Top 10 Reasons to Love Bananas
Both adults and children enjoy the versatile banana. Bananas are a wonder food to eat in the morning for a quick energy boost. They also mix very well with other items like yogurt, protein shakes and cereals.
If you dislike bananas, maybe this article will help to convince you to start eating them for their nutritional and health benefits.
Here are the top ten reasons why you should start loving and eating bananas today:
Energy Boost
Do you know that most professional athletes eat bananas just before and even during their sports to boost their energy? Its natural sugar balances with soluble fibre and releases a slow and stable form of energy during sport and other forms of training. Bananas supply your body with the vitamins and minerals it needs to give you an energy boost.
Potassium
Potassium is an important mineral, which regulates the proper function of your heart and regulates your blood pressure. Banana is a potassium-rich food that eliminates the effect of sodium (salt) in raising your blood pressure. It also lowers your risk of heart attack and stroke occurrence in the body. Bananas’ potassium content is also beneficial to your kidneys and bones and suppresses calcium excretion in the urine thereby preventing painful kidney stones in your system.
Enhances Digestion Process
In most cases, you don’t get the required amount of fibre in your diets which helps food to travel smoothly through the digestive tract. But with banana as your daily food, you stand to tap into all your body’s fibre needs because it’s a great source of dietary fibre. It also improves your bowel movements and treats constipation issues in your body. A banana is also friendly with the bacteria present in the digestive tract; it feeds this bacteria and in return, the bacteria aids in the absorption of nutrients in the body.
Vitamin B6
Bananas contain a high content of vitamin B6. This vitamin creates hemoglobin for healthy blood and equally maintains proper blood sugar levels. It also synthesizes and assists in the break down of amino acids while also produce antibodies that boost the immune response in your body.
Cure for Heartburn and Ulcers
Bananas help in the balance of your stomach’s pH and in the cure of heartburn issues in the body. Banana enhances the protective mucus layer by relieving it of pains during a heartburn experience. Eating bananas regularly protects you from some health conditions like stomach ulcers by thickening the protective mucus barrier in your stomach thereby preventing damage from hydrochloric acid in your stomach that leads to stomach ulcers. It also contains protease inhibitors that promote the elimination of stomach bacteria, which can cause stomach ulcers.
Banana Smoothes Your Skin
The banana’s skin has its uses as it treats skin conditions like acne and psoriasis. Gently rub the freshly peeled banana skin over the affected area and leave it to absorb into your skin. This also applies to warts. The fatty acid content of the banana’s skin has a strong moisturizing effect on your skin. Try this technique yourself and give your testimony to the wonder food known as the banana.
Other Vitamins & Minerals
In addition to bananas’ content of potassium and vitamin B6, they also have high levels of vitamin C, manganese and magnesium. They are also good source of most of the other B vitamins and other smaller amounts of minerals like iodine, zinc, iron, and selenium.
Hangover Remedy
Bananas are your morning remedy when you have overdone it the night before. A couple of bananas blended with ice, berries and coconut milk or cow’s milk makes a great hangover recovery drink. Of course, the solution to your problems is not to over drink in the first place but just in case, it is good to have some bananas around for the next morning.
Reduces Stress and Enhances Your Mood
Bananas are a good source of the amino acid tryptophan that the body converts to serotonin that enhances your mood after a long stressful day. It also regulates your sleep pattern and provides a great snack that makes you want more when feeling stressed at work. Tryptophan is an important amino acid, which your body can only get in good foods like the banana.
Cancer Fighter
Bananas that are fully ripe (with dark spots) produce a compound called cytokine which is believed to have the potential of increasing the white blood cell count thereby boosting your immunity and combating cancerous cell changes.
By now you should have added the banana to your list of top fruits for consumption. Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables will help you balance your diet with what your body needs. Eat a banana today and benefit from all its added advantages.
