Banana is a convenient food. It is the most convenient food that can serve as a snack. It is healthy and almost fat-free. The magical fruit banana belongs to Southeast Asia. It provides hundreds of health benefits as it is an abundance of nutrients. Banana is rich in fiber and resistant starch. Therefore, it is highly beneficial for our healthy gut. It’s good for our mood and helps to maintain the sleep pattern if it is disturbed. Banana has precursors for interleukins that safeguard our bodies from different cancers and other health-related problems.
Bananas are lovely, delicious in addition to being highly beneficial to our health. Furthermore, essential nutrients they contain look after our gut. It keeps our digestive system healthy. The essential nutrients that this yellow-skinned fruit contains also maintain our heart healthy. It helps the body to keep in shape while assisting in weight loss.
So let’s explore the banana chronicles and the nutrients we can gain by eating a banana a day, with a bit more detail.
Quick facts about banana
Export report
The Global export of bananas reached approximately 18 million tons only in 2015, as indicated by the United Nations. In 2019 before the global pandemic, bananas production was 116.0 million metric tons. About half of this production goes towards the European and United States markets. Did you know that in the United States alone, each person consumes about 11.4 lbs. of bananas every year.
Calories in Banana
Do you know how many calories a medium-sized banana carries?
Well, an average-sized Banana carries about 105 calories. In fact, it is entirely made up of water and carbs. It does contain protein yet almost no fat. Bananas are also very rich in fiber, some very important antioxidants, and several other useful nutrients.
The good news is starch and mostly resistant starch is the source of carbs in unripe green bananas. Gradually as the banana ripens, the starch takes the form of sugar, fructose, and glucose. Or fructose along with some amount of sucrose.
Bananas & Weight Loss
Several characteristics of bananas are believed to assist in weight loss. Bananas contain comparatively fewer calories while being very filling and nutritious. Fruits’ fibers are helpful to provide essential support to body metabolism during weight loss. Therefore, if you are on diet control, do not forget to buy bananas in your groceries.
Resistant starch in unripe bananas is an indigestible carb. However, that functions like the soluble fiber in our body. Always remember the greener the banana, the higher the resistant starch content it contains. While the ripe yellow bananas have lower contents of resistant starch as compare to an unripped banana. Although, the total fiber content is highly water-soluble fiber. These fibers help you to feel full and keep your gut healthy. Also, improves gut movement. Pectin the fiber and resistant starch have appetite-reducing impacts while they create a fuller feeling after meals.
Since unripe bananas are a rich source of resistant starch, their consumption seems to be very filling and may reduce your appetite.
Banana & Blood Sugar Levels
Bananas are also rich in pectin, a type of fiber providing the flesh with spongy structural form.
Both the pectin and resistant starch may be responsible for moderating our blood sugar levels right after our meals and contribute in appetite reduction by gradually emptying our stomach.
Moreover, are you aware that this sweet fruit ranks low to medium (30 for unripe and 60 ripe bananas) on the glycemic index (GI)? This glycemic index is a measure of how quickly some foods raise our blood sugar levels.
But this is not the case with people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, as they are advised to avoid eating too much of ripened bananas while keep monitoring their blood sugar levels very carefully if they have consumed a ripe banana.
Unripe Bananas’ role in Insulin Sensitivity
Several very authentic studies propose that 15–30 grams of resistant starch daily may improve insulin sensitivity. It takes about four weeks to improve 33–50% of insulin sensitivity. So, it is safe to assume that unripe bananas may help improve insulin sensitivity.
Banana the Bundle of Antidepressant
Bananas are a prime example of nutritious food that may help promote mood-boosting. Banana has the precursor Tryptophan an essential amino acid. This Tryptophan metabolizes and makes serotonin. Later, serotonin converts into melatonin: a sleep hormone. Therefore, it is evidenced that Banana promotes and contributes indirectly by raising the amount of serotonin.
Bananas are a prosperous source of vitamin B6. Vitamin B6 is essential for our body to produce serotonin. If your diet is inefficient in vitamin B6 and is responsible for low serotonin levels, dietary changes may be needed, including more than one banana per day to lift and brighten your mood.
see also https://www.verywellmind.com/bananas-increase-serotonin-fact-or-fiction-1066923
Antioxidants in Bananas
if your are enjoying what you are reading please also read
https://www.livescience.com/45005-banana-nutrition-facts.html
As you know dear friends that fruits and vegetables are the best possible sources of dietary antioxidant consumption, and in this regard bananas are no exception and provide equally effective antioxidants to our body when consumed regularly.
As a matter of fact, bananas have several kinds of potent antioxidants, like catechins & dopamine. Dopamine gained from bananas does not seem to cross the blood-brain barrier. Therefore it mainly works as a strong antioxidant rather than impacting our moods or hormones.
