Bananas are the most appealing fruit. Worldwide banana exports have reached around 18 million tons according to 2015, from the United Nations. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, each person consumes 11.4 lbs of bananas every year in the US.
A large variety of banana health benefits are linked with the curvy yellow fruit. Bananas also provide rich pectin, potassium, vitamin C, B6, and magnesium.
Bananas are known to lower swelling and protect against growing type-2 diabetes, help in weight loss, promote the nervous system, and white blood cell production due to their high vitamin B6.
Eating banana also provides high antioxidants, protect from free radicals, which come in contact every day.Â
Nutrition Facts Of Bananas
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Banana consists of plenty of nutrients. It is cost-effective and quick food for energy. A medium-sized banana of 118g provides 27g of carbohydrates, 105 calories of energy, and 3.1 g of fiber. It also offers 422 mg of potassium and 0.43mg of vitamin B6.
Half of the complete carbohydrates in a ripe banana are sugars that are 14.4g, which provide quick energy to athletes to increase performance.
Green banana consists of resistant starch and more fiber. Over fermentation in the gut, RS generates a short-chain fatty acid called butyrate. Butyrate increases gut health and prevents constipation.
Banana is also consisting of high potassium, which helps to reduce BMI and weight.
What Does Research Say About Banana Help Weight Gain Or Weight Loss?
Image SourceBanana is a handy fruit that can be consumed in limited portions to reduce or maintain weight. Have it as a snack in place of a full meal and lower not required calorie consumption. Eat a medium-sized banana as one of the snacks helps in weight loss.
Banana is popular for its high-calorie content. However, a medium-sized banana is consisting of digestible sugar and carbs that are fulfilling and better than other processed and sugar snacks.
The resistant starch present in both ripe and green banana boost fat oxidation, reduce the fat deposit in adipose cells, and increase weight loss.
It is additionally an important wellspring of minerals and nutrients. These micronutrients go about as cofactors, which are non-protein compound combinations that energize enzymatic consumption. It helps in lessening the danger of diabetes and weight. Both unripe and ripe banana contains a low glycemic index and a high satiety index. Research conducted in Spain discovered that a low GI, energy-restricted diet was highly effective for weight loss than a high-GI and a low-fat diet.
Banana consists of high calories and sugar. Banana is a cost-effective source of energy. It improves the workout endurance of athletes. Therefore, consuming bananas with other healthy protein and food supplements to gain weight.
How To Consume Bananas To Lose Weight?
Image SourceBanana provides a high satiety index and is loaded with fiber. Eating banana as a snack or eat before a workout to supply essential nutrients required to make you keep full and increase energy.
How To Consume Bananas For Weight Gain?
Image SourceBananas are a rich source of calories. It is an ancient method to gain healthy weight. You can simply add the bananas to a regular diet, milkshakes, or smoothies.
Potential Benefits Of Banana
Build Lean Muscle
Image SourceAfter a workout eating a banana relax the sore muscles. These sore muscles may not grow faster as they might not get enough magnesium from the diet. Banana is a good source of magnesium that promotes muscle contraction and relaxation. It also promotes protein synthesis, which boosts lean muscle mass. Eating magnesium from banana helps to promote lipolysis, which is a process by the body to release the fat from storage.
Faster Muscles Recover
Image SourceThe content of potassium, an electrolyte helps muscles to recover faster after a workout and strengthen muscles.
Support A Good Mood
Image SourceBananas don’t look like smiles; they advance them since they contain 6% of your daily value of nutrient B9 (also called folate), a supplement that fights against depression by boosting a substrate that has energizer properties, as indicated by the NIH. All in all, it helps serotonin, the feel-good hormones, enter the mind quicker. Research in the Indian-Journal-of-Psychiatry states that patients with depression have lower than 25% blood folate levels than healthy people. Some health experts recommend raising folate consumption if you are taking anti-depressants to promote their effects.
Lower Feelings of Stress and Anxiety
Image SourceApart from mood-boosting B9, bananas also have tryptophan, which is a precursor for serotonin. Serotonin may be an essential brain chemical because of natural anti-depressant and can treat insomnia and anxiety as well as other mood problems such as irritability, fatigue, anger, agitations, and aggression. Bananas also act as norepinephrine, which normalizes fight to flight response, which helps to manage stress. They are natural real food way to boost positive moods and reduce depression.
