Healthcare, Health Insurance, Vitamins, Nutrition

April 2, 2009

How Can Banana Nutrients Help Your Health?

Filed under: Nutrition — Tags: , , , , — Rachel Greene @ 8:03 am

Bananas are considered to be one of the most nutrient rich fruits that you can eat — they are also one of the most popular fruits eaten today by people of all ages all over the globe. This combination means that few foods can have such a regular and positive impact on our health and well-being. So, let’s take a closer look at how banana nutrients can help your health.

Bananas are a great source of vitamins for a start, including vitamins A, B and C, and we all need plenty of those. They are also rich in a variety of minerals including calcium, magnesium and potassium. The calcium content here, for example, is a great way of helping promote healthy bone growth for both children and in adults.

It is, however, the potassium content of the average banana that is considered to be the nutrient of most value in the opinion of most nutritionists and diet experts. Bananas contain such high levels of potassium that some doctors will even recommend eating them if their patients have low potassium levels and need a natural boost here. They are also a good source of fiber which is also important to your general health and everyday fitness.

You should also remember that the potassium boost that you can get from eating bananas regularly can also help keep you physically healthy in other ways. It is, for example, good for your heart and for your blood pressure. The potassium content in a banana also makes them the snack of choice for many athletes and fitness trainers. Potassium can go a long way to avoiding cramps and muscle spasms after exercise, for example.

Bananas are also an easily digested fruit which means that this can be an acceptable fruit to eat if you suffer from certain stomach problems such as ulcers. The way that a banana breaks down in your system helps protect the stomach and causes few problems. For this reason many people swear by eating bananas after a stomach upset or bout of diarrohea as the stomach can accept and digest bananas very easily without further problems.

Finally, bananas can be one of the greatest snacks that you can eat when you are on a diet. They are rich in natural healthy sugars which will immediately deal with any cravings you have for sugary foods. You will also get an immediate energy boost with a banana that is similar to the sugar rush that you will get from eating a sugary snack. The difference here is that a banana is good for you!

You will also find that your body processes the nutrients from a banana slowly and steadily. This means that most people will feel fuller for longer and they will not need the energy boost of sugary snacks as there will be a steady flow of natural sugars and carbohydrates going through their bodies. So, as you can now see, bananas can help you keep healthy in all kinds of ways!

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March 31, 2009

Why Eat Bananas For Energy?

Filed under: Nutrition — Tags: , , , , — Rachel Greene @ 2:01 am

If you watch athletics and sports events on the TV or go to a stadium live to see a meet or a match then you may quite often see athletes/sports people snacking on a banana. This isn’t just about the fact that they may like the taste of this fruit, the fact is that the humble banana is a bit of an energy super fruit!

Bananas are a rich source of naturally occurring sugars so basically eating a banana can give you the kind of immediate energy rush or sugar hit that you might get from a candy bar. But, the energy rush you get here will be a healthy one which is why this fruit is often the snack of choice for people participating in sports or training.

So, eating a banana can give you a quick energy boost but what happens when this initial boost wears off? Well, the beauty of a banana is that, unlike the candy bar, the rush doesn’t disappear almost immediately leaving you wanting more. A banana is absorbed relatively slowly into your system so that you get a slow and steady release of energy over time rather than that simple one-off hit.

So, if you are going to the gym or for a long run then eating one or two bananas before your workout can actually supply your body with the energy necessary to cope with the effort you’ll be expending. And, as an exceptional source of potassium bananas can also help avoid muscular problems related to workouts and fitness programs such as cramps and spasms. This is another reason why athletes love them!

The energy giving properties of bananas can also suit you if you are on a diet or looking to eat more healthily. For many of us the changes in the foods we eat when we start to diet can be quite depressing and we can feel for a while that we lack vim and vigor.

A lot of the time this is simply down to the bad things in the junk food that we used to eat. It made us feel good but was bad for our bodies. But, bananas can help here. The energy that they can provide can be a healthy alternative and they can also help your body produce serotonin which can have a significantly positive effect on your mood.

In addition, eating a banana as a healthy snack is a great way of making your stomach feel that it is full as this fruit can be quite bulky. You may also find that your brain is less likely to tell you that you are hungry after snacking on a banana as the energy/nutrients that it brings into your body can take a while to be completely sorted.

So, if you are looking for an energy boost – no matter for what reason – then consider picking up a banana next time you need a lift. This is the healthy way to an energy boost that could keep you going for hours at a time!

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