The antioxidants contained in Bananas are associated with many health benefits that we often overlook, like reduced risks of degenerative illnesses and heart disease.
Banana & Interleukin
Interleukin (IL) are naturally occurring proteins. These proteins communicate between cells. Interleukins play a role in cell growth as well as immunity. They particularly stimulate immune responses against body inflammation. There are research-based pieces of evidence showing positive changes in the body after four-week consumption. These effects are on:
- body strength
- body lipid profile
- metabolism
- IL 23 production
Banana & Gut Health
The dietary fiber that bananas contain has been associated with various health reimbursements that include digestion. An average-sized banana consists of about 3 grams of fiber, making it a fairly good source of fiber. It is essential to mention here that Bananas comprise two primary forms of fiber.
Resistant starch manages to escape the digestion process ending up in our large intestine to become a food source for the beneficial bacteria in the gut. In addition to this, research findings that were based on some test-tube studies promote that pectin may facilitate the protection against colon cancer.
- The Resistant starch: which is found mainly in the unripe bananas.
- Pectin: the fiber that decreases gradually as the fruit ripens.
Bananas & Heart
Potassium is a mineral that is very important for a healthy human heart. It is more specifically important in the control of blood pressure. Some people may not get enough potassium from their daily diet. And for them, Mother Nature has created bananas. This yellow layered fruit is a prosperous dietary source of potassium. One average-sized banana of about 118 grams consists of 9% of the RDI.
A diet that is enriched with potassium can aid in lowering your blood pressure. People who consume a potassium-rich diet have a 27% lesser chance of suffering from some source of heart disease. In addition to these bananas also have some magnesium in them, an equally important ingredient to maintain the heart beating healthy?
You can also read: https://remediesforum.com/2020/11/24/5-common-remedies-for-your-uncommon-headaches/
Bananas and Kidneys
As mentioned earlier, Potassium is very crucial for our blood pressure regulation along with healthy kidney function. A 13-year study of women has determined that people consuming 2-3 bananas weekly were 33% less likely to develop kidney disease. Other studies show that those who eat bananas 4–6 times per week have almost 50% lesser chances to develop kidney disease than those who don’t eat bananas.
Banana & Vision
Carrots may be a famous food for your eyes, but bananas are no less either. Bananas have a significant amount of vitamin A. Vitamin A is an essential ingredient for protecting your eyes. Additionally, this Vitamin assists in maintaining our normal eye vision while enhancing night vision.
Furthermore, according to the National Institutes of Health, Vitamin A also preserves the membranes around your eyes. Bananas can also aid in the prevention of muscular degeneration. This is an incurable condition that blurs our central vision. Therefore, it is important to act now!
Banana & Bones
Bananas may not be a prosperous source of calcium. Calcium is an essential mineral that is useful in keeping our bones healthy and strong. According to the Journal of Physiology and Biochemistry (2009), bananas include an abundance of fructooligosaccharides. These are a form of non-digestive carbohydrates that boost digestive-friendly probiotics. These probiotics enhance our body’s capacity to absorb calcium.
Bananas for Sports
Bananas are the perfect athlete food because of their mineral contents. They enable easy digestion of carbs. Furthermore consuming bananas may assist in the reduction of your exercise related cramps and soreness. These cramps affect about 95% of the general population.
Banana: The Most Convenient Food Ever
Bananas hardly ever contain any pesticides or even any form of pollutants because of their very thick protective peel. In addition to being incredibly healthy, bananas are also one of the most convenient snack foods ever. Bananas make a great addition to your yogurt, cereals, and all the smoothies you want. Here are remedies special tip bananas are a good replacement for sugar in baking and cooking.
Conclusion:
Banana is a fruit that is a very convenient food. It has countless benefits for our health. The fruit happily takes care of our kidneys, our hearts, and our appetites. The fruit with yellow peel looks after our cramps after a hard day at the gym along with keeping our tummies fuller so that we can keep the extra fat away from our bodies.
References:
- https://www.livescience.com/45005-banana-nutrition-facts.html
- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods/bananas
- https://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=US9526567
- https://www.verywellmind.com/bananas-increase-serotonin-fact-or-fiction-1066923
- Leelarungrayub, J., Parameyong, A., Eungpinichpong, W., & Klaphajone, J. (2017). Effects of banana (Musa Sapientum Linn) consumption for physical strength, metabolic response, oxidative stress, lipid profiles, and Interleukin-23 in healthy men: a preliminary study. The Open Sports Sciences Journal, 10(1).
Pingback: Gut Health Foods For Babies - Healthy Right