Are Bananas Good For You?

Bananas are one of the most widely consumed fruits in the world for good reason.The curved yellow fruit packs a big nutritional punch, wrapped in its own convenient packaging. You will never look at banana the same way again discovering the many health benefits and reasons to add them to your diet. Bananas combat depression, makes you smarter, relieve morning sickness, cure hangovers, protect against kidney cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes, blindness and many more.

Here we look at the possible Health Benefits of Banana

A study conducted by the Imperial College of London found that children who ate just one banana per day had a 34% less chance of developing asthma.

Bananas help overcome depression due to high levels of tryptophan, which is converted into serotonin – the happy mood brain neurotransmitter.

Bananas are good for your heart. They are packed with potassium, a mineral electrolyte that keeps electricity flowing throughout your body, which is required to keep your heart beating. Bananas high potassium and low sodium content may also help protect your cardiovascular system against high blood pressure.

The fruits contain a small but significant amount of vitamin A, which is essential for protecting your eyes, maintaining normal vision and improving vision at night. Like other fruits, bananas can help prevent macular degeneration, an incurable condition, which blurs central vision.

Some evidence suggests that moderate consumption of bananas may be protective against kidney cancer.

The Nutritional Breakdown

One medium banana (about 126 grams) is considered to be one serving. One serving of banana contains 110 calories, 30 grams of carbohydrate and 1 gram of protein. Bananas are naturally free of fat, cholesterol and sodium.

Bananas provide a variety of vitamins and minerals:

• Vitamin B6 – .5 mg
• Manganese – .3 mg
• Vitamin C – 9 mg
• Potassium – 450 mg
• Dietary Fibre – 3g
• Protein – 1 g
• Magnesium – 34 mg
• Folate – 25.0 mcg
• Riboflavin – .1 mg
• Niacin – .8 mg
• Vitamin A – 81 IU
• Iron – .3 mg

Health Risks.

Eaten in moderation, there are no significant side effects associated with eating bananas. However, eating the fruits in excess may trigger headaches and sleepiness.

Also, bananas are sugary fruits, so eating too many and not maintaining proper dental hygiene practices can lead to tooth decay.

Consuming too much potassium can be harmful for those whose kidneys are not fully functional. If your kidneys are unable to remove excess potassium from the blood, it could be fatal.

Culled from medicalnewstoday.com