Better Sleep
Image SourceEat a banana before sleep helps to have better sleep. It is also due to tryptophan, which is a precursor for melatonin to boost relaxation and manage sleep.
Regulate Blood Pressure
Image SourceAccording to the FDA, the combination of high potassium and low sodium is related to reduced blood pressure levels and reduced frequency of stroke in populations. Bananas are low in sodium and high in potassium. The fruit is officially recommended by the FDA as a fruit to reduce blood pressure and prevent stroke and heart attack.
Reduce Bloating
Image SourceBelly bloat causes a more toned 6-packed look like they only downed a six-pack of colors. Fight back against water and gas retention from bananas. According to a recent study discovered that women who consumed banana two times every day before meal snack for 60 days lower their belly-bloated by 50%. This fruit raises bloat-fighting bacteria in the belly, and it also a good source of potassium, which reduces fluid retention.
Provide Full Feeling
Image SourceBefore ripening, bananas are a resistant start, which also resists the digestion process. It feeds the healthy gut bacteria, which suppresses the appetite and causes more effective fat oxidation. One study discovered that changing 5% of the day’s carbohydrates with a source of resistant starch can promote post-meal fat burn by up to 30%. Since underripe bananas are lightly bitter, we suggest including them into smoothies for weight loss with other veggies and fruits.
Reduce Bad Cholesterol Levels
Image SourceIf you have recently consumed fast-food chains, you are likely to increase trans-fat, which is bad cholesterol. Before you get for Lipitor, grab a banana. They consist of phytosterols, which are compounds that have bad cholesterol reducing effects mentioned by research in The-Journal-of-Nutrition. Additionally, bananas consist of vitamin B6, which is essential for nearly everything, such as immune health, heart health, nervous system functions, and digestive health.
Support the Digestive System
Image SourceBanana also benefits from poor digestion. They are the best source of prebiotics, which are non-digestible carbohydrates that work effectively for good gut bacteria and increase digestion. They consist of fructooligosaccharides, a cluster of fructose molecules that promote better gastrointestinal health support the digestive system.
Regulate Bowel Movements
Image SourceThe high fiber present in bananas can normalize bowel motility. With 3gm of insoluble fiber, they help to push out the waste better by keeping easy stools to pass. They also help when waste becomes loose. Bananas are best for binding anything with diarrhea and provide probiotics that are necessary food for healthy microbes present in guts.
Help Good Bone Health
Image SourceAlthough bananas do not consist of a high amount of calcium lower than 1% of daily recommended consumption, it helps to boost calcium uptake with the aid of prebiotic fructooligosaccharides. As fructooligosaccharides dissolve in the digestive system, they support the ability of the body to receive calcium stated by the study in The-American-Journal-of-Clinical-Nutrition.
Provide Good Energy
Image SourceThere are a reason people going to marathon gran one or two banana before and after the race. Bananas are a rich source of glucose, which is an easily digestible source of sugar that will offer optimal energy for the run, weight lift, or soul cycle class. Consume one banana before a workout helps to restore energy, which is depleted during a sweat session.
Prevent Disease
Image SourceEven though bananas do not have vitamin A, they can still benefit to reduce vitamin A deficiency. As they are rich in different kinds of carotenoids such as provitamin A, beta-carotene, and alpha-carotene, it gets converted into vitamin A. According to a study of Food-and-Nutrition-Bulletin, food with high carotenoids has been discovered to save against chronic disease, including certain cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.
Support Eyes and Vision Health
Image SourceBananas consist of vitamin A (1% DV) and C (17% DV), and both are antioxidants, skin health nutrients, and eys health. They also provide beta carotene, which is an antioxidant to benefit cells and restore the damage caused by the cellular level. Bananas also consist of other nutrients like vitamin E (120 mg each small banana) and lutein (26 mg each medium banana) both of which are eye-healthy nutrients.
Help to Burn Fat
Image SourceBananas have 12 mg of choline (3% DV), a fat-impacting B nutrient that demonstrates straightforwardly the qualities that cause fat stockpiling in the midsection. (One explanation weighty consumers have enlarged midsections is that alcohol drains choline, causing weight gain around the liver.) You can likewise discover it in lean meats, fish, and collard greens.
