Bananas are a versatile food and easy to include in your diet. They have a mild flavor that most people like and are super portable, just carefully throw on into your knapsack, purse or gym bag for an on-the-go healthy snack that comes in its own packaging! What could be easier than that?Banana
10 Reasons To Enjoy Bananas:
1. Bananas taste great! If not overripe, they’re mild with a creamy like texture.
2. They are a great source of potassium. Potassium helps to maintain a healthy blood pressure. We need about 5x as much potassium as we do sodium. While the focus on lowering blood pressure is all about sodium, increasing potassium is more effective especially when higher intakes of potassium is coupled with higher intakes of magnesium; say goodbye to high blood pressure [a high potassium diet is naturally lower in sodium].
3. Prebiotics, a type of fiber that acts as food to nourish the healthy bacteria in our gut, are abundant in bananas. Healthy bacteria help to improve digestion, stimulate the immune system, help to produce neurotransmitters which for healthy moods, and help to prevent the bad bacteria in our guts from over-growing. Bananas are rich in a type of prebiotic called fructo-oligosaccharides or FOS for short.
4. Convenience. They can be easily thrown into a purse, knapsack, or gym bag and eaten as a snack or as part of a lunch.
5. Decent amounts of magnesium, manganese, beta & alpha carotene; essential nutrients for a healthy body.
6. Bananas are a good source of dietary fiber. On large banana has 3.5 g, or 9 to 14% of the recommended dietary fiber intake. Added to a bowl of oatmeal, or bran cereal and you’ve got a great high fiber meal.
7. Safe enough to be part of a baby’s first food.
8. Naturally sodium free.
9. Bananas are relatively low in calories. A large banana has about 120 calories, a medium about 100 calories.
10. Easy to use. They make a super easy addition to any breakfast: sliced on top of oatmeal, blended into a protein shake, mashed and used in muffins or quick breads, sliced over pancakes, sliced on to yogurt or cottage cheese, or on top of almond butter and toast.
Storage Tip: Keep overripe bananas in the freezer for future use. They can easily be thawed in the fridge and used to make banana bread, muffins, added to protein shakes or vegetable-based smoothies like kale or spinach to added some natural sweetness. Consider picking up some discounted bananas at the grocery store; don’t be turned off by all the brown spots. Take home and simply store in the freezer to have some always on hand.
