Bananas not only have a delicious taste, but also have great health benefits. Specifically, what are the benefits of eating bananas? To know more about the effects of bananas, please see the article below.
1, Bananas contain many essential nutrients
Bananas contain adequate amounts of fiber and some antioxidants. According to statistics, a banana weighing about 118 grams has the following nutrients:
- Potassium: 9% RDI (*)
- Vitamin B6: 33% of the RDI
- agnesium: 8% RDI
- Bronze: 10% RDI
- Manganese: 14% RDI
- Carbs: 24 grams
- Fiber: 3.1 grams
- Protein: 1.3 grams
- Fat: 0.4 grams
- (*) RDI – Reference Daily Intake: Reference Daily Intake
It is worth noting that bananas contain only about 105 calories and consist almost exclusively of water and carbohydrates. Based on the above data, it can be seen that the amount of protein in bananas is very little and almost no fat. It is these factors that make this fruit a “friendly” choice for dieters.
2. Eat bananas to control blood sugar
What are the benefits of eating bananas? One of the outstanding effects of bananas is to help control blood sugar. This fruit is rich in pectin – a type of fiber with a porous structure. Unripe bananas contain resistant starch, which acts like soluble and undigested fiber. Both pectin and resistant starch can lower blood sugar after meals and reduce cravings by slowing stomach emptying.
Furthermore, bananas also rank low to medium on the glycemic index (GI). This is a scale from 0 to 100 of how quickly a food raises blood sugar. The GI value of unripe bananas is around 30, while ripe bananas rank around 60. The average value for all bananas is around 51. This means that bananas don’t cause a big spike in amounts. blood sugar in healthy people.
However, is it good for people with diabetes to eat a lot of bananas? If you eat too many ripe bananas, you are still at risk of a sudden increase in blood sugar. Therefore, you need to control the portion of the day and regularly monitor your blood sugar.
One good news for diabetics is that the resistant starch in green bananas has the ability to improve insulin sensitivity, which is very meaningful for patients with type 2 diabetes. In addition, vitamin B6 in bananas plays a role. role in the formation of hemoglobin, a protein that transports oxygen and controls blood sugar effectively.
3. What are the benefits of eating bananas? Helps improve digestive system
Bananas are rich in fiber (an average banana has about 3g of fiber). Meanwhile, fiber has the role of cleaning the intestines and preventing many digestive problems. Bananas contain two main types of fiber including:
Bananas contain two main types of fiber:
Pectin: tends to decrease as bananas ripen.
Resistant starch: found in unripe bananas.
Resistant starches are not digested as they pass through the small intestine and end up in the large intestine, where they become food for beneficial bacteria in the gut. In addition, several test-tube studies have shown that pectin has the ability to prevent colon cancer.
Bananas also have the ability to support the treatment of stomach pain, gastroesophageal reflux disease. The reason is because when digested, bananas stimulate mucus secretion, mucosal regeneration helps ulcers heal faster.
4. What are the effects of bananas? Support cardiovascular health
Potassium is an essential mineral for heart health, especially in blood pressure control. Although this is an important nutrient, very few people care about getting enough potassium in their diet.
Meanwhile, bananas are a rich source of potassium. A 118g banana has up to 9% of the RDI for potassium. A diet rich in potassium helps lower blood pressure. People who consume a lot of potassium have a lower risk of heart disease than those who consume less. Moreover, bananas contain a sufficient amount of magnesium, which is also one of the important factors for heart health.
5. The effect of bananas to support weight lossT
here are currently no studies directly testing the effects of bananas on weight loss. However, bananas do have some weight loss-friendly properties.
Bananas are low in calories. An average banana has just over 100 calories but is still packed with nutrients to keep you feeling full. Consuming plenty of fiber from vegetables and fruits like bananas on a regular basis can help support weight loss. Furthermore, unripe bananas contain a lot of resistant starch, so they tend to fill you up quickly and suppress appetite. This can contribute to a healthy weight loss.
6. Strong anti-oxidant
What are the benefits of eating bananas? Fruits and vegetables are good sources of antioxidants in the diet. Bananas are no exception. Bananas contain several types of powerful antioxidants, including dopamine and catechins.
Dopamine from bananas acts as a potent antioxidant instead of having the hormone or mood-altering abilities of normal dopamine.
7. The effect of bananas against anemia
What are the benefits of eating bananas? Bananas are rich in iron, so consuming bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and help fight anemia. Anemia is a decrease in the number of red blood cells or hemoglobin in the blood, leading to symptoms of fatigue, pale skin, and shortness of breath.
Furthermore, the amount of vitamin B6 found in bananas regulates blood sugar levels, which can also assist people with anemia.
8. Increased insulin sensitivity
Insulin resistance is a major risk factor for many serious diseases, especially type 2 diabetes. The major source of resistant starch is raw bananas. Some studies show that 15-30g of resistant starch per day can improve insulin sensitivity by 33-50% within four weeks.
9. Eating bananas improves kidney function
Potassium is essential for blood pressure control and healthy kidney function. As a good dietary source of potassium, bananas can offer many benefits in maintaining healthy kidneys.
A 13-year study in women found that those who ate bananas 2 to 3 times per week had a 33% lower risk of kidney disease. Other studies also show that people who eat bananas 4-6 per week have an almost 50% lower risk of kidney disease than those who don’t.
10. The effect of bananas to support exercise
What are the benefits of eating bananas: strengthening physical strength?
Bananas are often called the perfect food for athletes thanks to their mineral content and easily digestible carbs.
Accordingly, the amount of carbs in bananas that are absorbed will quickly convert into energy, especially the added potassium will help exercisers avoid dehydration. Not only that, this fruit also possesses many components such as antioxidants, fiber, and vitamin B6 that are essential for training that current energy drinks cannot meet.
In addition, eating bananas can help reduce exercise-related muscle cramps and soreness by about 95%. Therefore, if you are choosing a food to eat before and after exercise, bananas are a great choice.
Note when eating bananas
Besides the benefits of bananas, you need to make sure to eat bananas properly to get many health benefits. Here are the notes when eating bananas that you should not ignore:
• Do not eat too many bananas: Bananas contain tyramine, phenyethyamine and amino acids. These are substances that can dilate blood vessels and increase blood flow to the brain causing headaches if you eat too much. In addition, the amount of magnesium in bananas, if consumed in large quantities, can cause magnesium poisoning with the external manifestations of fatigue, weakness and diarrhea.
Eating too many bananas also causes the body to absorb too much vitamin B6 to produce toxins, damage the nervous system and paralyze limbs, which is very dangerous.
• Only eat 2-3 bananas a day: Do not eat too many bananas at once to avoid hyperkalemia, irregular heartbeat, nausea, slower pulse, even cardiac arrest. . Instead, you should eat only 2-3 bananas evenly divided in a day to receive the effects of bananas.
• Do not eat overripe bananas or long-term bananas: You should also not eat ripe bananas and bananas that have been stored for a long time because the content of substances such as tyramine, phenyethyamine and amino acids will increase very high, which is dangerous for you. Ideally, you should only eat bananas that are just ripe.
• Do not eat bananas on an empty stomach: Eating bananas on an empty stomach will cause magnesium levels to rise suddenly in the blood, causing imbalances in the heart and damaging health while the abundant Vitamin C in bananas can easily make you sick stomach pain.
• Should eat bananas 1-2 hours after eating: If you eat bananas at this time, you will receive the full effects of bananas and promote health.
So you know what health benefits of eating bananas are and consider adding them to the right diet. Bananas are both nutritious and easy to eat that you can buy easily and cheaply, so don’t ignore this fruit!