It has been nearly impossible to find ripe bananas in these parts over the past couple of weeks…
That was the first thing that popped into my head when I was trying to decide what I wanted to write about today, so we’re going to roll with it and see where it takes us. Sound good? Good. Here we go…
So yeah… ripe bananas have been a rare commodity around these parts lately, which does not sit well with a girl that needs at least 3-4 a day to function. Okay I realize that might be a tad bit overly dramatic, but after noticing quite a few positive changes in how I’ve been feeling since increasing the amount of bananas in my diet over the past month or so, I’d very much like to keep that feel-good ball rolling, thankyouverymuch.
Bananas are probably my all time favourite food. In fact, if I had to pick one thing to live off for the rest of my life, I’m 99.872% sure that my answer would be bananas… both for health reasons and because I genuinely do love them that much. But what’s not to love?!? Not only are bananas extremely versatile and delicious, but they’re packed with vitamins and minerals, and their list of health benefits is pretty impressive as well.
What kind of health benefits? I’m glad you asked!
Before we talk specific benefits, let’s take a look at exactly what we’re eating when we eat a banana.
[source]
Despite the fact that they’re almost entirely made up of carbs and sugars, bananas actually rank low on the glycemic index, meaning they won’t spike your blood sugar levels. This is because, in addition to sugars, bananas come equipped with a good amount of fibre and other substances that help in both carbohydrate digestion and blood sugar regulation. Which brings us to…
Digestive Health
Bananas are little miracle workers when it comes to digestive health. A medium banana boasts an impressive 3g of fibre, which regulates the speed of our digestion (thus helping to control blood sugar levels) and helps normalize bowel motility.
Bananas also contain pectins, which are a specific type of fibre that helps in the normalization of carbohydrate digestion (thus helping to control blood sugar levels). The only catch is that the bananas need to be fully ripe since that’s when their pectin levels are the highest. Yes, this is also when their sugar levels are the highest, but the increased pectin and increased fructose concentration actually help moderate the impact that a banana has on our blood sugar. Bananas have also been found to have increased antioxidants and immune boosting properties in their ripest stage.
[source]
Finally, bananas contain fructooligosaccharides, which are a unique family of carbohydrates that aren’t broken down in our digestive tract. Instead, they travel down to our lower intestines and become “food” for the good bacteria that live there (we carry around at least 5-8 lbs. of bacteria in our gut at any given time), which goes on to have a big positive impact on our overall digestive health. Studies have shown that participants who ate at least two bananas a day for a two month period had significant increases in good bacteria, while experiencing fewer gastrointestinal problems and having more regular bowel functions [source]. And while this may be TMI, I can definitely speak to the truth of that.
Heart and Muscle Health
One medium banana contains an impressive 400 mg of potassium, which is a mineral that is essential for the maintenance of normal heart function. Potassium helps lower blood pressure and reduces the risk of developing atherosclerosis, so making bananas a part of your diet can help protect you against cardiovascular disease — one of the leading causes of death in today’s society. There is also some evidence to suggest that potassium is useful in the prevention and treatment of muscle cramps, making bananas ideal for athletes and those who suffer from nighttime muscle cramps.
Bananas also contain a small amount of sterol, a type of fat that is structurally similar to cholesterol and can help keep our blood cholesterol levels in check by binding to receptors and preventing the absorption of dietary cholesterol.
Mood Boosters
Bananas contain tryptophan — one of the essential amino acids. Tryptophan is the precursor to the neurotransmitter serotonin, which contributes to feelings of well-being and happiness.
Stable and Sustained Energy
Due to their high natural sugar and fibre content, bananas provide an easily accessible and sustainable source of energy for our bodies. They’re a great pre-workout snack for athletes, and also a great snack to eat between meals to help stabilize blood sugar levels.
The Takeaway
- Bananas are a good source of vitamin B6, manganese, potassium, fibre, copper, and biotin.
- While they may be high in sugars, bananas are actually low on the glycemic index thanks to their fibre and pectin content.
- Bananas contain fructooligosaccharides, which feed the good bacteria in our gut and contribute to good digestive health.
- Bananas should be eaten when fully ripe. This is when they are highest in all their beneficial properties, and also when they’re the easiest for us to digest.
- Bananas contain lots of potassium, which helps maintain normal heart function.
- Bananas are considered a “happy food” due to their tryptophan content.
A Few Recipes…
While bananas are perfectly delicious on their own, they also make a great ingredient in baked goods and smoothies. Here are a few recipe ideas to get more bananas in your diet!
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- Banana Oat Greek Yogurt Muffins
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- Flourless Banana Bread Muffins
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- Banana Oat Greek Yogurt Pancakes
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- Banana Bread Breakfast Bake
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- Banana Bread Mug Cake
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- Oatmeal Cookie Dough Smoothie
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- Thick ‘n’ Creamy Chocolate Smoothie
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- Chocolate Mousse Smoothie
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- Vanilla Cake Batter Smoothie
Have I convinced you to show bananas a little more love?
