Don't give up on bananas! Eliminating them from your diet could have these side effects

Bananas are fruits rich in nutrients and useful substances, eliminating them from our diet could present health disadvantages

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It is difficult to give up bananas, tasty fruits, rich in vitamins and mineral salts as well as easy to consume even when you don't have much time. Among other things, according to what has been discovered by some scientific researches, giving up this type of fruit may not be a good choice for our health.

Bananas are an extremely convenient and versatile fruit. They can be consumed as they are during a snack but also mixed with smoothies or used in delicious recipes, including banana bread (also in the zero waste version where the peel is also used) and banana pancake.

It is an ideal fruit for filling up on essential nutrients such as potassium, magnesium and vitamin C. However, those who choose to eliminate them from their diet, for example if they are following a low-carbohydrate diet, may find themselves struggling with some surprising disadvantages to one's health.

Let's see what some scientific research has discovered.

Index

The immune system could be affected

Bananas, and especially unripe bananas, are an excellent source of resistant starch that has a prebiotic effect, meaning it feeds healthy bacteria in the digestive tract. By stopping to consume these fruits, therefore, we risk at least partially depriving the intestinal bacteria of the food they need to proliferate.

According to research from 2013, published in Frontiers in Immunology, adequate prebiotic fiber can even help the immune system. Not consuming enough prebiotic foods, such as bananas, could therefore weaken our body's defenses, potentially making us more susceptible to disease.

Research published in Plos One later found people who ate a banana prior to a 75km time trial had less pronounced responses of immune weakening due to strenuous exercise.

Poor recovery after a workout

If before or after a workout we want to avoid protein bars or energy drinks, we can opt for the consumption of a banana. This fruit, on average, contains about 517 mg of potassium, more than 10% of the recommended daily amount. A deficiency of this mineral, we remember, is linked to the appearance of muscle cramps.

The same study mentioned above (published in Plos One) also found that bananas were effective in reducing post-exercise inflammation and produced higher levels of circulating dopamine in athletes' post-workout, compared to carbohydrate drinks.

Not exploiting their potential, therefore, especially if you train, could cause greater fatigue and poor recovery after physical activity.

More likely to develop high blood pressure

Bananas are rich in potassium, a mineral salt essential for good blood pressure health. A 2005 study, published in the journal Hypertension, found that potassium-rich foods are likely to have an effect on blood pressure similar to potassium chloride, a supplement often used precisely for the purpose of lowering blood pressure.

Hypertension is a serious risk factor for stroke, and if you don't eat enough other potassium-rich foods, it may not be a good idea to completely eliminate bananas from your diet.

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A 2013 review of the meta-analyzes published in the BMJ found that people who had higher potassium intakes reduced their risk of stroke by up to 24%, so we take care to take the recommended amount of this mineral every day.

Read also: More bananas, fewer strokes in menopause

You might feel more hungry

Those who cut bananas from their diet to lose weight could have exactly the opposite effect. According to a 2017 study published in the Journal of Functional Foods, consuming resistant starch made from unripe banana flour before meals resulted in a 14% reduction in subsequent caloric intake. Of course, the same is less likely to happen when consuming ripe bananas, however, these fruits can still promote weight loss mainly thanks to their satiating effect.

Also Read: Weight Loss: Are Banana Chips A Healthy Snack?

You could become more susceptible to the flu

A 2020 study published in PNAS found that an engineered compound based on a banana lectin (a type of indigestible sugar-binding fiber) has antiviral properties against multiple flu strains.

Of course, although bananas can support our immune health, we can't rely on bananas alone to protect us from viruses such as the flu. It is always good to wash your hands, eat a balanced diet and generally have a healthy lifestyle.

In general, as always, we recommend buying them fairtrade and bio!