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20 Incredible Benefits Of Eating Bananas

by | Health & Wellness

Jul 15, 2020

There are many health benefits of eating bananas. Bananas are very delicious. You can eat them straight without any preparations, and they offer so many nutrients for your overall body functions and health. There is so much about this quality food you’re yet to know, so we’ve come up with these 20 incredible benefits of eating bananas to encourage you to add it to your meals. It’s a tremendous opportunity to live a healthier life eating one of the best and most nutrient-dense foods by nature.

Health Benefits Of Eating Bananas

 

1. Bananas Are Suitable For Your Gut

When you’re feeling bloated, one of the best things you can do for yourself is to eat some bananas. The fruit contains prebiotics that is a fermentable fiber that supports the good bacteria’s activities in your gut. With the support of the fiber and something called resistance starch, the bacteria in your stomach will then promote the breakdown of food particles so it can pass through your gut easily for elimination. 

2. Promotes Bone Health And Healthy Teeth

Your bones are responsible for mobility, speed, and strength, and play a vital role in your aging process. While bones are made from calcium, potassium is also essential in the formation process. Bananas are rich in potassium, which helps to strengthen your bones and give your body strength. Most foods containing potassium also produce alkali, which helps balance the acid-base balance in the human body. Too much acid causes bones to break down, and bananas help you avoid excessive dismantling of your bone structure. 

Your teeth also benefit from the abundant supply of potassium in your body. Aside from getting healthy teeth, banana also makes them whiter if you eat them regularly. Just robbing the fruit over your teeth for ten minutes before you brush in the morning will make a significant difference. 

3. Improves Kidney Health

Kidneys are essential for the working of the human body. They help to eliminate waste, control temperature, and get rid of harmful toxins. Research shows the benefits of eating bananas include promoting good kidney health because potassium content which helps to get rid of calcium that causes kidney stones. People who eat fruits regularly are less likely to develop renal cell carcinoma, which is the most dangerous form of kidney cancer. 

4. Protecting Against Ulcers

Too much acid build up in the stomach can lead to ulcers. That’s why in a study to determine which food helps protect against ulcers more, bananas come out on top. Bananas promote antacid effects by secreting potent compounds that help the stomach wall develop better protection against acids in the body. Also, compounds like Protease Inhibitors, which kills bacteria that causes stomach ulcers, are found in large quantities in bananas. 

5. Be Happier And Fight Depression

Are you feeling down or unhappy, and you’re looking for something to cheer you up? Why not eat a couple of bananas and see how your mood improves and begin to experience life’s positivity? Bananas contain tryptophan, a compound that, when ingested, your body converts to serotonin, the happy hormone. Bananas may be the best fruit for people dealing with depression and anxiety due to its antidepressant properties. People with mood swings will benefit a lot from eating bananas because of the folic acid, b vitamin, and niacin content. 

6. Instant Energy At Your Disposal

Are you feeling tired with low energy and don’t want to take caffeine or energy drinks? Bananas are the natural alternative for instant energy to get that massive adrenalin boots you need to keep going. 

Bananas have not just carbs, but also plenty of natural sugars, amino acids, and other minerals slowly released into the bloodstream to give you a massive energy boost. If you’re into sports, taking bananas will be a good alternative to energy drinks that are notorious for containing too many artificial sweeteners. 

7. Antioxidants Against Diseases

Your body needs antioxidants to fight against infections and diseases. Benefits of eating Bananas also include the fact that they are one of the top fruits containing a large number of powerful antioxidants, including Dopamine and Catechins. These antioxidants are essentially crucial for reducing the risk of several illnesses, primarily degenerative diseases that are life-threatening. Consuming bananas will help your body to get the nutrients it needs to get rid of infections. 

8. Stabilizing Of Blood Sugars

Blood sugar levels getting out of hand is the root cause of many dangerous illnesses like diabetes. Along with Insulin Resistance and Insulin Sensitivity, blood sugar level exposes your body to so many ailments that overwork your immunity and other natural defenses. Studies show that eating an unripe banana is one of the best ways to balance your blood sugar. 

9. Good For Brain Health

Your brain consumes a considerable amount of oxygen to complete tasks within your body system. While oxygen is available freely in the body, it can be challenging at high levels for use by brain cells. That is where the benefits of eating bananas come in. 

Bananas contain potassium, which is known to help retain oxygen in the brain so the cells can have enough to burn for energy, thereby preventing wear and tear. The brain also prefers to consume sugars from complex carbohydrates than refined sugars, for providing strength and stability. The Manganese in bananas is said to be effective in managing Epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease, while potassium cuts the risk of stroke by 12- percent in menopausal women. 

10. It’s The Perfect Food To Eat Before A Workout

Eating before a workout is generally not advisable because it weighs you down, and sometimes food with excess sugar cancels out all of your progress. All these reduce your chances of getting the maximum exercise effect. An exception to before-workout meals is bananas. When you eat it, it doesn’t weigh you down, and the complex carbs are good for energy generation. The benefits of eating bananas include their reputation as good energy sources, and research also supports them because they contain compounds that enhance athletic performance. 

