Preparation

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl cream together the sugar and butter; add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Beat in mashed bananas and vanilla and continue beating until mixture is smooth. In a measuring cup stir baking soda into the buttermilk and add it to the banana mixture with the flour and chopped nuts.

Stir the batter until it is just combined. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9×5 inch loaf pan and bake for 1 hour or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Transfer the bread to a rack and let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn it out onto a rack and let it cool completely.

The Reuters news service reported last week that “nutritional risk…increased when the number of regular medications was at least three,” according to Dr. K. Lancaster who helped conduct the investigation. Medications such as anti-depressants can cause dry mouth or slow gastric motility, an effect that may be more pronounced in the elderly compared to younger patients.

Many medications activate liver enzymes which may have additional effects on appetite. Patients who take 5 or more medications are at greatest risk for weight loss, Dr. Lancaster told Reuters.

There may not be a causal association between lack of appetite and prescription drugs side effects, Dr. Lancaster stressed. Other factors such as reduced fluid intake and decreased nutrients due to poor eating habits could also explain the oral and gastro-intestinal complaints that were recorded by the researchers, according to the Reuters report. Appetite drive is usually diminished after a few days of fasting in most people.

Sudden, dramatic loss in weight that is not regained is unhealthy because it usually means that body proteins are being broken down, resulting in reduced organ masses and possibly severe heart disease.