BANANA AND ITS BENEFITS
Adding a banana to your daily diet has an array of benefits in your body. Bananas help you reach your weight-loss goals, keep your bowels healthy, provide nutrients that regulate heart rhythm and have vitamin compounds for eye health. Keep a bunch of bananas on your desk at work and replenish your stock each week. You'll be more likely to reach for a healthy banana -- instead of heading to the vending machine -- if you have a bunch sitting in front of you.
Weight Loss
Finding foods to fit into your weight-loss diet can be challenging, but bananas make a perfect fit. Bananas are naturally sweet and can help curb your sweet tooth if you get that afternoon sugar craving. A 6-inch banana has a minimal 90 calories, about one-fourth of the calories you would get from a chocolate candy bar. Additionally, about half of the fiber content in bananas is soluble. When soluble fiber reaches your digestive tract, it absorbs water and slows digestion. Food is forced to sit in your stomach for a while, making you feel full. If you have a banana before lunch, you'll be less likely to overeat when your food comes to the table.
Regularity
Enjoying a banana each day aids in keeping you regular. One 6-inch banana has more than 2.5 grams of total fiber, about half of which are insoluble. As insoluble fiber travels through your digestive tract, it sweeps up waste and helps push it out. You'll have more regular bowel movements that are soft and easy to pass. Keep your bowels healthy by getting 14 grams of fiber in your diet for every 1,000 calories you consume, reports Colorado State University Extension. For example, if you tend to stick to an 1,800-calorie diet, you need about 25 grams of total fiber. You get nearly 10 percent of your daily fiber needs -- for this number of calories -- from one 6-inch banana.
Normal Heart Function
Having a banana at breakfast every day adds a nutrient to your body to support normal heart function. Bananas are rich in a mineral electrolyte called potassium. When potassium enters your body, it absorbs directly into your bloodstream through intestinal walls. Potassium travels around to cells all over your body and dissolves in fluid inside of cells. It travels across cell membranes if needed to keep fluid balanced in and around cells. This process keeps electricity flowing throughout your system, which is required to make your heart beat. In cases of severe potassium deficiency, your heart rhythm may become irregular, which can be deadly. According to the Linus Pauling Institute, you need 4,700 milligrams of potassium on a daily basis. Bananas provide more than 360 milligrams per 6-inch piece of fruit.
Eye Health
Adding a banana to your diet also helps keep your eyes healthy. Bananas have a small amount of vitamin A, a fat-soluble vitamin that is vital for protecting your eyes and normal vision. The term "vitamin A" refers to a series of compounds, including beta-carotene and alpha-carotene. These compounds preserve the membranes that surround your eyes and are a component of one of the proteins that brings light into your cornea. Adequate daily vitamin A intake also lessens your risk of night blindness and is essential for everyday vision. Women require 700 micrograms of daily vitamin A, and men need 900 micrograms, explains the Office of Dietary Supplements. One 6-inch banana has nearly 10 micrograms of vitamin A. Bananas also contain alpha-carotene and beta-carotene, which convert to vitamin A to further keep your eyes healthy.
A Banana a Day…
The banana health benefits far outweigh those of the apple because it has many more vitamins and nutrients than their round counterparts.
Bananas have two times as many carbohydrates as an apple, five times as much Vitamin A and iron and three times as much phosphorus. In addition, bananas are also rich in potassium and natural sugars.
All of these factors combined make the banana a “super food” that is an integral part of a healthy daily regimen.
Bananas Provide Energy
Because of the abundance of vitamins and minerals, bananas are a great source of natural energy.
Eating only two bananas will give you enough energy to exercise or workout for an hour and a half.
Bananas are also ideal for eating during that midday lull when you feel tired and sluggish.
Instead of drinking caffeine or having a sugary snack, bananas provide a level of energy that lasts longer without the dramatic crash caused by caffeine.
Potassium is Vital for Performance
Because they are rich in potassium, bananas help the body’s circulatory system deliver oxygen to the brain.
This also helps maintain a regular heartbeat and a proper balance of water in the body.
