One of nature’s most underrated fruits, the bananas are one of the most popular foods in the world because of their perfect portion size, natural protective wrap and cheap price.
But did you know that bananas can provide you with some amazing health benefits?
Eating 2 bananas a day can help you control your blood pressure, keep your bowels healthy, lose more weight and protect your eyesight.
Bananas contain the natural sugars sucrose and fructose which give them their sweet flavor, but are also packed with vitamins, minerals and fiber which makes them a healthy addition to your lunch. In particular, bananas offer a decent amount of vitamin B6, vitamin C, manganese and potassium. The average banana contains 467 milligrams of potassium and only 1 milligram of sodium, which can protect against atherosclerosis. Besides the cardiovascular benefits, the potassium found in bananas helps promote bone health by decreasing the amount of calcium excreted through urine and preventing the bones from thinning out at a fast rate.
As with any other fruit, the nutrient content of bananas changes as they ripen. In this case, as a banana ripens and turns dark yellow, its levels of antioxidants that protect your body against heart diseases and cancer increase. And according to recent studies conducted in Japan, the full ripe bananas with dark patches on their skin produce the largest quantity of TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor), a cytokine that fights abnormal tumor cells in the body by stimulating the production of white blood cells and assisting their communication.
So, the riper the banana the better it’s immunity-boosting and anti-cancer properties – in fact, bananas with dark spots are 8 times more effective in improving the function of white blood cells than green bananas. Research done on ripening bananas confirmed that TNF prevents tumor cells from growing and spreading. So instead of throwing away bananas that have developed dark spots with the assumption they’re rotten, eat them to get a nice boost of nutrients that can protect your health from various serious diseases.
But that’s not all that bananas have to offer to your health. Here’s a list of 6 more proven health-enhancing benefits of the tasty yellow fruit (continued on next page):
I was thinking that magnesium helped against cramped muscles …
I was told that men should have no more than three bananas a week as it can have negative effect on the prostate as he ages.
I’ve heard this, as well.
Actually bananas are very good for the prostate. Bananas help the prostate from swelling and help reduce the chances of getting prostate cancer.
I was reading recently that bananas are very bad for elderly because they cause excess stomach fat. Is this true? I am on the fence about eating them unless someone answers on pinterest ! Thanks ahead of time!!!
Haven’t heard of that so I can’t really concur
No it is nt true actually eating bananas at least two in morng is very good and also helps in weight loss but on the other side eating bananas after lunch more than two will certainly cause excess stomach fat.
My dad ate at least one banana everyday for as long as I can remember. He passed away this year at age 101.
Ugh, not sure about this. I developed an allergy to bananas after having 1/day for several weeks. Terrible stomach cramping and pain. I would recommend moderation instead 😉
I agree 😃
I’ve been eating two bananas per day for nearly two years now. I work out about 6 days per week, so maybe not good to eat so many bananas if you aren’t super active as well, but I feel better than I have in years and I’m stronger than I was in college. Then again, I’m on a 4,000-calorie per day diet and have the metabolism of a mutant racehorse.
2 bananas have 200-250 calories depending on size, pretty reasonable number for a snack so I don’t see how two bananas would be a problem for anyone even if not super active… it’s not really that much.
It is allergic to certain people.Some might get acidity or sneezing if the one they ate is too ripe. Benefits are really good generally.
I become an animal in a gym if ate just one banana.i mean it gives me more energy to push the weights in the gym.
I were eating 3 banana a day for a month and I went to see my doctor and he said that my potassium were to high.
I wonder if I can let the banana ripen and then freeze it to use in a smoothie?
Yes, you can do that
True about the potassium, a friend of my family gets very sick sometimes, (low potassium) and heard that the only thing that can control her sickness, it’s bananas. Weird stories but true!
Oh my gosh! This is so true! Everything you guys have said is unbelievably true! I remember this time when I was in the amazon jungle and since I had gotten lost, I ran out of food. I thought I was going to die! I sat around for many days hoping someone would eventually find me. But no one came looking for me. I eventually realized that I need to eat, so I cam across these fruits and stuff. And as a city girl, I never really had to make food. I would just go to the local Starbucks and they had everything I always needed. And since my rich boyfriend always paid my credit card, I didn’t care it was expensive. But anyway, there was no Starbucks in the amazon jungle. So I had to prepare the fruit for eating. It took a lot of effort to peel the case off the fruit. Some fruits were hard. But I eventually found out how to get the shell off the banana and began to eat those. I was afraid that I would become a vegan if I ate too many so I tried to supplement my diet with tree bark and other brown things I could find. But nothing tasted as good as the banana so I ended up eat many of them. At first, I was getting sick of them, or maybe I was just sick. I couldn’t tell because i didn’t have access to the internet which would help me log into webmd to see why I was hurting. But yeah, I was no good. It was also hard to poop which is another story. But when I realized no one was coming to get me, I started to walk more often and had to leave my base. I think that was when I started to realize that my friends may have left with out me. I should have gotten a clue when Lizzee Star, my best friend from my pole dancing class, said that I talk too much and need to learn how to shut my pie hole. And I still don’t understand what that means cause I don’t eat pie cause it makes me fat. Anyway, when I was walking I could heard my stomach growling. But it was far away and made very loud noises. It was very scary. I really thought my stomach was angry at me cause of all the bananas. But then I saw something move in the bushes and remember from my meetup camping group not to make a move when you see an animal in the jungle. So I stopped and waited for like 3 days before I started to move again. But when I mean to say is that when I was walking and moving and stuff, my stomach didn’t hurt anymore cause I think the bananas were finally working. I was afraid though that if I ate more, I wouldn’t poop more too but I was like so hungry from walking so I ended up eating more and it gave me like super powers to jump far and run fast. Soon, my hair was like really long and I needed to shampoo it cause it was starting to smell like an ashtray. So yeah, I think I can relate to everything everyone said on this site, and on twitter and on facebook and all the ridiculous comments from all the dang morons of the world who think they know what the hell they are talking about from their own stupid experiences! Argh!
Wow, what a story !!!
I love you
Wish that would happen some people have all of the luck.
My weight was 75kg.After ate 2 bananas each day for a month my weight was about 72kg.Does banana really make this or due to some health issues???
It depends on your overall calories during that month
My weight was 75kg.After ate 2 bananas each day for a month my weight was about 72kg.Does banana really make this or due to some health issues???
For about 40 years now, I’ve eaten between about five to ten bananas a day, some huge, some small, for the last fifteen or so years bought from the farmer, a tall very healthy and cheerful bloke at the local Sunday market. I’m 69 years old, don’t feel it, don’t look it, smoked 20 cigarettes a day – evil, health-destroying addiction – before giving up about 25 years ago.
I have often wondered whether or not I eat too many bananas – then I tell myself not to be so ridiculous – if it were possible to eat “too many” bananas, I’d have been dead long ago, especially since I am not exactly a giant, at 5ft 6inches tall and weighing about 68 to 70 kilograms.