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Here are three little-known facts about bananas that will probably have you shaking your head in amazement. We were truly astounded when we read these!

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Bananas are radioactive!
It's well known that bananas contain large amounts of potassium, good for all sorts of important bodily functions. What is less well known is that a small proportion of that potassium is the unstable radioactive isotope potassium-40, which is sliding down your throat alongside the regular potassium, every time you chow down on the infamous bent fruit.

However, before you get any ideas about overindulging on bananas in pursuit of super powers, be warned that it's next to impossible to get a significant dose of radiation from banana consumption. Using calculations based upon the so-called “Banana Equivalent Dose,” you would need to find space in your stomach for 10 million bananas in a single sitting, in order to give yourself a lethal (or superpower-inducing) dose of radiation.

Bananas make bees mad
Isopentyl acetate is an organic compound that can be found in bananas, in synthetic banana flavors, and also in the pheromones of bees. Bees and other insects rely heavily on pheromones to communicate (not to mention some pretty radical dancing), and when threatened, one of the messages they send with pheromones is “ATTACK!” Isopentyl acetate is just one ingredient of the attack pheromone, but it is a pungent one, which is why after a bee stings, you'll often detect a banana-like smell around the sting. The chemical is strongest in fresh bananas, but fades as the fruit ripens, so if you are unable to avoid eating a banana around bees, best go for a brown one, just in case.

Pretty fast for a fruit
Running 26.2 miles in one go is pretty impressive by anyone's standards (unless you run ultra-marathons on a regular basis), and it will come as no surprise that runners often consume bananas to top up their energy as they race towards the cheap medal and t-shirt waiting for them at the finish. But while most people follow the usual practice of putting the banana inside them to gain the benefits, a few people decided to try it the other way round and climbed inside the banana instead … or at least, they dressed as one.

Running dressed as a banana is enough of a thing that Guinness World Records keeps track of the times these fitness fruits take to finish—the current record is held by Andrew Lawrence from the UK, who on April 24, 2016 ran the London Marathon in 2 hours 47 minutes and 41 seconds.

Finished!

Which one of these strange banana facts surprised you the most? We have to say, we were shocked that they're radioactive.

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Article Source: Grunge