Nutrition facts & Health benefits of Bananas

In this post & video I am going to talk about the nutrition facts of bananas and explain some of their health benefits.

Contents

Nutritional profile | Water | Carbohydrates | Fat & Protein | Energy | Health benefits | Conclusion |

Nutritional profile of bananas

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Prashanth Reddy Cheruku

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📍 Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur

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Water

Like the majority of fruits and vegetables bananas also contain quite a lot of water. Close to 75% of their total weight is water. These fruits definitely can help us in reaching our daily requirement of water and especially so for people living in hot climates.

Carbohydrates

Bananas are carbohydrate rich foods. The second most prevalent nutrient present in bananas after water is carbohydrate.

Close to 23% of the weight of bananas is carbohydrate. 2.6% of the total weight of bananas is dietary Fibre. We can say that bananas are moderately good sources of dietary fibre.

Sugars constitute around 12% of the total weight of bananas. These sugars provide instant burst of energy that comes in handy for physically active people and athletes. In fact, banana is one of the most favoured fruits for sports men and women around the world.

Fat & Protein

Bananas contain negligible amount of fat. 100 grams of them contain just 0.33 grams of fat. This exceptionally low level of fat can be useful for people seeking weight loss & weight maintenance.

Bananas contain just around 1% protein. They are definitely not a good source of protein. But, the bananas can be consumed along with protein sources such as breakfast cereals, milk and peanut butter to increase the overall protein intake.

Energy

100 grams of bananas contain just about 89 Calories/372 KJ of energy. Bananas can be considered as very low energy natural foods.

Health benefits

Apart from the aforementioned macronutrients bananas also contain a few vitamins & minerals.

100 grams of bananas provide around 22% daily value of vitamin B6. Vitamin B6 helps our body in making antibodies that fight with infections. It also helps in making haemoglobin and maintaining nerve function. This vitamin also helps in keeping blood sugar in normal ranges. Hence it is especially beneficial for people with pre-diabetes & type 2 diabetes.

100 grams of bananas provide close to 10% daily value of vitamin C, 12%. daily value of Manganese, 8% daily value of potassium and 6.5% daily value of Magnesium. These vitamins & minerals are exceptionally important for maintenance of good health & fight various health problems that we face.

For example, potassium may help in reducing blood pressure and very beneficial for people with hypertension. 

Magnesium helps maintain nerve & muscle function. It also helps in maintaining healthy immune system & bones.

Manganese helps in the metabolism of amino acids, cholesterol & carbohydrates. It also helps in the bone formation & reproduction hormones.

Conclusion

• Bananas are exceptionally low energy fruits that are widely available throughout the world. They are also quite budget friendly.
• They are packed with sugars that are especially useful as a pre-exercise or pregame meal for athletes. They provide healthy amounts of various vitamins & minerals such as vitamin B6, vitamin C, Manganese, Potassium & Magnesium.
• Bananas are also moderately good source of dietary fibre. I would suggest you to consume bananas in good quantities frequently as part of a healthy diet.

I hope the information presented in this post & video is useful to you. Let us know if you have any questions.