Bananas are a nutritious and delicious fruit that is loved by everyone. They are healthy for anytime snacks and make a delicious addition to a bowl of smoothie, cereal, yogurt, muffin, yogurt, or peanut butter toast. Bananas can make you full of energy, lower bloating, slim down, and prevent cancer.
Weight Gain
Table of Contents
Bananas are healthy snack as they provide more filling in the stomach and it is affordable for everyone. For example, eating half a medium banana provides 60 calories and 1.5 gm of fiber, whereas one cup of raspberries provides 60 calories and 8 gm of fiber. Because of the fiber content of the volume of raspberries, they will be more filling than the banana.
Eating one banana can be a healthy snack, but if you include 3-large bananas on a regular diet, you will be consuming more than 350 extra calories. Whether or not you add bananas into your meal plan will depend on goals and if you like bananas.
If you are trying to consume a healthier diet, eating one banana-like half of medium banana is considered as one whole serving of fruit can be the best way to promote nutrition. Replacing high calories, and high-fat food like cake or cookies with fresh fruit like banana can boost satiety while lowering calories. If you are looking for weight gain, you might like to eat more snacks every day. A banana with peanut butter can raise nutrient-dense calories to get healthy weight gain.
As bananas have high calories compared to other snacks, it will make you gain weight. Still, it depends on different factors of individual needs. Moderate consumption of bananas does not cause any side effects, but overconsumption may lead to gain extra weight.
A medium banana consists of 105 calories in comparison to a medium orange -62, one bowl of watermelon -45, one cup of grapes – 62 calories.
Migraine
If you are experiencing intensely painful migraine attacks, then try to skip adding bananas to your everyday diet. Tyramine is a substance present in many foods like fish, cheese, banana, and meats, which induce migraine headaches, stated by the University-of-Maryland-Medical-Centre reports. Since banana peel consists of 10-times extra tyramine than banana pulp, be more cautious about eliminating the stringy pieces of peel from the fruit before consuming it.
Hyperkalemia
Hyperkalemia is a condition that occurs because of extra potassium in the blood and is identified from symptoms like uneven pulse rate, irregular heartbeat, and nausea, which can cause a heart attack. According to Linus-Pauling-Institute-of-Oregon-State-University, a dosage of potassium is higher than 18 gm can lead to hyperkalemia in adults. There are some diet plans like the GM diet that suggest extra consumption of bananas on some days. If you follow such diets, you could just be an inviting problem.
Tooth Decay
As bananas consist of high starch, they may cause serious tooth decay if you do not manage healthy dental hygiene. According to some studies, bananas can be even more harmful to oral health as compared to chocolates, chewing gum, and red licorice. Starches get dissolve slowly in the mouth, whereas sugars dissolve quickly. Therefore, when you eat foods like bananas, their particles rest between the teeth for around 2 hours and thus attract extra bacteria leading to cavities.
Drowsiness
Many people say eating a banana in the morning is the best idea, but you do not know how a banana can cause drowsiness in some people. Banana contains rich tryptophan, which is an amino acid that can lower mental performance and your response time, and make you feel sleepy. Bananas also have a high content of magnesium, a mineral that aids muscle relaxation. These properties, however, make them the best snack before bedtime.
Ragweed Allergy
This allergy is a condition that leads to an immune system reaction when you smell ragweed dust grains. A person experiencing this allergy has symptoms of an irritated throat, swollen lips, and swollen tongue. So, people suffering from this allergy may have increased symptoms after eating bananas.
Hypersensitivity Allergic with Latex
According to a study by Annals of Allergy, Immunology, and Asthma, those individuals who have an allergy to latex have hypersensitivity to Banana.
Symptoms like wheezing, runny nose, itchy throat, watery eyes, and coughing are common with this allergy.
Nerve Damage
As bananas consist of high vitamin B6, their overconsumption can lead to nerve damage. According to University-of-Maryland-Medical-Center,
eating more than 100 mg of vitamin B6 without proper prescription can cause nerve damage. However, nerve damage through banana consumption is rare unless you are a bodybuilder who eats bananas more than needed.
Respiratory Problems
Another problem with ragweed hypersensitivity is irritation. It may tighten breathing routes and cause respiratory issues. It may bring about the serious trouble in breathing or swallowing.
Abdominal Pain
If you eat the unripe banana, you may get severe stomach pain. You may also feel nausea with abdominal pain. Unripe bananas consist of high resistance starch that takes more time to digest. It will feel like immediate diarrhea or vomiting.
Anaphylactic
Some people who are allergic to bananas can get a serious immune response with a sudden drop in blood pressure. Their respiratory problems lower blood oxygen levels from increasing and they can feel shocked. Look for symptoms like more or less pulse rate, faintness, and headedness. A study conducted by the Journal-of-Medical-Case-Reports shows extreme cases of banana allergy even in babies. The study further recommends that while introducing solid foods to their babies, parents must be careful and think of bananas as a likely allergen.
Constipation
Yes, bananas also have the side effect of constipation. Bananas indeed help with bowel movement, but this happens when you eat a ripe banana. Unripe or green bananas contain high starches, which can raise the constipation risk. They even consist of heavy tannic acid that causes an inhibitory effect on the digestive tract. Tannic acid prevents the secretion of the gastrointestinal fluid and reduces gastrointestinal motility. A ripe banana also increases constipation. Banana has been reported as one of the constipation-causing foods.
