Bananas

Why Bananas Are Great For Weight Loss and Immunity

The misinformation about bananas on the internet is fairly extensive, especially relating to weight loss. There are some people out there actually trying to convince audiences that bananas are as bad to consume as cookies and french fries…I kid you not. If we look at the facts on bananas, we find a fruit with a low glycemic index, high in fiber and full of vitamins. They are one of the most nutritious and natural foods that help promote weight loss and help enhance immunity. 

High in Critical Nutrients Bananas are very high in vitamin B6 and also contain modest amounts of vitamin C, maganese, potassium and of course fiber. Sports enthusiasts appreciate the potassium–power delivered by this high energy fruit which many claim is as effective and even superior to sport energy drinks. 

Since the average banana contains a whopping 467 mg of potassium and only 1 mg of sodium, a banana a day may help to prevent high blood pressure and protect against atherosclerosis. The effectiveness of potassium–rich foods such as bananas in lowering blood pressure has been demonstrated by a number of studies. For example, researchers tracked over 40,000 American male health professionals over four years to determine the effects of diet on blood pressure.

 Men who ate diets higher in potassium–rich foods, as well as foods high in magnesium, had a substantially reduced risk of stroke. A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine also confirms that eating high fiber foods, such as bananas, helps prevent heart disease. Almost 10,000 American adults participated in this study and were followed for 19 years. People eating the most fiber, 21 grams per day, had 12% less coronary heart disease (CHD) and 11% less cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared to those eating the least, 5 grams daily. 

Those eating the most water–soluble dietary fiber fared even better with a 15% reduction in risk of CHD and a 10% risk reduction in CVD. In addition to these cardiovascular benefits, the potassium found in bananas may also help to promote bone health. Potassium may counteract the increased urinary calcium loss caused by the high–salt diets typical of most Americans, thus helping to prevent bones from thinning out at a fast rate. Eat a Banana Full Ripe or Yellow? That depends on your taste buds and the health benefits you desire. According to Japanese Scientific Research, full ripe banana with dark patches on yellow skin produces a substance called TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor) which has the ability to combat abnormal cells. The more darker patches it has the higher will be its immunity enhancement quality; Hence, the riper the banana the better the anti–cancer quality. Yellow skin banana with dark spots on it is 8x more effective in enhancing the property of white blood cells than green skin version. It is a fact that nutrient content of fruits change slightly as they ripen. As a banana ripens and turns yellow, its levels of antioxidants increases.

 These antioxidants in ripe bananas protect your body against cancer and heart diseases. But while overripe bananas certainly have nutritional value, they also lose some benefits. In full ripe bananas with dark spots on skin, the starch content changes to simple sugars that are easier to digest but the glycemic index also increases. Tumor Necrosis Factor(TNF) is a cytokine, substances secreted by certain cells of the immune system that have an effect on other cells. This is indeed helpful in fighting abnormal turmor cells in body. 

Research done on ripening bananas has proved that the levels of TNF induction increased markedly with dark spots on skin before the entire banana peel turned brown. The research concluded that the activity of banana was comparable to that of Lentinan, a chemical immunostimulant that is intravenously administered as an anti–cancer agent. So, ripe banana can act as an anti–cancer agent by stimulating the production of white blood cells in the human cell line. -