Evidence-Based Health Benefits of Bananas?
Banana contains three natural sugars – sucrose, fructose, and glucose combined with fiber. Eating a banana will raise the blood sugar slowly and steadily, helping to make it a very suitable food for diabetics or prediabetics (the people whose blood sugar rise after eating foods that contain carbohydrate).
Many potassium in bananas helps maintain the average sodium chloride level, fluid balance, and acid-base equilibrium. It also acts as a muscle stimulant to keep you going throughout the day.
Potassium is one of the electrolytes lost during perspiration from exercising or simply from being out under the sun on a hot day. Replenishing this lost potassium benefits those who sweat excessively due to fever or other disease conditions.
Bananas are a good source of fiber that helps the digestive system in general. Eating regularly can reduce the risk of colon cancer and help lower blood cholesterol levels since it is rich in pectin, a water-soluble fiber.
Soluble fibers can slow down glucose absorption from other foods eaten at the same meal. This may improve your blood sugar control if you have diabetes mellitus type 2 or gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy). Moreover, one meta-study suggests an inverse relationship between dietary fiber intake and coronary heart disease when considering cardiovascular diseases.
The body needs vitamin C to make collagen for healthy bones and teeth and connective tissue in skin, tendons, and ligaments. Vitamin C also helps the body absorb iron. Eating one banana can give you up to half of your daily vitamin C requirement.
Bananas contain moderate B-complex vitamins like folate, riboflavin, pyridoxine, and thiamine. These are essential for energy production in cells since they help form ATP (adenosine triphosphate), a vital energy source for all our body activities.
The nervous system needs them to make myelin sheath on neuron axons that enable transmission between neurons. Consuming adequate amounts of these nutrients before conception has been shown to play a vital role in reducing the risk of neural tube defects among babies of women who lack them in their diets.
* Vitamin A is essential for healthy eyesight. It also helps keep the mucous membranes that line your respiratory, gastrointestinal, and reproductive systems working correctly. As a carotenoid, it is an antioxidant which means it neutralizes free radicals causing cellular damage in the body. Vitamin A is in bananas as beta-carotene (also found in dark green leafy vegetables like spinach) and cryptoxanthin (primarily on tangerines, oranges, and lemons).
Bananas are rich sources of the B-complex group of vitamins like riboflavin (vitamin B2), pyridoxine (vitamin B6), and thiamin (vitamin B1) needed by the nervous system for proper transmission of signals between different parts of the body.
Manganese is an essential cofactor in several critical enzymes like arginase (important for ammonia detoxification), pyruvate carboxylase (helps form glucose from noncarbohydrate sources), and superoxide dismutase, an important antioxidant enzyme that protects against free radicals.
Bananas also contain moderate omega-3 fatty acids (polyunsaturated fats known to reduce the risk of coronary heart diseases). They are present as alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), which is not produced by our bodies; hence we can only get it through food.
ALA constitutes about 7% of the total fat content found in raw bananas. A study conducted in women showed that eating one-half of fresh medium-sized bananas, or an equivalent amount of unsweetened dried banana chips, five times per week as part of the diet for six weeks was enough to reduce blood triglyceride levels.
Side effects of banana:
Natural Banana peels are rich in potassium, fiber, calcium & Vitamin B6. Banana skin is also very nutritious; it contains different enzymes like linoleic acid lipase, chitinase, and magnesium oxidase, which can help in treating various health issues. These enzymes present in the banana peel helps to reduce inflammation of arthritis, dissolve kidney stones and dissolve gall bladder stones. Here we bring you some excellent health benefits of banana skin that will force you to eat the peels next time!
Banana Peel Health Benefits:
1) Treat Constipation:
This fruit has an exceptional ability to remove Constipation by normalizing intestinal function. It also stimulates bowel movement by increasing stool bulk, so if you suffer from chronic Constipation, eat a few raw banana peels.
2) Use as Anti-Diarrheal:
Banana peel has anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects, which help to reduce inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract and fight against diarrhea-causing bacteria such as E. coli.
3) Best Remedy for Bladder Infection:
Banana peels’ antimicrobial properties help control bladder infection by promoting good bacteria growth that lives in our bladder, thus providing relief from burning sensation during urination or frequent urge to urinate at night.
4) Treat Urinary Tract Infection:
Banana skin is rich in tannins that act as an astringent on the urinary tract and treat infections without causing any side effects.
5) Great Remedy for Ear infection:
Banana peels are said to contain anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, which help treat ear infections by killing the bacteria that causes them.
6) Treating Warts:
The Antiviral and antiseptic properties of banana peel help reduce warts due to viral infections such as HPV (Human papillomavirus). Applying the raw banana peel on the affected area 2 times a day can help you quickly eliminate these ugly-looking growths.
7) Stop Hair Loss:
The potassium present in the banana peels is excellent for your hair and prevents women from hair loss. Just rub some peel on your scalp before going to bed and wash your hair as usual in the morning. This will give you healthy and long lustrous hair!
8) Treat Pimples:
The anti-bacterial properties of banana peel help to treat pimples, acne, and blackheads by clearing the blocked pores and preventing further breakouts.
9) Get Rid of Stretch Marks:
Banana peels are rich in Tryptophan, a type of amino acid that can increase collagen production, which is essential for the elastic formation, thus preventing stretch marks during weight loss or pregnancy.
Tryptophan also has a calming effect on the skin, especially after laser treatment which helps reduce post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation such as dark spots. Just rub some raw peel on your stretch marks and leave it overnight to get the best results.
10) Great Remedy for Cataract:
Banana peel contains rich antioxidants that help us prevent getting cataracts. This fruit is also said to have a laxative effect on the body, so eat some banana peels daily to fight this eye ailment naturally.
11) Help in Weight Loss:
Banana peels have pectin that’s great for weight loss as it helps you feel full after eating less. It also prevents an enzyme called ‘amylase’ from converting starch into sugar, thus keeping blood sugar levels under control and preventing diabetes.