Health Benefits Of Banana

Banana

1. Moderate Blood Sugar Levels

Bananas are rich in pectin, a type of fiber that gives the flesh its spongy structural form.
Unripe bananas contain resistant starch, which acts like soluble fiber and escapes digestion.
Both pectin and resistant starch may moderate blood sugar levels after meals and reduce appetite by slowing the emptying of your stomach.
Furthermore, bananas also rank low to medium on the glycemic index (GI), which is a measure from 0 to 100 of how quickly foods increase blood sugar levels.
The GI value of unripe bananas is about 30, while ripe bananas rank at about 60. The average value of all bananas is 51.
This means that bananas should not cause major spikes in blood sugar levels in healthy individuals.
However, this may not apply to people with type 2 diabetes, who should probably avoid eating a lot of well-ripened bananas and monitor their blood sugar carefully if they do.

2. Improved Digestion

According to Ayurveda, banana has a sweet and sour taste. The sweet taste is said to bring about a sense of heaviness but the sour taste is known to stimulate Agni (Digestive Juice), thereby supporting digestion and helping in building up metabolism.

Choosing bananas for one or two servings daily can provide significant benefits for your digestive system, but add these and other high-fiber foods to your diet gradually to prevent digestive problems, such as gas or bloating.

Bananas are included in the BRAT diet (an acronym for Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast), a once commonly prescribed regimen for patients with diarrhea or who required a bland, easy-to-digest diet after stomach ailments. Not just easy to eat, bananas can help replete electrolytes like potassium that are lost with diarrhea or vomiting, and contain resistant starch (especially if using cooked less-ripe green bananas) that may support gut healing.

Unripe bananas contain resistant starch, a type of carbohydrate that “Resists” digestion in the small intestine. It is absorbed slowly and does not cause sharp rises in blood sugar. The starch acts as food for the growth of beneficial microbes in the digestive tract. Microbes break down and ferment the starch as it passes into the large intestine, producing short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) that may play a role in the prevention of chronic diseases including digestive disorders. Clinical studies have shown the potential use of SCFA in the treatment of ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, and antibiotic-associated diarrhea. 

3. Weight control

There is no evidence that bananas contribute to weight gain, despite popular belief. In an analysis of three large prospective cohort studies, researchers looked for associations between reported intakes of specific fruits and vegetables and weight changes in 133,468 U.S. men and women followed for up to 24 years. The results were adjusted to account for other factors that can contribute to weight changes like smoking and physical activity. Though higher intakes of apples, pears, and berries tended to more strongly show a link to less weight gain over time, bananas were also associated with less weight gain. Bananas do have several attributes that should make them weight loss-friendly fruit.

4. Potassium Bank

A medium-sized banana will provide around 320-400 mg of potassium, which meets about 10% of your daily potassium needs.

Potassium helps your body maintain a healthy heart and blood pressure. Besides, bananas are low in Sodium. The low sodium and high potassium combination helps to control high blood pressure.

The high content of potassium in bananas makes it a super fruit. This mineral is known for its numerous health benefiting properties - it helps in regulating heartbeat, blood pressure, and keeps the brain alert. So make sure you add bananas to your daily to keep your heart and brain healthy, plus for more stabled blood pressure.

Bananas are rich in a mineral called potassium. This mineral is important as it helps maintain fluid levels in the body and regulates the movement of nutrients and waste products in and out of cells.

Potassium also helps muscles to contract and nerve cells to respond. It keeps the heart beating regularly and can reduce the effect of sodium on blood pressure.

Potassium may reduce the risk of kidney stones forming as people age. In turn, healthy kidneys make sure that the right amount of potassium is kept in the body.

5. Nutrient House

Bananas are among the world’s most popular fruits.

Native to Southeast Asia, they are now grown in many warm parts of the world.

The most common type is the Cavendish, which is a type of dessert banana. Green when unripe, it yellows as it matures.

• Potassium: 9% of the Recommended Daily Intake (RDI)
• Vitamin B6: 33% of the RDI
• Vitamin C: 11% of the RDI
• Magnesium: 8% of the RDI
• Copper: 10% of the RDI
• Manganese: 14% of the RDI
• Carbohydrates: 24 grams
• Fiber: 3.1 grams
• Protein: 1.3 grams
• Fat: 0.4 grams

Each banana has only about 105 calories and consists almost exclusively of water and carbs. Bananas hold very little protein and almost no fat.

The carbs in green, unripe bananas consist mostly of starch and resistant starch, but as the banana ripens, the starch turns into sugar (glucose, fructose, and sucrose).

Which One Is Best?

Ultimately, while the brown bananas contain the most antibiotics, the healthiest banana is the one that fulfills your nutritional requirements and suits your lifestyle needs.

Case in point, if you are watching your sugar intake and want a snack that fills you up quickly, you can go for the green variant.

The yellow or spotted bananas can be very easily digested as they contain a lot of antioxidants.

Lastly, you can always whip up some pancakes and banana bread with the help of brown bananas and not feel guilty of them not being healthy.