effect, meaning it could be used to help combat abnormal cells or even help to thwart off cancer. Japanese scientists that have spent some time researching fruits and vegetables and the effects of those foods on health have discovered that a within ripe bananas there is a substance, nicknamed Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (or TNF-alpha for short). This substance, according to their study, helps to increase the immune system capacity. The conclusion of the study was that eating those ripe bananas may just prevent certain lifestyle-related diseases and/or carcinogenesis.
The overall total amount of the TNF-alpha substance in a banana increases significantly when the banana becomes more ripened. It’s believed that bananas having reached the stage of multiple brown spots may have a considerable amount more of TNF-alpha — and be up to 8x more effective — than fresher bananas without the same dark patches or spots. The more dark patches that exists, the higher it is thought the beneficial effects. Really cool, right?
TNF-alpha is considered to act as an anti-cancer agent by significantly stimulating the production of white blood cells (Leukocytes), which help to fight abnormal tumor cells in the body. Researchers determined that bananas act in a similar fashion to Lentinan, a chemical immune stimulant that is intravenously administered as an anti-cancer agent.