Detoxify Your Body
Image SourceRich pectin in bananas is known as a natural detox. This gelatin-like fiber helps to stick to toxic compounds in the blood and remove out of the body by urine. Citrus pectin has been shown to increase the mercury excretion in urine by 150% within 24 hours of supplementation mentioned by a study in Forsch-Komplementärmed. As a rapid weight loss bonus, research shows pectin can lower the cell fat can absorb. Pectin also benefits to manage blood sugar. Choose ripe bananas over green bananas to get benefits, as the proportion of water-soluble pectin raises the banana to have a yellow color, according to a Food Chemistry study.
Banana Diet Meal Plan
Image SourceYour meal plan can be most varied on the banana diet because some food or beverages are not allowed in this plan. It could consider a fancy diet because it has rules to follow about what and when you eat. The rules are not much restrictive for lunch and dinner. So, depending on what you consume for those meals, you could reduce weight. Make sure to take the doctor’s advice before changing any drastic change.
Other Meals with Banana Diet
For the most portion, you can use whatever you had like for lunch and dinner, without dairy goods, alcohol, and desserts. You also want to eat dinner before 8 pm, and the use you are provided with meals at normal temperature liquid. Like with breakfast, eat only 80%.
You are likely to get weight loss results if you follow nutritious and balanced meals for lunch and dinner. Add 1/4 of your plate each of these healthy foods, such as fruits, whole grains, vegetables, and lean proteins. Good protein sources are permitted to eat in a banana diet, including skinless poultry, seafood, and eggs. Reduce highly processed foods, and refined grains consist of more fat, sodium, and sugar. These tend to be more in calories and less in nutrients, which means skipping junk foods such as ready-made baked goods, candy bars, and hot dogs.
Avoiding liquor and desserts – two condemned pleasures that are high in calories with little nourishment – is a positive part of the plan and could help with restricting calorie consumption. A glaring imperfection of the eating routine, notwithstanding, is the oversight of dairy items, which would make it hard for calorie counters to get a satisfactory calcium admission.
Banana Diet Snacks
Image SourceSnacks are not suggested on the banana diet between breakfast and lunch, but if you feel hungry between these meals, you can have one piece of fresh fruit. Skip eating dried fruits or canned fruits as they contain high calories in each serving than fresh fruit. You can also eat some sweet snacks between lunch and dinner, around 3 pm. Since desserts are not suggested after meals, this afternoon snack is time to have some sweet for craving, such as a small piece of dark chocolate. Vegetables and fruits are the healthiest snack alternatives.
Other Rules during Banana Diet
Image SourceExercise is optional during the banana diet, but you are more likely to reduce a significant weight if you add it. Aim for between 30-60 minutes per day of cardio, such as brisk walking, biking, swimming, and strength training. The other main rule on the banana diet to go to bed by midnight, which may be beneficial for weight loss, not getting sufficient sleep may be linked with an increased body mass index stated by the study issued in PLOS-Medicine in 2004. People who have less sleep can grow hormone levels that increase ghrelin and reduce leptin. This combination leads to raised appetite and weight gain.
What Are the Side Effects of Eating More Bananas?
Constipation
Image SourceUnripe bananas can lead to constipation as they consist of more starch, which is hard for the body to digest. Bananas also provide more fiber pectin that draws out water from the intestines. It can make you more constipated in dehydration.
Nutrient Imbalance
Image SourceYour body requires balanced nutrition to function well. If bananas control your diet, then the stomach may have little space for other foods. According to the USDA guidelines, you should get 2-cups of fruit every day, which is equal to around large bananas. It leaves space for including grains, vegetables, protein in the diet.
Cause Digestive Problems
Image SourceEating more banana may also create a digestion problem because of fiber content. Consuming more fiber quantities leads to gas, cramps, and bloating. Excessive fiber may affect mineral absorption like iron and calcium.
Sleepiness
Image SourceBananas consist of tryptophan, the amino acid known to assist in sleep. Carbohydrates present in bananas are said to limit amino acids from going into the brain. Therefore, an influx of tryptophan may cause a boost in serotonin production, which is another way to induce sleepiness. It also consists of magnesium, which relaxes muscles.
