As a country with tropical climate, Indonesia is blessed with exotic yet tasty fruits, such as bananas. Bananas are considered as a common staple to Indonesian cuisine, having being served on its own, as snacks, breakfast, side dishes, to desserts.
For your information, bananas that are primarily utilized for cooking are referred to as plantains. Bananas are also known to be one of the cheapest options for dieting. Now, what are the health benefits of eating banana the first thing in the morning?
These are the health benefits of green banana.
Nutritional Content of Bananas
(Per 100g of banana)
- Total Fat – 0.3 g
- Saturated Fat – 0.1 g
- Unsaturated Fat – 0 g
- Monounsaturated Fat – 0 g
- Cholesterol – 0 g
- Sodium – 1 mg
- Potassium – 358 mg (10% of DV)
- Total Carbohydrate – 23 g (7% of DV)
- Dietary Fibre – 2.6 g (10% of DV)
- Sugar – 12 g
- Protein – 1.1 g (2% of DV)
- Vitamin A – 1% of DV
- Vitamin B6 – 20% of DV
- Vitamin B12 – 0% of DV
- Vitamin C – 14% of DV
- Calcium – 0% of DV
- Iron – 1% of DV
- Magnesium – 6% of DV
The percentages shown above are the percent per daily value based on a 2000-calorie diet.
Potassium
Bananas are very rich in potassium and is the core nutrient of this fruit. There are many ways on how potassium is useful for our bodily functions. First, potassium is useful to help maintain fluid levels inside our body and manages the movement of both nutrients and wastes in and out of the cells. Potassium is also what makes our muscles able to contract and our nerves’ ability to respond stimulants.
On the other hand, it also keeps up heart health by maintaining its heartbeat rate, lowers blood pressure and reduces the presence of sodium on blood pressure. Finally, potassium also reduces the risk of kidney stones that arises as we age, because only healthy kidneys can assure the right amount of potassium stored inside our body.
Other Health Benefits of Banana
Here are more health benefits of eating banana the first thing in the morning:
- Ensures Healthy Digestion
This is the number one reason why you should consume bananas the first thing in the morning. Bananas contain digestive fibres to push forward a healthy yet efficient digestion. Bananas contain two major types of fibre, which are pectin as well as resistant starches.
Pectin is thought to prevent colon cancer whereas resistant starches transforms into food for the beneficial gut bacteria inside the large intestines. However, the distribution of these two fibres are widely affected by the bananas’ age. Pectin values decreases as the bananas ripe whereas resistant starches are mostly found inside unripe bananas. So, it is best to consume bananas before they are ripe. These are also the health benefits of baby banana.
- May also Help Weight Loss
Here is the second reason to why you might be interested to eat bananas the first thing in the morning. Bananas have several talents and features which make it an ideal weight-loss food.Â
First, bananas contain little to moderate levels of calories. Just one decent sized banana contains as much as 100 calories, yet in the meantime it remains nutritious and filling.
Second, banana contains fibre that helps to accelerate weight loss through healthy digestion. Despite no research has proven banana’s effect on weight loss, however the nutrients contained inside a banana already supports the idea well.
- It Helps You to Fill Full Instantly
Resistant starch is the secret to why bananas help you to fill full in a relatively short time span. In the meantime, the presence of resistant starch is in line with the colour of the banana. The greener the banana is, the more resistant starch it has.
However, the yellower the banana is, the less resistant starch and more soluble fibre it has. Researches from the United States National Centre for Biotechnology Information concludes that the two core fibres of the banana, the pectin and the resistant starches also help you to reduce appetite and feel full right away after consumption.
- Banana as the Food for Athletes
The large mineral reserve and easily digested carbs have made bananas the ideal choice for athletes. Eating bananas are also thought to be able to reduce exercise-related cramps and muscle soreness, which are also believed to be caused by dehydration and an imbalance of electrolytes.
Likewise, they also provide excellent energy just like the health benefits of cavendish banana to carry out challenging daily activities. With this in mind, you can perhaps try eating one banana after your morning exercise for healing and before you start your daily routines. Â
- Flexible for your Diet
Bananas are both flexible and easy-to-incorporate into your everyday diets. For health benefits banana breakfast, you can include banana slices into your oatmeal, cereal, yogurt, or be made into a smoothie. For other meals or snack, you can even eat it on its own before or after meals.
Indeed, you can even use it as a healthy alternative to sugars or other artificial sweeteners in baking or cooking for a guilty-free cooking experience.
- Bananas also Treat Asthma as well as Diabetes
A study conducted by the Imperial College of London discovered that kids who eat a banana per day have a 34% lower risk of asthmatic attack. While as for diabetes, banana contains 2.6 grams of dietary fibre, which is useful for types 1 and 2 diabetes.
The difference in between the two is that type-1 diabetes may have degraded blood sugar levels whereas type-2 diabetes may have improved blood sugar levels.
Those are basically the health benefits of eating banana the first thing in the morning. As you can see, banana has much more useful benefits to the body than you may have seen it originally as a dietary fruit. So before you kick off your day, have a banana first!
Here are also the health benefits of eating banana before going to bed.