Is it Good to Eat a Banana Daily? 12 Health Benefits (2024)

• Blood Pressure
  • Lower blood pressure
• Muscle Cramps
  • Alleviate muscle cramps
• Muscles and Skin
  • Keep muscles and skin healthy
• Potassium
  • Provide potassium
• Hydration
  • Keep hydrated
• Fiber
  • Provide fiber
• Vitamin B6
  • Provide vitamin B6
• Kidney Conditions
  • Prevent kidney conditions
• Appetite
  • Control Appetite
• Stress and Anxiety
  • Lower stress and anxiety
• Vision
  • Keep your vision healthy
• Energy Drinks
  • Replace energy drinks
• Color and Health Benefits
  • Do these health benefits change depending on the banana’s color?
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Lower blood pressure

Bananas are one of the most popular fruits, not only because of their delicious taste but also for their astounding health benefits. From keeping your vision health to lowering your blood pressure, bananas have been found to offer exceptional health benefits. Here are some of the things bananas can do.

Bananas are excellent sources of potassium and magnesium, two nutrients essential for maintaining a healthy diet. Both of these minerals are beneficial to heart health,lowering blood pressureand increasing arterial effectiveness. If you want to maximize these benefits, make sure to eat your bananas as they ripen — bananas with dark spots have a higher concentration of these nutrients.

Alleviate muscle cramps

While the evidence is inconclusive, experts have found bananas appear to relax muscle cramps, making them a good snack to eat after intense workouts. However, not everyone can reap these benefits. Some studies have shown that some people didn’t see an improvement after eating bananas.

Keep muscles and skin healthy

Bananas contain both manganese and magnesium, contributing to skin and muscle health. Manganese protects your skin against damage, while magnesium is a key element for muscle contraction and relaxation. Magnesium can help your body release fat, making it very useful for losing weight and keeping your body lean.

Provide potassium

Potassium is one of the key nutrients in a diet, as it helps in regulating your heartbeat, moving nutrients into cells, and contracting your muscles, among other functions. Lack of potassium can lead to several symptoms, such as muscle cramps and lethargy. Bananas contain about 400 milligrams of potassium each, making up about 12% of the daily recommended value.

Keep hydrated

Athletes are often advised to eat bananas after long, heavy workouts to stay hydrated. However, despite what one may think, this hasn’t much to do with water intake. Instead, potassium is used to regulate the balance of fluids in the human body, counteracting the loss of electrolytes caused by intense exercise.

Provide fiber

Fiber has dozens of benefits for your health — but arguably the most important one is helping your gut function correctly. Bananas contain about 3 grams of fiber each, representing about 10% of the recommended daily intake. Eating a banana daily may help you lose weight, digest food, and improve your gut health.

Provide vitamin B6

Vitamin B6 is often overshadowed by its more famous brother, vitamin B12 — however, B6 is also an essential part of the human diet. For example, it’s important during pregnancy to develop the baby’s brain while also playing a crucial role in metabolism. While B6 is often found in the American diet, eating a banana contributes to ensuring you reach the daily recommended value — a large banana contains almost 25% of what you need for each day.

Prevent kidney conditions

Experts have found that eating vegetables and fruits daily can prevent conditions such as kidney cancer. Bananas are especially good for this, as they contain a high amount of phenolics — plant-derived compounds with antioxidant effects. Furthermore, they are also great at preventing kidney stones, as they help your body get rid of excess calcium.

Control Appetite

You may already have noticed that bananas are particularly filling fruits. Even though they only contain about 100 calories, they can effectively curb hunger due to their high fiber content. Bananas provide a type of fiber called resistant starch, which keeps you full so you eat fewer calories overall.

Lower stress and anxiety

Bananas have several compounds which help reduce stress while also helping you sleep better. Most noticeably, it contains vitamin B9 — a nutrient with antidepressant properties. It also contains tryptophan, which, much like vitamin B6, has sleep-inducing properties. Tryptophan also promotes the creation of serotonin, a neurotransmitter famous for elevating mood.

Keep your vision healthy

Macular degeneration is one of the most common causesof low vision and blurred central vision. Bananas help prevent this disease and provide three different carotenoids that the body later converts into Vitamin A, which plays a crucial part in keeping your eyes healthy.

Replace energy drinks

While it may be hard to believe, studies have found that bananas are more effective than energy drinks at improving athletic performance. Besides the natural sugars which provide energy, they are also a natural source of serotonin and dopamine, which improve performance. Plus, they are useful in recovering energy after an intense workout.

Do these health benefits change depending on the banana’s color?

Luckily, the core health benefits of bananas don’t change depending on how ripe they are. However, some can be amplified depending on the color of the banana — so you might find it helpful to know which one is right for you.

Green bananas, the youngest ones, are great for people trying to reduce their blood sugar levels. Furthermore, they can be more filling than other bananas, making them ideal for those trying to lose weight.

Bananas that are completely yellow are easier to digest, thanks to lower fiber levels than green bananas. Ripening allows the starch to transform into antioxidants, which help protect your body from diseases.

Older bananas, which carry brown spots, further break down their fibers, creating more antioxidants and sugars. However, experts usually agree that this is the point where the healthiest stage of the banana has already passed.

Fully brown bananas are probably the least healthy stage, as they are packed with sugar content. Still, they have high levels of tryptophan, which helps reduce stress and anxiety. While people who want to control their sugar levels may want to avoid them, some may find this stage useful for baking cakes and other sweets.

Whether you decide to eat them fully ripe or when they are at their youngest, bananas are one of the best inclusions to your diet. Eating one or two bananas a day can significantly improve your quality of life while also being a delicious and quick snack. However, remember to listen to your body. It will be able to tell you whether or not you’re having enough.

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SOURCES:

1MD Nutrition: "Green, Yellow, and Brown: The Benefits of Banana Colors."

Association of Nutrition & Foodservice Professionals: "10 Healthy Reasons to Eat a Banana Every Day."

Food Revolution Network: "Are Bananas Good for You?"

International Police Mountain Bike Association: "Banana Benefits for Bikers."

National Institutes of Health: "Vitamin B6."

U.S. Department of Agriculture: "Bananas, raw."