Would you be interested in seeing more health and nutrition related posts on Spoons?
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Lots of great info here! It’s a good thing to read all this because we LOVE bananas in our house. 😉 Hunter and I each have one almost everyday. I love them for a preworkout snack, and he loves them as part of his breakfast or for a snack.
I think nutrition/health informed posts would be an excellent addition to Running with Spoons!
As if I needed another reason to love bananas! I eat one virtually everyday but I had no clue that they were better for you when they’re ripe. I always thought it was the other way around because of the high amounts of sugar. Hmmph. Thanks for the naner lesson. 🙂
I would like more of these style posts! I enjoy bananas and probably eat a few a week.
Love this post!! Has motivated me to eat more bananas in my diet, especially as I have stomach issues too. Funnily enough, I’ve always hated bananas, until one year my new years resolution was to eat something that’s good for you but hate everyday of January!! That was over 10 years ago!
This made me so happy! I love bananas, especially when they are really ripe. I eat them everyday in my oatmeal and/or in smoothies. I had no idea they were this healthy ☺
Honestly, before doing a little more research, neither did I! Bananas definitely don’t get the praises they deserve.
Oh I love bananas. They are amazing in baked goods and just as good right out of the skin. We have them in pancakes every weekend! I normally have to take my banana with me to work and it always gets so bruised up, so I quit bringing them. Might have to start that back after reading this!
I just picked up some bananas yesterday at Costco…LOVE them, the benefits, sweetness, and how good they are in oatmeal. 🙂
So….I think I know what I need to snack on today! Bananas will forever and always be my favourite fruit, and definitely makes the top 5 list of favourite food in general.
I like the nutritional-ly posts – keep em coming!
Yay for a post informing me on the benefits of what I eat on the daily!!! I really like this post a lot… Probably because it makes me feel slightly more intelligent. It answers the question of my why I uhmmm… tend to use the bathroom at a certain time. Ha. Sorry, TMI, but at least it makes sense!
Bananas are probably my favorite except I can’t eat them the traditional way. One comment in elementary school left me picking off pieces the rest of my life. hahaha
I seriously cannot handle those spotted bananas. At all. Ew. Hahahaha.
I eat a banana every day (nature’s Snickers), I love them.
Every year… I forget about green banana season. I HATE ripe bananas! It’s that gross fermenting smell that makes me pukey. I like ’em the DAY they’re no longer green. As soon as speckles start to form, I toss them out. Hahahaha
Nooo that makes me sad! Don’t toss ’em! Freeze ’em to make smoothies with later!
I actually don’t care for bananas at all. I wish I did because I know they are healthy but they aren’t my thing. Great post though!
Maybe I’m biased because I abso-freaking-lutely love bananas, but I loved this post and reading about all of their health benefits. In my ed recovery I found myself avoiding bananas for a bit (sadness) because I went through an 80/10/10 phase that didn’t end well for anyone… but as of lately I have started incorporating them back into my diet here and there. As we speak, some extra ripe ones are staring me in the eye and I might just have to make a smoothie with them for lunch! And I vote yes on more health + nutrition related posts… maybe with a recipe at the end of the post to round it out– like the awesome roundup you provided here!
You love bananas?? I would have NEVER guessed!! 😉
They make a perfect pre-run snack!
I really loved this post and yes, would really like to see it become a “thing” on Spoons! You did a great job breaking things down and making me love bananas even more…if that’s possible! 😀
I loved this post and would love to see more oike itbin the future 🙂
I absolutely LOVE bananas!! I cannot say enough good things about them and they are my go-to fitness snack, pre-run or pre-workout!!
Great nutrition post! I love it!!
I LOVE bananas but was advised to not eat them because I suffer from severe constipation (on prescription meds for it). I’ve always heard that bananas cause constipation. Do you know about that? I’m very confused.
Bananas can definitely contribute to constipation if they’re not eaten when they’re perfectly ripe, which usually means you need to eat them when they’re brown and spotty. They’re actually seen as a good food for treating constipation in that stage, but it’s definitely something you want to talk about with your doctor.
I LOVE bananas! Nay I adore them!!
When I eat them they make me feel happy inside and out – I guess because of all of the reasons above!
They are the perfect snack, addition to a breakfast, hey they even make a perfect soft serve!
I do a “Benefits Of” { some food } every week, and have yet to do bananas! So this was very nice to read! And their digestive help is the main reason I eat them every morning 🙂 Love all the benefits that come from bananas, I just never knew they had so many!
Informative post. I’m not personally a fan of bananas. They make my stomach feel awful and bloated. I have a lot of issues digesting certain foods though. I do love using them in all my baking recipes to healthify them.