Weight Gain
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As mentioned above, banana also helpful for weight gain, it increases weight because of high calories. It happens if you do not check your required portion sizes. A medium-sized banana consists of 105 calories. That, in contrast to a medium orange- 62 calories, a bowl of diced watermelon -45 calories, or one cup of grapes – 62 calories. Therefore, if you are trying to reduce calorie snacks every few hours, bananas may not be the best choice. Instead, veggies and fruits with high water such as strawberries, watermelon, peaches, cucumber, cantaloupe, zucchini, cabbage, and lettuce, make a better snack choice as they contain fewer calories and more fiber to keep full.
Migraine
Image SourceIn case you’re often grieved by intolerable headache attacks, you might need to try not to include bananas in your daily diet. Tyramine, a substance found in various nourishments like cheddar, fish, meats, and bananas is a induce for headache migraines, the University-of-Maryland-Medical-Center reports. Since banana strips contain various times more tyramine than banana mash, be additional cautious about eliminating the wiry bits of the strip from the organic product before eating it.
Hyperkalemia
Hyperkalemia is a condition that occurred because of excess potassium in the blood and known from the symptoms of nausea, abnormal pulse rate, irregular heartbeat that can lead to a heart attack. According to the Linus-Pauling-Institute-of-Oregon-State-University, a dosage of potassium higher than 18gm can leads to hyperkalemia in adults. There are some diet plans like the GM diet, which suggest excess consumption of bananas on certain days. If you follow such diets, you could be in trouble.
Nerve Damage
Image SourceAs bananas consist of vitamin B6 in high amounts, their over intake can cause nerve damage. According to University-of-Maryland-Medical-Center, intake of more than 100mg of vitamin B6 without prescription can cause nerve damage. However, the possibility of nerve damage from banana seems rare unless you are a bodybuilder.
Ragweed Allergy
Image SourceRagweed hypersensitivity is a condition, which makes your immune system respond when you breathe in ragweed (Weeds that grow all through the US) dust grains.
An individual experiencing this sensitivity shows signs like swollen lips, aggravated throat, swollen tongue, and so on Individuals who are as of now experiencing ragweed hypersensitivity may encounter comparative side effects upon utilization or in any event, treatment of bananas.
Hypersensitivity in People Allergic to Latex
Image SourceAccording to one study led by the Annals of Allergy, Immunology, Asthma, those people who had an allergy to latex show an allergy to banana also. Signs like runny nose, wheezing, itchy throat, coughing, and watery eyes.
Respiratory Problems
Image SourceAnother problem that ragweed allergy is inflammation. It might block airways and respiratory problems. It might cause severe difficulty in swallowing or breathing.
Abdominal Pain
Image SourceIf you choose unripe banana, you may end up with hard stomach pain. You may also feel nausea with abdominal pain. Unripe bananas consist of high resistant starch that causes a long time to digest. You may also feel diarrhea or vomiting.
Anaphylactic Shock
Image SourceSome people with banana allergy may feel a serious immune response with a sudden reduction in blood pressure. Their respiratory difficulties reduce blood oxygen levels from increasing, and they feel shocked. Look for symptoms like high or less pulse rate, faintness, and light headedness.
Gas
Image SourceEat excess banana may produce gas. It consists of soluble fiber and fructose, both causes to create a gas. If you quickly raise your fiber consumption, it causes the large intestine to develop down the fiber and form a gas. Similarly, in the case of fructose, when used in excess, the body can find it difficult to digest.
Type 2 Diabetes Risk
Image SourceBananas of medium size are considered as glycemic food, which can increase the blood sugar levels. Since the excess consumption of food with a high glycemic index can cause type-2 diabetes risk, cardiovascular diseases, and obesity. Therefore, it is important to control banana consumption.
Caution
Here are some cautions to consider banana consumption.
People with kidney ailments should reduce banana intake. High potassium in diet cause strain kidneys to remove waste from the blood, which can be dangerous.
Since bananas are kept at room temperature, they can go bad easily. That’s why banana should be eaten within 2-days of purchase. At the same time, it is essential to skip under ripe bananas.
Avoid banana if you experience hives, cramping, wheezing, and throat irritation.
In case you like to increase bananas consumption, please take your doctor’s advice.