11. Load Up On Vitamin B6

The most important benefits of eating bananas are the vitamin B6 component. Consumption of one medium-sized banana is enough to provide you with these very vital micronutrients that are easily absorbed by the body. Vitamin B6 from bananas produces red blood cells, turns fats and carbohydrates into energy, removes chemicals from the liver and kidney, and improves the nervous system’s functions. 

For pregnant women, vitamin B6 in bananas will help in the proper development of the child’s brain. It will also supply their body with the right amount of enzymes to improve metabolic reactions and good health. 

12. May Help Against Weight Loss

Many people find it very challenging to lose weight because they have to watch what they eat. Banana is full of fiber and low in calories, making it the perfect food to add to your weight loss plan. 

Bananas also make you feel full very quickly. A couple of bananas are enough to fill you up and make you hungry less often. Most people who’re trying to lose weight add banana to their meal and a natural and healthy alternative for carbs. 

13. Easy To Add To Your Diet

20 Incredible Benefits Of Eating Bananas

Bananas are delicious so, you can eat them right away. You can also add them to your meal in several ways. For example, you can make a banana cake or banana bread. Many people also enjoy preparing banana coconut chia pudding, thereby offering them even more nutrients and minerals to help the body function. 

You can also make coconut covered banana bites, add banana to oatmeal, and nuts make a fruit kabob containing banana, strawberry, kiwi fruit, papaya, and grapes. 

14. Improve Your Heart Health

The human heart contains muscles that contract and expand several times in a minute. Its rhythmic movement is necessary for pumping blood around the body, thereby keeping you healthy and alive. Research shows that the heart requires potassium supply for these heart rhythms to continue and prevent the risk of heart attacks. Hypokalemia is a condition that is a result of low potassium in the blood, usually leading to weakness, feeling tired, constipation, and heart palpitations. Eating the right amount of banana each day will ensure a continuous supply of potassium to the body to use it for proper heart functions. 

15. Treats Hangover

When you consume too much alcohol, certain nutrients in your body are depleted, including potassium, vitamin b1, and vitamin b6. That’s why many alcoholics are at higher risk of severe health conditions. 

Consuming banana can help reduce a hangover effect on your body by replenishing the lost nutrients. You can take banana milkshake with honey, where the banana will help calm your stomach, and the honey replaces the lost sugar levels in your body. 

16. Build Up Multiple Nutrients

The benefits of eating bananas are also recognizable in their chance to build up multiple nutrients in your body for better health. Besides getting dietary fiber, energy, carbohydrates, protein, and potassium, banana also gives you over a dozen other nutrients in high doses. 

Banana also has a high amount of Pyridoxine or vitamin B6, copper, vitamin C, Manganese, phosphorus, selenium, folates, etc. All of these nutrients play specific beneficial roles in your metabolism, hormonal functions, and other biological activities in your body. 

17. Get More Vitamin C Into Your Body

Vitamin C is one of the most critical micronutrients your body needs for proper functions. When you eat bananas, you get loads of vitamin C, about 15% of Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA). Taking vitamin C is crucial for your survival and plays many vital roles in body functions. 

Vitamin C or Ascorbic Acid is vital for the growth and development of the body and repair of damaged body tissues. You will also need it in your body to form collagen, absorption of iron, and boost your immune system to fight against external pathogenic attacks. 

Your body also needs vitamin C for proper bone and teeth health, maintaining your cartilage, dealing with high blood pressure and heart disease, and preventing gout attacks. 

18. Bananas Improve Your Skin Condition

The skin is the largest organ of the body, and it carries out several roles, including temperature regulation, protection against infections and chemicals, absorption, excretion, etc. Several studies have shown that you can improve your skin’s condition by eating enough bananas regularly. 

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Banana is rich in moisture that helps to moisturize the skin so that it can maintain softness. The vitamin A content of banana enables you to retain moisture and, at the same time, straightens the skin’s rough texture. 

Collagen is a protein in your skin that promotes elasticity, improves bone density, and reduces joint pains. The Manganese in banana helps to increase the production of collagen by releasing the amino acid called Proline. Manganese will also help your wounds heal faster, thereby protecting you against infection. 

19. Anti-Aging

Wrinkles and fine lines are two of the most visible effects of aging, visible on your skin. As you age, your skin losses the ability to retain collagen and other nutrients that keep it firm. Banana contains Vitamin A, Vitamin E, and Manganese, which help your body maintain collagen and make you look youthful. 

You can mix bananas with avocados and apply it on your face to get rid of fine lines and wrinkles. The mix will also increase moisture on your skin and repair dry skin. Bananas also help to lighten the skin by eliminating black spots and making your skin glow and shine with little or no blemish. 

20. Improve Eye Health

Better eye health and fight against any diseases are also benefits of eating bananas every day. Researchers show that bananas are rich in carotenoids converted to vitamin A in the liver and deposited in the eyes for better functionality.  

Eating bananas also improves eye vision so your eyes can easily adjust to low light situations or when you need to see it in the darkness. If you want to enjoy driving at night without any issues, we advise you to start loading up on bananas. You can combine bananas with carrot, spinach, sweet potatoes, kale, and lutein if you want to make a meal specifically to improve the health of your eyes. 

By Sara Leandro

Sara Leandro is a certified health coach who helps others feel their best through individualized lifestyle changes that meet their unique needs and health goals. She covers topics ranging from health and productivity to relationships.

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