Bananas are a delicious fruit that contain vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and plenty of dietary fiber. Eating one or 2 bananas a day can help improve your digestion, lower blood glucose levels, and give you plenty of energy. Bananas also contain dietary fiber and certain starches that can help you lose weight.
Most people are familiar with the traditional yellow skinned banana but very few know about the red banana. Red bananas are a type of banana with reddish-purple skin. When ripe, raw red bananas have a flesh that is cream to light pink in color. Red bananas are softer and sweeter than the yellow skinned Cavendish banana, and they have a slight berry like flavor.
One medium-sized banana is relatively low in calories and carbs and contains about 17% of your recommended daily intake (RDI) of vitamin C. Consuming 1 banana a day can also help you get potassium, vitamin B6, and 10% of your RDI of fiber.
It’s not just the tasty flesh of the banana that has health benefits. Banana peels are also edible and contain antioxidants and antibacterial properties. In fact, banana peel from Cavendish bananas contains high levels of dopamine.
In this article, you will find out why red and yellow bananas are so good for you. I will examine what scientific research has revealed as to the many health benefits of regularly eating bananas.
At the end of the article, you will find out how to get the health benefits of banana peel in your diet, as well as delicious banana smoothies to boost your health.
What Are Bananas?
Bananas are an edible fruit that have a thick skin and grow in tropical warm climates. Bananas belong to the Musa genus of plants.
One of the most popular types of banana is the Cavendish banana (Musa acuminate). These are very sweet bananas that usually have a yellow skin. (1) Other types of bananas on sale in supermarkets are Big Michael and Martinique bananas.
You can also buy red bananas which have a skin that is reddish-purple and are usually sweeter than Cavendish bananas. Another type of banana it the Lady Finger variety which is smaller than regular bananas.
Plantains are also a type of banana but have a higher starch content and less sweetness. These are sometimes referred to as “cooking bananas” and can be eaten unripe or ripe. Plantains are usually green even when they have ripened.
Bananas are also a very convenient and tasty snack because they come in their own “packaging.”
Banana Nutrition Facts
Bananas are extremely nutritious because they are low in sugar, have a low glycemic index (GI) and contain a number of vitamins and minerals (2) which can help you get your daily recommended intake of essential nutrients.
For example, even a small banana contains just 90 calories and 23 g of carbs. The fiber content in a small banana is about 2.6 g which is an impressive 11% of your RDI.
What are the reasons to eat one or 2 bananas a day? According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), one medium-sized banana (about 7” long, 118 g) has the following nutritional benefit: (3)
- 105 calories (a small banana, 101 g, has 90 calories)
- 27 g carbs
- 3 g dietary fiber (12% RDI)
- 10 mg vitamin C (17%)
- 4 mg vitamin B6 (22% RDI)
- 5 IU vitamin A (2% RDI)
- 6 mg folate (6% RDI)
- 422 mg potassium (12% RDI)
- 3 mg manganese (16% RDI)
So, consuming 2 bananas a day could help you get almost half of your vitamin B6 requirements, over 30% of your vitamin C requirements, and 25% of your needed potassium.
Bananas also contain protein. The amount of protein in a medium-sized banana (118 g) is 1.3 g which is 3% of your RDI.