I was going to start of this comment along the lines of “I’m going bananas for this post”, but then I played that over in my head and realized that the cheesiness of that would be a liiiiittle out of control 😯 . I actually used to be slightly allergic to them when I was younger, but luckily grew out of it. So as far as bananas go now, I’m a fan! I love them in the morning with my coffee and usually have a combo of jelly and peanut butter (aka DEATH TO AMANDA) on it. Yummmmerrrs.
You know I’m a big fan of the cheesiness 😉
Ha, i love this! As if I needed more reasons to eat bananas!
I love bananas but I’m super picky about their ripeness so it leads to alot of frozen bananas in my freezer that are overripe. I definitely pick up my banana eating when I’m running alot though. I notice a big difference.
I love bananas, however, I am a much bigger fan of the bright yellow, unblemished banana. I just like the way they taste better at that stage, which for me is really hard to find lately. You’d have no problem finding your ripe ones in North Carolina. 🙂
Super informative–love it. I LOVE BANANAS–I love them in smoothies, I love them on toast with almond butter, I love them by themselves….. and now I’m sad because I probably won’t have one today. #lifeishard
Interesting!!! I love learning all the science stuff about food 😉
Hooray for ripe bananas! If there is the slightest bit of crunch to mine, I won’t eat it!
Fun story about bananas… when I lived in HK my [local] roommate looked at me eating a banana (because I had one every morning) and said “Your favorite food must be… banana!”. I told one of my friends and she replied “yeah, because they are delicious!”
Bananas are easily my husbands favorite fruit. He will appreciate this post (and probably tell me its why I need to eat more bananas!). Glad we aren’t the only ones who go thru crazy numbers of them in a week!
Mmmm I love bananas!! Thanks for this nutritional post. I eat at least one banana a day, but I may try to eat two a day now!
Literally eating a banana right now while reading this haha. I love ’em. I usually eat one a day, but I don’t like them when they get too spotty so I can only buy a few at a time.
I love posts like this so I say definitely YES! Ripe bananas are definitely sacred around our house! I loved learning more about them!
I just can’t get on the banana bandwagon!
Seriously only you can make a half eaten banana look good in a picture! I realized a while back that between my 5 family members we eat upwards of 40 bananas per week. Of course I don’t buy them all at once, but I was wondering why I was constantly running out and then did the quick math. We love them and they’re just great in so many ways!
So..guess what I am eating right now…yup – a ‘nanner! 🙂
I love your fun nutritional fact post on one of my fav foods too – and yes please – I would LOVE to see more!
Btw – I had no idea bananas had ” fructooligosaccharides” that helped the good bacteria in our guts!
And, on a final note – girrl, you gotta move down here – the grocery stores are overflowing with nanners! 🙂
That explains everything! All our good bananas have gone south for the winter 😛
Girl, now you’ve really gone bananas – and I have Gwen Stefani stuck in my head. And what’s worst: I’m at work with no bananas close by.
I like how you just rolled with it and turned a random fact into a post. I like nutrition posts that go beyond geberal knowledge. Like here I’d guess most people knpw bananas are healthy but you outlined the specific health benefits. I already liked those wonderful yellow beauties and running low calls for emergency grocery runs. But now I think I need to eat even more of them … maybe in the form of mug cakes 😉 ?!
Hell yes to bananas..so glad you showed ’em some loving! I especially appreciate you pointed out about eating them when they’re ripe (other than because that’s when they taste best). I remember reading some BS advocating that bananas should be eaten when they’re green as that’s when they’re least sweet and hence lower in carbs- wtf. Aside from tasting gross. It’s almost like voluntarily setting yourself up for constipation! Aside from tasting delicious, I am convinced that bananas help keep me regular?
Very happy to hear that my favourite freckled-variety of banana has some healthy qualities! I’m not a huge banana eater these days but sometimes an overwhelming craving takes hold and I go into chimp-mode. Coincidentally, this morning was one of those days, and a beautifully ripe banana made it’s way into breakfast.
This might be annoying but I can’t not think of this song now… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17uO_CxzIkE
😆 Ohhhh Charlie. That’s better than getting the Gwen Stefani song stuck in your head, though…
I love how you actually go into the benefits of the bananas on a chemical level! It shows that you know what you’re talking about! I eat one or two bananas a day, but I used to go through almost 15 lb. Of them per week. (Embarrassing). Thanks for posting this!
I like posts like this a lot. It’s helpful for people to fully understand the nutritional make up of the good-for-you foods and remind those that are caught up in fad dieting/social media diet nonsense that fruit is not the enemy, especially the banana. I don’t love it as my top favorite, however, asa runner, it is PERFECT FOOD. And that potassium helps to avoid muscle cramping which is always nice too.
You and your apples 😛