What Are Bananas?
Bananas are a tasty and convenient source of some important nutrients. People have grown this tropical fruit since ancient times, and its health benefits have been promoted for more than a century.
You can eat bananas raw or mixed in your favorite smoothie. You can enjoy your own homemade peanut butter-banana sandwich, banana bread, or banana muffins. The possibilities are plentiful.
Plus, bananas:
Can be found at your grocery store all year long
Are easily stored
Come in their own yellow carrying case when you’re on the go
Health Benefits of Bananas
Powerful potassium: A medium banana gives you 422 milligrams, which is 9% of what you need every day. This mineral is a big player in heart health. Potassium-rich foods help manage your blood pressure because they help you get rid of more sodium when you pee. Potassium also relaxes the walls of your blood vessels, which helps lower your BP.
What’s more, potassium:
May lower your risk of stroke
Can help keep your bones healthy as you age
Helps your muscles work better
Can help prevent kidney stones
But if you have kidney problems, too much potassium isn’t good for you. Check with your doctor to see how much you should have.
A feast of fiber: It’s no secret that the right amount of fiber in your diet is good for you. An average-size ripe banana gives you 3 grams of it. That’s about 10% of what you need each day.
Most of the fiber in bananas is what’s called soluble fiber. It can help keep your cholesterol and blood pressure in check, and help ease inflammation.
Green bananas are full of something called resistant starch. It acts like insoluble fiber, which is the kind that can help keep your bowels working at their best. Resistant starch also helps lower your blood sugar.
In general, foods that are high in fiber make you feel full without extra calories. That also makes them a good choice if you want to shed a few pounds.
A happier belly:It seems bananas are good for your tummy, too.
The yellow fruit is a source of prebiotics. Those are carbs you don’t digest, but they’re a food source for the more-popular probiotics. Those are the good bacteria found in your gut.
There’s also evidence that probiotics can help with the annoying diarrhea people get after they take some antibiotics.
They can also help:
Improve yeast and urinary tract infections (UTIs)
Treat some gastrointestinal infections
Ease irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Lessen lactose intolerance
Work on some allergy symptoms
Probiotics may even help make colds and the flu less severe.
The right amount of carbs:Like all fruits, bananas have carbs. But not so many that folks with diabetes can’t enjoy them. If you have diabetes, you can enjoy half a banana when you need a snack.
They also won’t blow up a low-carb diet. A medium one gives you about 27 grams.
Faster workout recovery: Research suggests bananas can also help you bounce back from strenuous workouts. One study says male cyclists who had a banana before pedaling went quicker and had a faster recovery than those who just drank water.
Banana Nutrients
Bananas contain a number of vitamins and minerals.
Vitamin B6: A medium banana gives you about a quarter of the vitamin B6 you should get each day. It helps with metabolism. And it plays an important role in brain development during pregnancy and infancy, as well as immune system health.
Vitamin C: You should shoot for between 75-90 milligrams per day. So with about 10 milligrams, your morning banana can get you well on your way. Vitamin C helps protect you from the damage caused by things called free radicals. Those are reactions in our body to the food we eat, cigarette smoke, pesticides, and other potentially harmful things. Vitamin C also helps your immune system work better and can help you heal better.
Magnesium:This mineral helps control your blood pressure and blood sugar and keeps your bones strong. A banana gives you 8% of what you need.
Vitamin A: This vitamin is good for your vision and might help protect you from cancer.