Winter is the perfect time for exploring healthy baking. This delicious banana bread recipe by Kripalu Executive Chef, Deb Morgan, is one our favorites. It’s a perfect healthy snack for the kids, gift for friends, or a treat at the next staff meeting. Makes one loaf.
¼ cup buckwheat flour
1¼ cup whole wheat pastry flour
¾ cup unbleached white flour
Pinch sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¹⁄8 teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon cardamom
½ cup agave nectar
½ cup sunflower oil
3–4 ripe bananas
- In a large bowl, combine all flours with salt, baking powder and soda, and spices.
- In another bowl, roughly mash the bananas and combine with agave nectar and oil.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in banana mixture.
- Stir until smooth.
- Oil a loaf pan and pour in the batter.
- Bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Nutritional commentary by John Bagnulo, PhD, Healthy Living immersion program faculty
Buckwheat, a plant native toSiberiaand related to rhubarb, is an exceptional source of magnesium, the antioxidant rutin, and the phytonutrient chiro inositol. Most Americans consume only a fraction of the magnesium they need each day, and this widespread deficiency contributes to high blood pressure, higher levels of heart disease, and a reduced ability to detoxify our blood. Chiro inositol stabilizes blood sugar levels-its ability to mimic the role of insulin helps lower blood sugar and provides more gradual blood sugar changes. Another benefit of buckwheat for people with dietary restrictions is that it’s gluten free.
As for cardamom, in the February 12, 2008, issue of the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, a study revealed what has been known for centuries in Ayurvedic medicine and areas ofAsia: that cardamom helps with digestion and lowers blood pressure. Researchers gave laboratory animals crude cardamom extract in moderate doses and observed significant changes in the animals’ ability to tolerate changes in diet with reduced stress and a lower systolic blood pressure. Cardamom has most commonly been used in Indian culture as a digestive aid.
