Whole Banana Cake with Butterscotch Walnut Streusel

This is a scrumptiously, moorish banana cake that has a secret ingredient. The result is that it's filled with extra goodness many people are not aware of.

Did you know you can eat the banana skin? Not many do. It occurred to me that I can spend a fortune on green banana flour, or I can be sustainable and ethical and use the ones I was throwing into our compost, I know that compositing is also a great way to reuse them but when it comes to healthy nutrition there's another reason I love it.

Along with the banana flesh the banana peels are also rich sources of potassium and contain much more soluble and insoluble fibre than their flesh, known as resistant starch, a gut friendly dietary fiber that promotes digestion and bowel movements and can reduce blood cholesterol levels. They also contain tryptophan, which increases serotonin levels in the body and affects mood, much like the drug Prozac does. According to “Prescription for Nutritional Healing,” researchers in Taiwan discovered banana peel extract can ease depression because of its effect on serotonin, which is a neurotransmitter in the brain responsible for balancing mood and emotions. Others found that eating two banana skins a day for three days increased blood serotonin levels by 16 percent. I think that's pretty awesome considering the rate of depression we hear about these days.

I also found out that banana skins contains lutein, a powerful antioxidant that protects the eyes from free radicals and harmful frequencies of UV radiation from the sun. Lutein has been proven to reduce the risks of cataracts and macular degeneration, as cited in “Biochemical, Physiological and Molecular Aspects of Human Nutrition.”So after finding out all of this extra awesome information, I'm rapt that I use them in my cooking and smoothies now. Yes, that's right, I now add the whole banana (minus the tips of course,) to our morning smoothies and they're awesome. It makes them thick and creamy. You have to try it, you won't even notice it and I know you'll like it.