A BUNCH OF POTASSIUM
Decrease risk of heart disease and stroke
Lower high blood pressure
Relieve heartburn
Speed recovery from diarrhea
We seem to take bananas for granted. They’re a commonly accepted punch line, guaranteed for a laugh when someone slips on a banana peel. We say we’re “going bananas” when we feel out-of-sorts. Harry Belafonte is famous for singing about them.
And bananas make few demands on our attention. They’re simple to eat—they don’t get your hands messy or dribble juice as you eat them—and they’re extremely portable. The average American eats about 30 pounds of the fruit each year. And, according to the American Diabetes Association, they outsell apples, which are as American as, well, apple pie.
It’s time to honor the banana instead of laughing at it, or stripping its peel and eating it without a second thought! Studies have shown that the fruit beneath that slippery skin can do wonders for our health.
If the needle on the blood pressure cuff has been inching up in recent years, it may be time for a tropical vacation. If the sun and surf don’t bring your pressure down, the bananas sure will.
Bananas are one of nature’s best sources of potassium, with a large banana providing about 487 milligrams, or 14 percent of the Daily Value (DV) for this essential mineral. Study after study shows that people who eat foods rich in potassium have a significantly lower risk of high blood pressure and related diseases like heart attack and stroke.
According to the National Institutes of Health, by adopting its DASH diet—which is rich in fruits and vegetables that provide potassium—you can lower your systolic blood pressure (the top number) by 8 to 14 millimeters of mercury.
Even if you already have high blood pressure, eating plenty of bananas may significantly reduce or even eliminate your need for blood pressure medication, according to scientists at the University of Naples in Italy. Researchers believe that one of the ways that bananas keep blood pressure down is by helping to prevent plaque from sticking to artery walls. They do this by keeping the bad low-density lipoprotein cholesterol from oxidizing, a chemical process that makes it more likely to accumulate. That’s why bananas may be a good defense against atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, another contributor to high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke.
And the best part is that you don’t have to eat a boatload of bananas to get these benefits, says David B. Young, PhD, professor emeritus of physiology and biophysics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.
“Studies show that you can get a significant impact from relatively small changes,” says Dr. Young. “My advice would be to think of potassium-rich foods like love and money: You can never get too much.”
Morning is a great time to get the benefits of an easy-to-eat banana, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Some statistics say that more than 35 percent of Americans don’t eat breakfast, most likely because they’re in a rush. The NHLBI offers meal plans to show people how to eat a low-sodium diet to maintain good blood pressure. By combining a medium banana with a bowl of bran flakes, low-fat milk, a slice of whole-wheat bread with trans-fat-free margarine, and a cup of orange juice, you get a quick breakfast that’s high in fiber and potassium and low in sodium.
According to the National Library of Medicine, bananas can help relieve heartburn and upset stomach. They do this by encouraging your stomach to produce more of the mucus that naturally protects it from the acidic digestive fluid it contains. And as you’ll see below, bananas can soothe and encourage the normal function of other digestive organs, too!
When you’ve been run ragged by a case of the runs, it’s important that you replenish all the vital fluids and nutrients that diarrhea depletes. And a banana is just the food to do it, says William Ruderman, MD, a gastroenterologist in Orlando, Florida.
“Bananas are a very good source of electrolytes, like potassium, which you lose when you become dehydrated,” he explains. Electrolytes are minerals that turn into electrically charged particles in the body, helping to control almost everything that happens inside, from muscle contractions and fluid balance to the beating of the heart.
Bananas are also the bland type of food that the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases recommends as you’re recuperating from a bout of diarrhea. Along with bananas, they suggest centering your recovery meals around rice, toast, crackers, baked skinless chicken, and cooked carrots.
Bananas also contain some pectin, a soluble fiber that acts like a sponge in the digestive tract, absorbing fluids and helping to keep diarrhea in check.
Though bananas may not “feel” like a food that’s high in fiber as you’re eating them, the yellow fruit is actually a decent source of fiber. One large banana contains 3.5 grams of fiber, or 14 percent of the DV for fiber.
A diet rich in fiber may help protect you from a variety of diseases ranging from potentially fatal conditions like heart disease and cancer to problems in the digestive organs, like appendicitis, diverticulosis, and hemorrhoids.
Buy a bunch. One reason that some people may avoid bananas is that they tend to get soft and mushy if you don’t eat them quickly enough. Here’s a trick for keeping them fresh. When bananas are getting soft too quickly, put them in the refrigerator. This will quickly stop the ripening process. (Don’t be alarmed when the cold turns the skin black—the fruit inside will still be fresh and tasty.) On the other hand, when you’re waiting for that bunch of green bananas to ripen, it’s easy to speed up the process. Put them in a brown paper bag at room temperature. The ethylene gas that bananas produce naturally will speed up the ripening.
Insert a wooden stick into the cut end of each banana piece. Pour the chocolate sauce over the bananas until they’re completely coated, then roll the chocolate-coated bananas in the peanuts. Place pops in the freezer for at least 2 hours, or until frozen.
Makes 4 servings
Calories: 318
Total fat: 22 g
Saturated fat: 9 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 21 mg
Dietary fiber: 3 g