Gas
Eating Bananas can cause gas in the stomach. They consist of fructose and soluble fiber, both of which can lead to gas. If you suddenly raise your fiber or eat it in more amount, it takes more effort for the large intestine to convert the fiber and lead to gas. Similarly, in the case of fructose, when consumed in large amounts, your body can lead to digestion difficulty.
Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Bananas are a medium-level glycemic food, which means they can increase blood sugar levels. Overconsumption of high glycemic index food can raise the risk of increasing type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity, you should balance banana intake.
Overripe banana indeed has a higher level of glycemic index as compared to normal bananas.
Harm Teeth
Bananas are good for dental hygiene as they provide vitamin D and calcium, a benefit for enamel and bone. But the problem occurs because its sugar and starch content remain on teeth. Eating more bananas causes to change pH level in the mouth temporarily and affect tooth enamel.
Stomach Pain
The starchy content of bananas also affects gut health and leads to stomach pain. It happens when you eat less ripe bananas.
The lack of fat
Banana does not contain fats, so it is essential to balance diet with a healthy fat like olive oil, salmon, nuts, and avocados for proper body functions.
The lack of protein
If you love to eat bananas, you should understand that they cannot fill your stomach with protein. Make sure to combine bananas with high protein foods like chicken, eggs, or cottage cheese to avoid protein deficiency.
Why Should You Avoid Bananas in Your Daily Diet?
Bananas are the preferred snack by everyone. They are convenient in one serving, ready to eat from, and delicious. But bananas should not be eaten regularly. Let’s find out why?
Bananas indeed have more beneficial nutrients, but they are not dieting food. Its high calorie is more than other fruits. It provides 105 calories and low fiber, so do not keep you full for longer. A banana might be a healthy snack, but for the calories counter, there are more satisfying snacks also. They are moderate on the glycemic index, so diabetics may wish to skip them.
Bananas are consumed in the morning as breakfast, but if you feel sleepy after eating Bananas due to tryptophan. Tryptophan slows down mental reactions and processes. Moderate bananas can induce sleep, but excess consumption can lead to sleep apnea.
The Food-and-Drug-Administration has also weighed in, preparing a list of 4 classes of drugs that you do not wish to combine with bananas. Beta-blocker and ACE inhibitors are often given to heart patients. They cause an imbalance in potassium in the bloodstream. Bananas and Oxazolidine antibacterials can be harmful to increase blood pressure. Diuretics help to remove sodium, water, and chloride from the body. Combining these with bananas can lead to hyperkalemia.
Caution
Here are some precautions and warnings regarding banana consumption:
Harmful For People With Kidney Disease
In case your kidneys do not function correctly, keep banana intake low. More potassium in the diet can keep more stress on the kidneys to remove extra blood. It can be highly dangerous.
Considering one medium banana consist of nearly 11% of the RDA of potassium of a person, an individual with a kidney problem may raise potassium levels in a risky way.
Since bananas are kept at room temperature, they can get ripe easily and should be consumed within 2-days from the day of their purchase. At the same time, you must skip eating underripe bananas.
If you feel hives, cramping, wheezing, and throat irritation every time you consume a banana, you could get an allergic reaction.
In case you wish to raise your banana consumption, do take your doctor’s advice.
Major Interactions
According to research issued by U.S. Food and Drug Administration
and National-Consumers-League, the following are the main interactions with banana:
Beta-Blockers
If you are a patient with a heart problem, your doctor may have recommended you a medication called beta-blockers. This medication leads to a surge in potassium levels in the blood. Therefore, eat a banana in moderation as they contain rich potassium and risky for blood potassium levels.
Oxazolidinone Antibacterial
If you are taking oxazolidinone antibacterial, you might wish to track your banana consumption. The tyramine content of bananas can be risky for blood pressure when taken with oxazolidinone antibacterial. Make sure to ask your doctor.
ACE Inhibitors (Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme-Inhibitors)
Physicians suggest this medication to decrease blood pressure or treat heart failure problems. Like beta-blockers, they raise the potassium amount in the blood. You must, therefore, skip over the consumption of bananas if you are taking this drug as you feel irregular palpitations and a heartbeat.
Diuretics
Doctors suggest diuretics to boost the body to eliminate water, chloride, and sodium. Diuretics also help to lower swelling occurred by liver or heart problems. They help to treat blood pressure also. Since some diuretics raise the potassium levels in the body, you should decrease the banana consumption as they can cause to raise the potassium level in the blood, which can be harmful.
Warning Sign You’re Eating Too Many Bananas
It is not that bananas are not good, they are a good and healthy source of magnesium, potassium, and vitamin B, antioxidants, and fiber.
According to Harvard Health, the American-Medical-Association may have given this fruit a name as a superfood at the beginning 20th century. The thing is eating too much banana may cause warning signs of digestive problems and fullness discomfort.
There are many reasons why you might feel some discomforting GI side effects if you are overeating bananas every day.
Makerere University stated that bananas consist of more tannic acid, which is not risky in small doses but can lead to various side effects when taken in excess. In short, consuming more tannic acid can lead to constipation in long term. It can negatively affect the microbiome that is gut health.