Potassium is also helpful for reducing strokes and regulating blood pressure because of the way it promotes circulatory health.
Bananas Promote Bowel Health
One of the banana health benefits is that they can help stop constipation.
Bananas have a certain type of fiber that helps to restore and maintain regular bowel functions.
Instead of using laxatives that might have chemicals or other synthetic substances, bananas are a natural source for lessening the effects of constipation without causing other bowel problems such as diarrhea.
Bananas Can Lift Your Spirits
Bananas have a chemical called tryptophan – the same chemical that turkey contains.
This mood regulating substance contains a level of protein that helps the mind relax so you feel happier.
According to Bananasaver.com, people suffering from depression often report feeling better after eating a banana.
Eat a Banana during Your Monthly Visitor
Instead of taking pills designed to reduce your menstrual pains, bananas can be a great help.
As stated on Bananasaver.com, bananas have a level of vitamin B6 that helps to regulate blood glucose level and help your overall mood.
Increase Your Brain Power with Bananas
In addition to banana health benefits, they can also help you with your mind.
Bananasaver.com discusses a study with 200 students who were asked to eat one banana three times a day - breakfast, recess and lunchtime – along with their normal meals.
What they found was that the potassium in the bananas boosted their brainpower and made them more alert during their classes while they followed the regimen.
Eat Bananas after a Night of Partying
The natural ingredients in bananas and their ability to replenish the body’s vitamins make them an ideal way to reduce the effects of a hangover.
Put a couple bananas in the blender with some plain yogurt and add some honey to sweeten the taste.
The fruit tends to calm the stomach and the honey helps to restore the blood sugar levels to normal.
Similarly, bananas can help people who are trying to quit smoking.
The B vitamins and other minerals that they contain reduce the physical and psychological effects of nicotine withdrawal.
Bananas are Great for Pregnant Women
Because of their calming properties, pregnant women often eat bananas to combat their morning sickness.
They also help to replenish the body and restore a healthy blood glucose level.
In addition, they also help regulate a pregnant woman’s temperature, although this is mostly used in other cultures that rely more heavily on natural cures.
Rub the Peel on Mosquito Bites
Before you throw those peels away, rubbing the inside of it along a mosquito bite will help reduce the itching and swelling that is normally associated with these types of bites.
You might even find that it works better than the creams or medications you find at the drugstore.
Bananas Help Soothe Ulcers
As a way to prevent and treat ulcers, bananas help to reduce the acidity that some foods can leave in the stomach.
They help reduce the irritation of the digestive system by leaving a protective coating around the inner walls, making it a natural way to promote intestinal health as well.
Since they help to neutralize acidity, they are also a great way to get rid of heartburn. They act as a natural antacid and they quickly soothe the burn.
Bananas are Rich in Iron
For people suffering from a deficiency in iron, bananas help to give your body the iron that it needs.
As a result, they help promote hemoglobin production so your blood can clot faster in case of a cut or serious injury.
Banana Peels are Good Fertilizer
Bananas can also benefit your garden. Instead of throwing the peels away, banana peels are ideal fertilizer for gardens and soils.
Rose bushes benefit a great deal from the peels.
If you have a certain plant that you want to blossom, simply bury a few peels next to it by the roots. In a few weeks, the plant will be huge.
Peels Can Be Used to Treat Warts
The outside of the banana peel also has healing and beneficial properties for the human body.
If you have a wart on your foot, wrapping a banana peel around your foot so that the exterior of the peel rubs against the wart will help it go away in a matter of time.
To keep the peel in place, you can wrap tape around it for better results.
With all of the banana health benefits, it is easy to see why they are such a popular fruit. In many ways, their benefits are far greater than that of other fruits.
They not only have more vitamins and minerals than some other choices, they also taste great and are easy to eat.
However, having a diet that consists of only bananas as your fruit each day is not healthy and it can even be harmful to your health.
Try to include several of your favorite fruits throughout the week because each of them has different advantages for your body.
If you do not normally include bananas or any other fruit in your daily routine, find some ways to include fruit in your diet in order to improve your health and overall well-being
Thank you for reading, God bless you!
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