The fruit that comes with its own peelable package is well known as a source of potassium. But the banana is not a one-hit wonder, it packs a nutrition punch that should be worked into your weekly fruit rotation. It’s also one of the cheaper fruits. In this article, we will be discussing the nutritional facts about bananas.
Bananas can be worked into breakfast in cereal, into lunch with peanut butter, and into dessert with ice cream. They make a great snack, delivering sugars that fuel you but delivering starches that prevent you from crashes.
Nutrition Facts in One Banana
- 105 calories, bananas are mostly water and carbs
- 33% of the DV of Vitamin B6 and 11% of the DV of vitamin C
- The carbs in green bananas are from starch, but the ripening process turns starch into glucose, fructose, and sucrose. This ripening process makes bananas sweet, then eventually mushy.
- 27g of carbohydrates
- No significant fat or protein content
- 3g of fiber
- 14g of powerful sugar balanced by starches that prevent sugar highs and crashes
- 422mg potassium (this is only about 10% of the daily value)
- 32mg magnesium (8% DV)
1. Benefits of Potassium in Bananas
Potassium is the most well-known nutrition facts about the banana, even though it represents only 10% of your daily value of potassium, and bananas contain a much higher vitamin B6 content! Still, potassium is generally hard to find naturally occurring in foods.
Potassium generally regulates digestive health, helps your muscles and nerves fire properly, and helps against heart disease.
2. Banana Nutritional Fact – Good for the Heart
Potassium helps support blood pressure control, and very few people get enough. A single banana won’t clear your potassium daily value though–a medium-sized banana contains only a tenth of the potassium recommended daily value. Potassium lowers blood pressure and helps protect against heart disease.
Potassium helps muscles properly contract and speeds up nerve response, which in turn regulates your heartbeat.
3. Bananas are Good for Digestive Health and Weight Loss
The dietary fiber in bananas can improve digestion. Bananas contain pectin and resistant starch, and the less ripe the banana is the more of these fibers it has.
Potassium regulates nutrient movement and waste products. If the potassium levels in your body drop, nutrients don’t move around much and cells stop properly discarding waste products, hurting your overall digestive health and recovery time.
Bananas have a low-calorie count, and yet high sugar content with nutritious and filling nutrients. Vegetable fiber is a great alternative to filling grains, and the starch is less ripe bananas helps you feel full and stay that way.
Bananas aren’t actually that high in sugar, they contain fiber which prevents blood sugar spikes and crashes.
4. Banana has Antioxidants and Brain Vitamins
Bananas contain dopamine and catechins, improving mood and protecting against degenerative illnesses. They also protect against free radicals.
B6 is one of the famous “brain vitamins,” so bananas can sharpen your mind in the short team and prevent cognitive deterioration in the long term. The B6 and dopamine also help regulate against mood swings.
A nutrition fact about bananas is that eating them will deliver a concoction of antioxidants and B6 vitamins that, along with the sugar kick, will help improve your mood and protect against cognitive dulling as the day wears on. Reach for a banana at 2 pm to protect against afternoon decline.
5. Bananas Can Help You in Workouts
Bananas are a great on the go snack for the gym and for sports. They’re also a popular shield against muscle crampings, helping hydrate and provide sugars. The science here is a bit more suspect.
Potassium regulates nutrient movement and waste products. If the potassium levels in your body drop, nutrients don’t move around much and cells stop properly discarding waste products, hurting your overall digestive health and recovery time.
In workouts, potassium is key to regulating muscles, nerves, and your heartbeat. It keeps you stable when your body begins to breakdown and muscles tire.
It is not a well-known fact about bananas, but bananas help exercise because they deliver sugar and carbs without overloading you with calories. When you sweat, you sweat out potassium, so bananas will replenish that as well. The peel makes them easy to carry and consume on the go.
Conclusion
A single banana every day or every other day can have enormous health benefits. It functions as a great snack, at 105 calories, keeping you full and delivering sugar without slowing you down. The naturally occurring potassium is great for workouts, heart health, and digestive health. Magnesium and potassium combine to protect your heart, and the antioxidants in bananas protect against free radicals and deliver hits of dopamine to your system.
Next time you’re at the store, consider adding bananas to your fruit rotation! Bananas are cheap, offer great health benefits, and make you feel good.
I hope that this article on banana nutritional facts was helpful. If you are interested, visit the health facts page!
