Skip to main content

The Power of Bananas: Nutritional Value, Health Benefits, and Interesting Facts

Bananas are one of the most commonly available and consumed fruits in the world, due to their pleasant flavour as well as flexibility. Not only are they a delicious food stuff, but bananas have all kinds of nutritional plus points. In this blog post, let us take a deep dive into the world of bananas and see why are they called superfruit?

The Nutritional Profile of Bananas

Bananas: Bananas are rich in vitamins and nutrients, which helps keep you healthy overall. 

Nutritive value (Banana, raw. Portion - 100 gram):

  • Calories: 89 kcal
  • Carbohydrates: 22.8 g
  • Sugars: 12.2 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 2.6 g
  • Protein: 1.09 g
  • Potassium: 358 mg
  • Vitamin C: 8.7 mg
  • Vitamin B6: 0.367 mg
  • Magnesium: 27 mg
  • Manganese: 0.27 mg
  • Total Folate: 20 µg

Source: USDA

Rich in potassium — a mineral that is vital for heart health and muscle function, as well as maintaining fluid balance within the body. Dietary fibre in them keeps us full for a long time and aids indigestion as well.

Health Benefits of Bananas

1. Supports Heart Health: Potassium is very essential in regulating blood pressure and bananas contains a lot of potassium. Potassium on the other hand counter acts the effect of sodium since it causes high blood pressure. Bananas can therefore be used in maintenance of the heart health and the prevention of heart related diseases.

 2. Aids Digestion: bananas give a shot of dietary fibre, which is good for keeping bowel movements regular and preventing the ever-dreaded constipation. The especially, the fibre present in the bananas is soluble fibre and thus aids in slow digestion and thereby aids in weight loss.

3. Boosts Energy Levels: They are very useful in providing natural energy therefore widely produced and preferred by athletes and physical trainers. The natural sugars of bananas are glucose, fructose, and sucrose; all the carbohydrates in bananas are readily digestible and give quick energy

4. Promotes Healthy Skin: Bananas provide the necessary vitamins and minerals for maintaining a good shape of the skin and for synthesizing collagen due to such elements as vitamin C and manganese. These are useful in skin maintaining skin tautness hence reducing the formation of wrinkles and possibly achieving a skin firmness.

5. Supports Mental Health: The bananas also contain tryptophan which is an amino acid that is used by the body to produce the brain chemical, serotonin. Citalopram is the drug which acts on serotonin receptor that can reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety disorders.

6. Helps Maintain Bone Health: Despite the fact that bananas are not calcium sources, Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) is present in them and these compounds are known to improve calcium absorption in the body and thus the bones.

Interesting Facts About Bananas

World’s Favourite Fruit: They are the fourth most consumed fruits in the world after grapes, oranges and apples.

Over 1,000 Varieties: There are no less than one thousand and one types of bananas in the world today yet the most popular of them all is the Cavendish banana.

Bananas Are Berries: On botanical parameters bananas are berries, or at least the fruit offered to the consumer is a berry, but strawberries are not.

Not Always Yellow: Contrary to the yellow bananas that are commonplace many people don’t realize that there are red, pink and even blue bananas.

Natural Antacid: Because of its’ unrepented fruit skin, bananas are natural antacid that prevents and relieves acid reflux and heartburn.

GetResponse - All in one marketing software

Conclusion

Different part of bananas is beneficial for us, so it is not only a tasty snack It is a rich source of nutrition. From cardiovascular aid to the gastrointestinal tract to increasing energy levels to improving skin quality, bananas rightfully earned their status as one of the favourite fruits. So, the next time you’re up for a snack and thinking of taking something unhealthy well guess what your body would rather you take a banana.

 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

If you want to know more about this topic or about related topics let me know in the comments

Popular posts from this blog

What are the health benefits of turmeric! Let us discuss

What is Turmeric? Turmeric is a spice, bright yellow in color. It is typically used for color and flavor in Asian cuisine. Turmeric belongs to the Zingiberaceae family. Many times this plant is confused with Crocus sativus, which is known as saffron or true saffron. As both plants have yellow pigments this mix-up often happens. It is believed that turmeric has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-spasmodic, anti-fungal, antiviral, and neuroprotective properties, and much more. It contains bio-active compounds with very powerful medicinal purposes. Turmeric contains something called curcumin, this compound works as an anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antioxidant agent.  So, the followings are the benefits of turmeric - Lowers blood sugar According to the centers for disease control and prevention more than 100 million adults in the United have diabetes or pre-diabetes. Did you know that type 2 diabetes a combination of genetic factors and lif...
1 comment
Read more

Calcium Absorption || calcium absorption and vitamin d || calcium absorption and magnesium || what increase calcium absorption

Calcium absorption site Calcium is actively absorbed from the duodenum and proximal jejunum against electrochemical gradients with the help of a  Ca 2+  ATPase  and at least, a calcium-binding protein (CBP) of intestinal mucosal cells. Transcellular route: Transcellular movements involves three sequential steps -  from the intestinal lumen to the intestinal mucosal cell across the brush border within the cell from the lumen to the serosal site (between the blood vessels and intestinal mucosal cell) finally extrusion from the cell into the blood circulation               These three steps are regulated by calcitriol, the biologically active form of vitamin D. Paracellular route: It involves passive calcium transport through the tight junction between the mucosal cells. The salient features of paracellular transport include -  It is dependent on the nutritional and physiological regulation It is concentration-de...
1 comment
Read more

Garlic: Nutritional Value, Health Benefits, and Interesting Facts

Introduction  Garlic is widely used spice in most or all kitchens around the globe and it is more than a condiment. Garlic is one of the earliest recorded herbs that has not only been used as a spice but also has various remedies. Garlic is one of the few plants that have been appreciated since antiquity and used by contemporaries. But what set this rather smelly bulb apart from the others? Below, we explore the specifics of the nutritional profile and the health impact of garlic together with some pieces of trivia that you might be unaware of.  Problem: Why We Often Overlook Garlic’s True Potential It is at such a point that some of the relativity small activities that may go unnoticed can act as significant factors in enhancing our health. Garlic is generally used only as a spice. Few people know the various nutritional benefits garlic provides and its capability to improve one’s health. Thus instead, people might opt for synthetic supplements, or otherwise skip over all the...
Post a Comment
Read more