Health Benefits of Banana and Its Nutrition

Bananas come as among the most widely used fruits across the globe. The name “banana” is derived from the Arabic language meaning “fingers.” Bananas were originated in the Southeast Asian region, with current harvesting going all around the world. Now, these fruits are available in almost every corner of the world. They are filled with nutrients that have a positive impact on overall health. In this article, we will discuss the different health benefits of bananas and their nutrition profile.

Nutritional Constituents of Banana

Banana comes with the following nutrients:

Carbohydrates

Bananas are a great source of carbohydrates. In unripe bananas, the starch component is common, while in ripe bananas, the sugar component is common. We can conclude that starch makes the main component of bananas. Greek bananas come with 80% starch that gets measured in dry weight. In the process of ripening, starch gets converted into sugars and is less than even 1% of the total given the fruit is fully ripe. Some of the common sugar types in fully ripe bananas include glucose, fructose, and sucrose. What’s more, the total content of sugar may reach up to 16% of the total weight of the fruit.

Bananas come in the category of low GI foods, but that basically depends on how much they are ripe. The GI is a factor deciding how quickly the carbohydrates from your food enter your blood and elevated BGLs. The high fiber and resistant starch on bananas are responsible for lowering the GI.

Fiber

Starch is a high proportion used in unripe bananas that acts as resistant starch that passes all the way from your gut in an undigested form. In the large intestine, it gets converted into butyrate by the bacteria, which is a short-chain fatty acid having positive effects on the digestive system. What’s more, bananas are also high in pectin, which is a soluble fiber. The ripe banana has a high amount of pectin that increases the softness of the fruit. The resistant starch as well as pectin help in moderating blood glucose levels after meals.

Minerals

Bananas are an excellent dietary source of potassium. Potassium helps in providing relief to blood pressure in patients with hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Also, it aids in regulating fluids and electrolytes and improving nerve and muscle conduction in the body.

Vitamins

What’s more, bananas contain vitamin B6 in them, and a medium-sized banana contains about one-third of the B6 daily value. In addition, bananas are filled with vitamin C as well.

Phytochemicals

Dopamine – Dopamine found in bananas acts as an antioxidant that helps in the reduction of free radicals and oxidative stress in the body.

Catechin – The catechins found in the banana fruit are flavonoids that help to provide certain health benefits including protection against cardiovascular disease.

Health Benefits of Bananas

As you can see, there are a lot of nutrients and phytochemicals found in bananas that come with various health benefits. For example, the lectin found in bananas helps in the prevention of cancer, and resistant starch found in unripe bananas aid in improving digestive health, weight loss, and insulin sensitivity. The powerhouse fruit is also popular among athletes and all individuals doing strenuous physical activity. Some of the health benefits of bananas include the following:

1) Aids in Satiety

Bananas are abundant in soluble fiber that helps to improve bulk in the GI tract and slow down digestion in the body. What’s more, the bananas are considerably lower in calories as compared to their size. If you want to alleviate hunger, then going for bananas is a good option. You can also try consuming some protein with the banana to complete a balanced diet this way.

2) Improves Insulin Sensitivity

Insulin resistance comes as a major risk factor against several chronic conditions including diabetes and cancer. Some studies suggest that regular consumption of resistant starch, as seen in unripe bananas, helps in improving sensitivity to insulin. What’s more, the body gets more responsive towards the hormone this way.

3) Improves Renal Health

Potassium found in bananas helps to improve renal function and regulate blood pressure. A study suggests that over 5,000 individuals have an early-stage kidney disease-associated potassium with a decreased blood pressure and a much slowed down elevation of renal disease.

4) Improves Exercise Recovery

Bananas are considered among the ideal foods for athletes. It is because they are filled with potassium, magnesium, and digestible carbs that are needed by the body for physical activity. Your body loses electrolytes via your sweat in strenuous activities. When your body gets potassium during the exercise, there is a significant decrease in the occurrence of soreness and muscle cramps.

5) Easy Addition to Diet

Bananas serve as convenient snack foods and additions to different foods such as smoothies, cereals, and yogurt. You can use them to sweeten bakery products instead of adding sugar. What’s more, they are quite easily digested and tolerated by the body.

6) Regulates Blood Pressure

Science suggests a diet low in sodium and high in potassium is helpful in lowering the risk of hypertension and strain in blood vessels in the body. One banana of medium size contains 9% of the daily value of potassium.

7) Aids in Asthma

Eating bananas is also helpful in the prevention of wheezing in people having asthma. One of the reasons behind it is the high content of potassium and antioxidants found in bananas. However, there is a need to do further investigation to see the actual association in it.

8) Prevention against Cancer

Lab studies suggest lectin be helpful against the prevention of cancer cells in the banana. It is a protein that is also present in bananas and acts as an antioxidant. These tend to decrease oxidative stress from the cells. If there is a high accumulation of free radicals in the body due to high oxidative stress, it can lead to cancer. It was also noted in 2004 that children who used to consume orange juice and bananas had a lower risk of developing the condition leukemia. It may be possible because of the high antioxidant content found in bananas.

9) Prevents Memory Loss and Boosts Mood

Bananas have tryptophan in them, which is an amino acid helpful for memory. It is also helpful in the regulation of mood. People who are at a greater risk of developing cognitive decline, such as the geriatric population, can take the help of bananas to slow down the cognitive decline.

10) Supports GI Health

Banana contains around 3 grams of fiber in one serving. The fiber in a banana is known to provide a lot of health benefits, and improved GI is one of them. Unripe bananas contain resistant starch in them that helps to serve as a prebiotic. That does not get digested and accumulated in the large intestine. From there, the healthy gut microflora feeds on it to nurture and provide a healthy environment for the gut. Pectin aids in relieving constipation, and it also provides prevention against cancers of special types, especially colon cancer.

11) Aids in Weight Loss

Bananas are considered to be helpful against weight gain, especially unripe bananas that don’t contain high sugar content. First of all, the fruit contains a low amount of calories, and secondly, it contains fiber, especially in the form of pectin that absorbs the surrounding water and aids in satiety for hours. The person ends up feeling satisfied for hours. What’s more, the resistant starch content in unripe bananas helps in reducing your appetite.

12) Improves Heart Health

Potassium is important for maintaining heart health. Not many people know but potassium is an integral mineral to support heart health. Bananas serve to be an excellent source of the mineral. A banana of medium size contains about 10% of the daily value of this mineral. Research indicates that bananas help to keep you from developing hypertension. What’s more, animal studies and research suggests that people consuming a high amount of potassium in their diet have a 27% decreased risk of cardiovascular disease development in their body.

Not only that, but bananas also contain magnesium, which is found up to 8% of the daily value, and is important for cardiovascular health. People developing magnesium deficiency come with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and a high-fat level found in the blood. What’s more, bananas with their good magnesium content are helpful for healthy cardiac muscular contraction in the body.

The Takeaway Message

Bananas are excellent nutrient-dense fruits and therefore come in the category of superfoods. They contain resistant starches, pectin, lectin, vitamin B6, vitamin C, magnesium, and potassium in high amounts that come with various benefits for health. Some of the benefits include improvement of digestive health, better satiety, improved blood pressure, and cardiac health, increase in insulin sensitivity, regulation of electrolytes and muscle conduction, decrease in asthma and cancer incidence, improvement in kidney function, and better memory and mood.