Banana's Health Benefits

Bananas are sweet, creamy fruits that have so many health benefits. Find out those benefits below excerpted from an article in whfoods.com.

Bananas are thought to have originated in Malaysia around 4,000 years ago, spread throughout the Philippines and India, introduced to Africa by Arabian traders and discovered there by Portuguese explorers who took them to the Americas. But not until the latter part of the 19th century were bananas brought to the United States. Today, bananas grow in most tropical and subtropical regions with the main commercial producers including Costa Rica, Mexico, Ecuador and Brazil.

Bananas are elliptically shaped fruits, featuring a firm, creamy flesh gift-wrapped inside a thick inedible peel. The plant belongs to the family Musaceae. There are hundreds of edible varieties that fall under two distinct species: the sweet banana (Musa sapienta, Musa nana) and the plantain banana (Musa paradisiacal).

Bananas are a very good source of vitamin B6 and vitamin C, potassium, dietary fiber, and manganese. Creamy, rich, and sweet, bananas are a favorite food for everyone from infants to elders. Sports enthusiasts appreciate the potassium-power delivered by this high energy fruit.

Health Benefits

Bananas are one of our best sources of potassium, an essential mineral for maintaining normal blood pressure and heart function. This mineral may also help to promote bone health by counteracting the increased urinary calcium loss caused by the high-salt diets, thus helping to prevent bones from thinning out at a fast rate. There are several other mechanisms in which bananas can help improve your body's ability to absorb calcium, hence help you building better bones.

Potassium is one of the most important electrolytes. If you suffer from diarrhea that quickly depletes your body of important electrolytes, eating bananas can replenish your stores of potassium. In addition, bananas contain pectin, a soluble fiber (called a hydrocolloid) that can help normalize movement through the digestive tract and ease constipation.

Bananas have long been recognized for their antacid effects that protect against stomach ulcers and ulcer damage. First, substances in bananas help activate the cells that compose the stomach lining, by producing a thicker protective mucus barrier against stomach acids. Second, other compounds in bananas called protease inhibitors help eliminate bacteria in the stomach that have been pinpointed as a primary cause of stomach ulcers.

Banana is also important for keeping your sight. Data reported in a study published in the Archives of Ophthalmology indicates that eating 3 or more servings of fruit per day may lower your risk of age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), the primary cause of vision loss in older adults. You can do it by simply tossing a banana into your morning smoothie or slicing it over your cereal, topping off a cup of yogurt or green salad with a half cup of berries, and snacking on an apple, plum, nectarine or pear, you've reached this goal.

Bananas are an exceptionally rich source of fructo-oligosaccharide, a prebiotic compound. When this compound is fermented by probiotic bacteria (bacteria producing vitamins and digestive enzymes that improve the ability to absorb nutrients, plus compounds that protect us against unfriendly microorganisms), not only do numbers of this bacteria increase, but so does the body's ability to absorb calcium. In addition, gastrointestinal transit time is lessened, decreasing the risk of colon cancer.

Some golden banana cultivars are also rich in provitamin A carotenoids, an antioxidants, which have been shown to protect against chronic disease, including certain cancers, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.

Dietary factors can be related to kidney disease in a preventive way. Research published in the International Journal of Cancer suggests that regular, moderated consumption of whole fruits and vegetables, especially bananas, can be protective. The conclusion drawn by the researchers: routine and moderated consumption of fruits and vegetables, especially bananas, cabbage and root vegetables, may reduce risk of kidney cancer due to their especially high amounts of antioxidant phenolic compounds.