Bananas are a great food for all round health benefits, for the average person, dieter or even athletes bananas may provide greater benefits than most fruits. The combination of carbohydrates and B vitamins present in a banana helps provide an energy boost which makes them great to eat 30 minutes before a workout, or even at breakfast to help boost energy at the start of every day.
Benefits
Bananas are good for your heart and nerves: Bananas
contain a high dose of potassium - an essential ingredient to keep your
heart and nervous system in good shape. Potassium is essential for proper
muscle contraction and hence plays an important role in muscle-influenced
activities including: the normal rhythmic pumping of the heart, digestion,
muscular movements, etc., Some studies have also linked low potassium intake
to high blood pressure and increased risk of stroke. Most Americans don't
get enough potassium in their diet (recommended dose is about 4 g per day) -
blame it on our fast food culture. Including a banana (or two) in your diet
everyday would take you a step closer towards getting your daily recommended
dose of potassium.
Bananas are good for your kidneys and bones: Benefits
to the kidneys and the bones are again due to the high potassium content of
bananas. A normal intake of potassium suppresses calcium excretion in the
urine and minimizes the risk of kidney stones. Also, for the same reason
(suppressing of calcium excretion), it minimizes the loss of calcium from
the body and thereby reduces the risk of osteoporosis.
Bananas can act as mood enhancers or mild sedatives:
Bananas contain tryptophan (although it's not one of the major sources, a
medium still contains about 10.6 mg of tryptophan). Tryptophan is one of the
20 amino acids which are building blocks of proteins (btw, an incredible
number of articles on the internet call tryptophan as a "mood-enhancing
protein" and that is technically not correct). Tryptophan helps the body to
produce serotonin - which has a calming effect on the brain (creates a
stable mood) and acts as a mild sedative. It should be noted that the only
way our our body gets it's dose of tryptophan is through our diet - it does
not produce tryptophan naturally; bananas is one of the easiest ways to get
it.
Bananas are good for your blood: Bananas are one of the
highest sources of naturally available vitamin B6: Vitamin B6 plays an
important role in converting tryptophan to serotonin (read #3 above), and
also helps the body to make hemoglobin - a crucial ingredient of your blood.
Vitamin B6 is also essential for antibody production and to maintain a
healthy immune response. It also helps to convert carbohydrates to glucose
and thereby maintains proper blood sugar levels. A medium banana can take
care of 1/5th of your daily recommended intake of vitamin B6 and is one of
the easiest (and cheapest) ways to increase your dietary intake of the
vitamin.
Bananas are good for kids: Bananas are part of
the BRAT diet, a diet many physicians and nurses recommend for children
recovering from gastrointestinal problems, particularly diarrhea. BRAT
stands for the diffe
