Bet You Never Knew: The Hidden Health Benefits of Banana

Ultimately, banana has an array of benefits in your body. It contains three natural sugars – sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber which gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Studies have proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous workout. Little wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world’s leading athletes. But energy isn’t the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.
In this piece, Tunde Oguntola writes on the health benefits of banana and you’ll never look at a banana the same way again after discovering the many health benefits and reasons to add them to your diet.

Weight Loss
Finding foods to fit into your weight-loss diet can be challenging, but bananas make a perfect fit. Bananas are naturally sweet and can help curb your sweet tooth if you get that afternoon sugar craving. A 6-inch banana has a minimal 90 calories, about one-fourth of the calories you would get from a chocolate candy bar. Additionally, about half of the fiber content in bananas is soluble. When soluble fiber reaches your digestive tract, it absorbs water and slows digestion. Food is forced to sit in your stomach for a while, making you feel full. If you have a banana before lunch, you’ll be less likely to overeat when your food comes to the table.


Depression Bananas help overcome depression due to high levels of tryptophan. According to a recent survey undertaken amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

Blood Pressure:
This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. Bananas are officially recognized as being able to lower blood pressure and protect against heart attack and stroke.

Eye Health
Bananas have a small amount of vitamin A, a fat-soluble vitamin that is vital for protecting your eyes and normal vision. The term “vitamin A” refers to a series of compounds, including beta-carotene and alpha-carotene. These compounds preserve the membranes that surround your eyes and are a component of one of the proteins that brings light into your cornea.

Temperature Control
Many other cultures see bananas as a ‘cooling’ fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand, for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature. So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals.

Anemia
Strengthen your blood and relieve anemia with the added iron from bananas, conversely, banana is high in iron; it can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

Brain Power
Bananas make you smarter and help with learning by making you more alert. Eat a banana before an exam to benefit from the high levels of potassium. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making scholars more alert.

Constipation
Banana is high fiber and can help normalize bowel motility; including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

Hangovers
One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heartburn
Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness
Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito Bites
Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.