Media Reports
SUNDAY TIMES CHECKOUT DECEMBER 29, 1996

Banana Power Beats The Best

By Sheree Dudenhoeffer (Originally In English)

George Atkinson with triathlete Angela Milne about to enjoy
diced banana on banana bread.
Pictures: GARY MERRIN 

IMAGINE being able to eat whatever you want whenever you want and not have to worry about the consequences. It might sound like a pipe dream but it's something anyone could do - if extremely fit.

Cases in point are triathletes George Atkinson and Angela Milne, whose only problem is eating enough food to keep them going.

They train two to four hours a day, six days a week, depending on what event they're preparing for, and each session must include swimming, cycling and running.

Right now the pair are gearing up for the Mindarie Keys sprint session on January 12.

Major sponsors of Triathlon WA are Healthway and the Health Department of WA. They use the State and sprint series to promote an "Eat More Fruit and Veg" message.

Healthways sponsorship officer Amy Hamilton said: "We are targeting not only the triathletes themselves but the spectators and also parents of junior triathletes."

As part of this sponsorship, triathletes will be given fresh fruit at the end of each race, and recipe cards and cookbooks will be given out during the State and sprint series.

Ms Hamilton said triathletes were good role models for other young people because of their dedication to eating lots of healthy food - including fruit and veg.

A focus for Triathlon WA promotion would be bananas, described as a food favored by triathletes before, during and after an event. "Not only are bananas easy to eat, they have an unusually high carbohydrate content as well as quantities of most vitamins and minerals and fibre," Ms Hamilton said.

A bonus was the total absence of fat and sodium.

Jo Rogers, author of What Food Is That? and How Healthy Is It?, said that while some people were advised against eating bananas, because of the high levels of potassium, many sports people needed to eat them to replace potassium.

Here are some recipes from Healthway which show the versatility of bananas.

BANANA AND PEANUT TOPPING ON MUFFINS

Serves 4.

Serve hot for an afternoon snack.

Ingredients:1 ripe banana
1 tbispn peanut paste
2 wholemeal muffins, split
1/2 tspn sesame seeds.

Method : Mash banana with fork and mix with peanut paste.
Toast bottom side of muffins.Top muffins with banana mixture,
sprinkle with sesame seeds and grill for 2min.
Hint: English fruit muffins can be used for this recipe.