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Bananas: Health Benefits, Risks & Nutrition Facts
By Jessie Szalay, Live Science Contributor | April 22, 2014 02:30am ET
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Bananas are among the most widely consumed fruits on the planet. In the United States, people eat more bananas than apples and oranges combined. The curvy yellow fruits are packed with nutrients and are especially high in potassium, fiber, magnesium, and vitamins C and B6.
Eating bananas can help with battling depression, keeping bowel movements regular, improving heartburn, and lowering the risks of kidney cancers, diabetes, osteoporosis, blindness and other conditions.
Here are the nutrition facts for bananas, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which regulates food labeling through the National Labeling and Education Act: Nutrition FactsServing size:
1 medium banana
(4.5 oz / 126 g)Calories 110 Calories from Fat 0*Percent Daily Values (%DV) are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. | Amt per Serving | %DV* | | Amt per Serving | %DV* | | | Total Fat 0g | 0% | | Total Carbohydrate 30g | 10% | | | Cholesterol 0mg | 0% | | Dietary Fiber 3g | 12% | | | Sodium 0mg | 0% | | Sugars 19g | | | | Potassium 450mg | 13% | | Protein 1g | | | | Vitamin A | 2% | | Calcium | 0% | | | Vitamin C | 15% | | Iron | 2% | | Health benefits
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. Regular consumption of bananas can help protect your cardiovascular system against highblood pressure, atherosclerosis, and stroke. Bananas are recognized by the FDA as being helpful in lowering blood pressure and protecting against heart attack and stroke.
Depression and mood
Feeling down or suffering from PMS? Chow down a creamy banana. Bananas can help with depression and reduce PMS symptoms. Bananas have high levels of tryptophan, which converts to serotonin, the neurotransmitter that improves moods. Plus, vitamin B6 can help you sleep well and magnesium helps to relax muscles.
Digestion and weight loss
Bananas are high in fiber, which can help keep you regular. One banana can provide nearly 10 percent of your daily fiber requirement. Vitamin B6 can also help protect against type 2 diabetes and aid in weight loss. In general, bananas are a great weight loss food because they taste sweet and are filling, which helps curb cravings. They also help sustain blood sugar levels during workouts.
Vision
Carrots may get all the glory for being good for your eyes, but bananas do their share as well. Bananas contain a small but significant amount of vitamin A, which is essential for protecting your eyes and maintaining normal vision and improved vision at night. Vitamin A contains compounds that preserve the membranes around your eyes and are an element in the proteins that bring light to your corneas. Like other fruits, bananas can help prevent macular degeneration.
Bones
Bananas may not be overflowing with calcium, but they are still helpful in keeping bones strong. They contain an abundance of fructooligosaccharides, which encourage digestive-friendly probiotics. Fructooligosaccharides enhance the body's ability to absorb calcium.
Cancer
Some evidence suggests that moderate consumption of bananas may be protective against kidney cancer. A 2005 Swedish study found that women who ate more than 75 servings of fruits and vegetables cut their risk of kidney cancer by 40 percent, and that among the fruits bananas were especially effective. Women eating four to six bananas a week halved their risk of developing kidney cancer.
Bananas may be helpful in preventing kidney cancer because of their high levels of antioxidant phenolic compounds.
Health risks
Eaten in moderation, there are no significant side effects associated with eating bananas. However, eating several bananas may trigger headaches and sleepiness. Bananas, especially overripe ones, contain amino acids that cause blood vessels to dilate, leading to headaches. Bananas’ mood-improving tryptophan can also make you sleepy. Magnesium also relaxes the muscles — another sometimes-benefit, sometimes-risk.
Bananas are a sugary fruit, so eating too many and not maintaining proper dental hygiene practices can lead to tooth decay. They also do not contain enough fat or protein to be a healthy meal on their own, or an effective post-workout snack.
Eating bananas becomes significantly risky only if you eat too many. If you eat dozens of bananas every day, there may be a risk of excessively high vitamin and mineral levels.
Potassium overconsumption can lead to hyperkalemia, which is characterized by muscle weakness, temporary paralysis and an irregular heartbeat. It can have serious consequences, but you would have to eat approximately 43 bananas in a short time for any symptoms of hyperkalemia to occur.
Consuming more than 500 milligrams of vitamin B6 daily can lead to nerve damage in the arms and legs. You would have to eat thousands of bananas to reach that level of vitamin B6. However, many multivitamins contain high levels of B6 so you may want to watch pairing them with bananas too much.
It is important to carefully wash a banana peel before eating it due to the pesticides that may be sprayed in banana groves.
Banana peels — edible or poisonous?
It turns out that the biggest risk from a banana peel might really be slipping on it. Banana peels are not poisonous. In fact, they’re edible — and packed with nutrients. Though not commonly eaten in the West, banana peels have historically been a food item in Asia. They are usually served cooked, boiled or fried in some capacity, though they can be eaten raw or put in a blender with other fruits. They are not as sweet as banana flesh. Eating a riper peel will be sweeter than an unripe one.
Like the flesh, banana peels are high in potassium, magnesium, fiber and tryptophan. They contain much higher levels of fiber than the flesh. They also contain lutein, a vision-enhancing antioxidant that can protect eyes from UV rays and free radicals.
Banana facts * Bananas may have been the world’s first fruit. Archaeologists have found evidence of banana cultivation in New Guinea as far back as 8000 B.C. * Bananas are produced mainly in tropical and sub-tropical areas of Africa, Asia, and America, as well as the Canary Islands and Australia. * Bananas do not grow on trees. The banana plant is classified as an arborescent perennial herb, and the banana itself is considered a berry. * The correct name for a bunch of bananas is a hand; a single banana is a finger. * Nearly all the bananas sold in stores are cloned from just one variety, the Cavendish banana plant, originally native to Southeast Asia. * The Cavendish replaced the Gros Michel after it was wiped out by fungus. The Gros Michel reportedly was bigger, had a longer shelf life and tasted better. * The Cavendish may face the same fate as the Gros Michel within the next 20 years, botanists say. * Bananas are also called plantains, but in general use, "banana" refers to the sweeter form of the fruit, which is often eaten uncooked. "Plantain" refers to a starchier fruit that is often cooked before eating. * There are 50 recognized species of banana. * Wild bananas grow throughout Southeast Asia, but most are inedible for humans, as they are studded with hard seeds. * The vast majority of bananas grown today are for consumption by the farmers or the local community. Only 15 percent of the global production of the fruit is grown for export. * India is the leading producer of bananas worldwide, accounting for 23 percent of the total banana production, though most of the Indian plantains are for domestic use. * In 1923, sheet music for a popular song titled “Yes, We Have No Bananas!” sold upwards of a thousand copies a day. * Harry Belafonte’s version of the “Banana Boat Song” was released on the first album to sell over a million copies, Belafonte’s "Calypso."